Students in Kialla are pushing a brand-new project to help carry some of the load for a valued but beleaguered local family support service.
St Anne’s College inclusive education leader and work-related skills leader Bek Ryan visited Caroline Chisholm Society’s GV Pregnancy and Family Support Service in the September school holidays to donate some of her children’s outgrown clothing and no-longer-needed equipment.
She toured the facility with staff Natalie Connally and Chloe Wells and discovered the service was struggling to find time to clean donated prams and check them for safety.
From there an idea grew, and, this term, she and fellow learning mentor Dion Prince have put their VCE-VM work-related skills and personal development skills students to work rejuvenating prams, with three already spick and span, and deemed safe to go to families in need.
“It is a great initiative, we can’t thank them enough for doing this for us,” Ms Connally said.
”It’s a lot of work to do them. Sometimes it can take three weeks to get there.“
The service, which provides clothing, nappies and equipment such as prams, as well as pregnancy and family support to anyone who needs it for free and without judgment, is at risk of closing this year if it cannot raise $100,000 before Christmas.
If the fundraising goal is reached and the service continues, Ms Ryan has said she would like to see the pram preserving program continue at St Anne’s College long into the future.
“It’s a nice partnership between the school and a community service. It’s not a big job or commitment but it meets a lot of needs,” Ms Ryan said.
“It’s also great to see things recycled and repurposed rather than going into landfill.”
Year 11 student Rylan Farren said it was a welcome opportunity he wouldn’t have been given if Ms Ryan hadn’t introduced the program.
“It is nice to be able to give back to and help others that may be in need, like my mum was when she was pregnant with me,” he said.
In addition to environmental care and fostering that community link, students are also developing workplace skills.
∎ Donations to help save GV Pregnancy and Family Support Service can be made here.