Child’s play for atrisk kids

By Sarah Schwager
DISADVANTAGED kids in Pakenham have had a little bit of fun and excitement brought into their lives.
A new playground at Windermere Child and Family Services in Pakenham was officially opened on Thursday (27 October).
The playground was an initiative of Windermere’s Kids becoming Champions (KbC) program, which targets disadvantaged, atrisk children from five years of age and their families.
The playground cost about $14,000 with the National Australia Bank in Dandenong contributing $9000.
Windermere general manager Ray Canobie said the playground was significant for a number of reasons.
“There is an element of pleasure for these young kids that have had such troubled and terrible lives,” Mr Canobie said.
He said the NAB staff hadn’t just talked about doing something, they had each invested a part of themselves in the project.
Twelve NAB staff were personally involved in building the playground.
Mr Canobie said this was a good example for other businesses.
“We hope this inspires other businesses to follow suit because heaven knows we definitely need it,” he said.
Mr Canobie said KbC, an early intervention service that involves three years of planning and consultations, cost $10,000 a year per child, with no government funding.
“As an agency, you have to raise $20,000 every week to keep this program running,” he said.
He said the usual sausage sizzles were not enough and they relied on the support of the community.
KbC manager Jo Gaynor said when starting the program from scratch three years ago, they knew it would be a big commitment.
“Since then, we now have a mentoring program, tutoring program, a contracted doctor and a contracted psychologist,” she said. “But I think the thing they are lacking in their lives is entertainment and a bit of fun.”
Ms Gaynor said with the help of the NAB, that fun had become possible.
“We can give them health checks, but for these kids, a bit of escapism is really important,” she said.
She said the NAB staff had been very focused on setting up the playground and it had taken “a real community spirit to do that”.
NAB regional executive Frank Peacock said at the opening that it had been important to the bank, which has supported Windermere since its inception in 1992, to do something worthy for the children.
“We wanted to do something that makes a difference for the kids,” Mr Peacock said.
He said the team that had helped with the playground did not want any thanks.
“All we wanted to achieve was to give the kids something to look forward to,” he said. “By the marks on the slide, I think we achieved that.”