Dear community!

Welcome to the July edition of our newsletter where we are proud to share the impact of your support over the last financial year. 

As you will be aware, we changed our service delivery model in Ballarat and the surrounding region about a year ago. Goods are now delivered directly to social workers by our partner Victorian Freight Specialists - saving precious time for the amazing social workers that support families in your local community.

With the commitment of our partners who have worked closely with us to ensure a smooth transition to this new service model and especially thanks to your ongoing generosity, both with donations of preloved  items and financial support, Eureka Mums has been able to positively impact more than 2000 babies and children in and around Ballarat. 

This is an amazing 46% increase on last year, which speaks to both the growth in demand and the success of the changes we have made.

Despite the difficult decision to close our warehouse in Sebastopol, we have been supported so brilliantly by the community, and as a result are proud to share this incredible growth.

Thank you to all of our supporters, donors, social workers, maternal child health nurses and their respective agencies for continuing to engage us and for the valuable support you all provide to local kids.

Our Impact - in numbers

From raising funds to receiving your gently loved baby goods and turning them into gifts for vulnerable Victorian babies and children, there are many moving parts to our organisation. When we look at the numbers and understand the sheer scale and reach of our service across Victoria, it paints a powerful picture of the difference you make by supporting and enabling our work.

Each year we produce this detailed 'impact tree', which shows key measures of the difference you make. The tree shows the collective impact of St Kilda Mums, Geelong Mums and Eureka Mums - we are one organisation, with the goal of reaching every Victorian child up to the age of six who needs our help. Please click on the image to take a closer look.

A heart warming story about a special Grandmother

For many families, it’s incredibly hard to face a winter without the essentials needed for their babies and children. With the rising cost of living, it is difficult for many of us to make ends meet. This is compounded when you are not securely housed, perhaps don't have access to medicare or have children suddenly placed in your care. This is where, with our community's support - you - we can ensure that kids have everything they need for winter.

We love receiving messages of thanks from the professionals who work with families we’ve helped such as this one....

'Jane' has just very recently been given care of her 4 grandchildren. She is 64 and has health issues of her own. One of the children has a severe form of autism and so is not easy to look after and has many hospital appointments and medications. Living on her pension was hard enough but now things are very tight. The ability to have provided her with clothes, shoes, books and toys for the children has been incredible and has taken a huge weight off her mind. She was extremely grateful and had not known there were services like Eureka Mums out there to help people.

 - Karen, Emergency Relief Coordinator, Uniting 

Donation drop-off point

Our partnership with the Ballarat Specialist School continues this term.

Every Monday between 9.30am to 2.30pm a member of our staff will be on site to collect donations of great quality baby essentials for us to rehome. 

Ballarat Specialist School
Farm/Senior Campus, 800 Norman Street, Invermay Park, VIC 3350

We would love you to help us collect these essential items.

 

Thank you so much for your incredible support, from myself and all the team at St Kilda, Geelong & Eureka Mums.

Warm Regards

Ruth Holdaway MBE
Chief Executive Officer