Australians love nothing more than the feeling of the wind in their (toe) hairs so what could be better than a national Thong Day?

Youngcare is asking all Australians to don a pair of pluggers for charity on Friday October 1st. The idea is simple: release your feet from their footwear prison for a day and raise money by doing one of the following things:

- Hosting a Thong-a-thon
- Buying a pair of specially branded Youngcare thongs (made by the same people who make Havaianas so guaranteed to be comfy) from a Terry White Chemist for $14.95
- Sponsoring someone who is hosting a Thong-a-thon

What, you may fairly ask, is a Thong-a-thon? It can be described as any activity performed wearing thongs. A pong-a-thong, a high tea-a-thong, an office-a-thong – absolutely any kind of ‘thon’ you like! Can’t do your Thong-a-thon on a Friday? That’s OK because Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd are also open for events.

Youngcare CEO Marina Vit invites all Australian’s to join in the fun of Thong Day, while remembering the Youngcare cause.

“It’s clearly inappropriate that young people with 24/7 care needs are living in aged care, because there are very few other options available,” Ms Vit said.

“Youngcare is committed to providing change and choice for these young Australians with high care needs.”

Once you’ve planned your event, register it at www.thongday.com.au or call 1300YOUNGCARE.

Youngcare would like to welcome our newest team member, Megan Carrucan. Meg joins Youngcare as a Youngcare Connect Liaison Officer and we are very excited to welcome Meg to the team.

Meg holds a Bachelor of Psychological Science and was most recently was employed with Lifeline Families Plus as a Family Counsellor with the Family Intervention Service. Within this role Meg worked intensively with vulnerable families who were at risk of having their children removed. Meg developed experience supporting families in relation to a diverse range of issues including domestic violence, child attachment, behaviour management, health and hygiene, child development and substance misuse and provided counselling and therapeutic relationship support.

Meg gained excellent skills in crisis intervention, case management, assessment, therapeutic intervention, networking and also the ability to work with complex families experiencing chronic and/or intergenerational issues. Meg has experience in a wide variety of areas within social services. She has gained experience working with clients, their carers and has a specific interest in supporting people with a disability utilising social justice frameworks.

Meg’s role at Youngcare will be to provide information and advice through the Youngcare Connect support service to young Australians with full-time care needs, their families, friends and carers. Youngcare Connect is a vital service that helps to connect those who need it most to relevant information and programs within government and also the broader health care sector.

Meg is a great addition to the team and we are happy to have such a wonderfully experienced team member on board.

The announcement of a proposed capital fund to build innovative, community-based supported accommodation places for people with disability was welcomed today by a national disability group, Youngcare.

Youngcare, a national charity, focuses on providing choice in care and accommodation options for young Australians with full-time care needs who are often limited to aged care. 

Marina Vit, Youngcare CEO said the initiative announced today by the Prime Minister to provide capital grants to community organisations to construct up to 150 new supported accommodation or respite places was urgently needed.

"Right now there are over 6,500 young people with high care needs living in aged care – simply because there are very limited alternatives.”

“A further 700,000 are being cared for at home by family and friends. Clearly this is inappropriate.”

Over the last five years, Youngcare has been committed to raising awareness of the issue across the nation to drive change and create real choices for young Australians and their families.

Ms Vit said the lack of housing is a major issue for people with a disability.

“60% of callers to the Youngcare Connect  hotline call in relation to accommodation,” Ms Vit said.

“We strongly believe one of the core areas to meet the growing demand for disability services must be in disability housing.”

“It is the kind of iniatitive announced today by Gillard that we need to see more of,” Ms Vit said.

Ms Vit also welcomed Ms Gillard’s commitment to further a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) "if feasible", which is currently under a Productivity Commission investigation.

“It is only through the introduction of the NDIS, and the possibility of funding for lifetime care, that young Australians requiring complex support can have what they need,” Ms Vit added.

“People with high care needs have complex and long term support issues that need to be addressed in a much more holistic manner rather than simply as a disability issue.”

“We believe the National Disability Insurance Scheme must contribute to meeting the requirements of people with high care needs and both in terms of care and housing. Unless the housing, aged care and most importantly, health systems work together with the disability sector, we are not going to find sustainable and meaningful answers,” said Ms Vit.


For more information, contact Youngcare on 07 3041 3400.

The inspirational story of a family struck by tradegy was shared with the nation in June. To hear the Tierney's heart warming story, click below.

Youngcare would like to extend a very special thank you to eWeb Marketing for their expert assistance on the fantastic new Youngcare website.

“eWeb Marketing undertook all the search engine optimisation... more

An inspiring individual, John Corry has been named the Macquarie Group Foundation’s Fundraiser for the Year and Youngcare heartily agrees!

A Senior Advisor in the Banking and Financial Services team, John was... more

As one of Youngcare’s most valued partners, Xstrata and Youngcare have built a wonderful working relationship over the last three years.

The corporate partnership kicked off in 2007 as part of the Xstrata Community Partnership Program... more

Youngcare was overjoyed to learn they were the beneficiary of a $21,000 grant from The Ian Potter Foundation.

“This generous grant will go towards furnishing the Youngcare Apartments Gold Coast... more

An enterprising group of Griffith University MBA students put their thinking caps on and developed a fantastic fundraising concept for Youngcare, as part of their studies in event management.

A+ for this creative group!  The Griffith uni students devised a... more

Year 12 students showed off their fashion-forward flair as Stuartholme hosted their annual fashion parade.

Youngcare was the event beneficiary and are so pleased to report the parade raised an incredible $3,000 for Youngcare!... more

A special shout out to Queensland Media Group for their ongoing, amazing pro bono work!  QMG’s long term partnership with Youngcare means so much to us and we’re eternally grateful.

“Youngcare is so appreciative of the support of QMG... more

A “Great Minds” trivia night in the national’s capital yielded a staggering $170,000 for charity, $85,000 of which has been donated to Youngcare.

On Friday 14 May, the Doma Group of Canberra hosted a massive trivia night for over 500 people at the beautiful Hotel Realm in Barton... more

Marketing costs are often a significant business expense and when you’re a charity, you need to minimise as many costs as possible!

Charities have come under fire of late for spending large amounts of money on marketing, as general perception is this money... more

Through Youngcare Connect, Youngcare has been privileged to meet the Tierney family, who are rallying around 30-year-old Nicole after she suffered a devastating stroke 12 months ago that left her with an acquired brain injury.

The Tierney family contacted the Youngcare Connect... more

On Tuesday 1 June, the Youngcare Apartments Gold Coast project was officially launched by Premier Anna Bligh. 

Over 70 people attended the launch to help Youngcare mark this significant milestone including the Premier, members of... more

The Gold Coast Apartments project launch saw the Jetstar Gold Coast Titans and ABC Bricks Sales announce a quirky fundraising initiative for Youngcare.

“ABC Brick Sales and the Jetstar Gold Coast Titans have joined together and created..." more

The issue of disability care and support in Australia is at breaking point, evidenced by the fact that 6,500 young people with high care are living in aged care and a further 700,000 being cared for at home, with very limited options available for appropriate and dignified care... more

For just $50, you can give a full-time carer of a young person with 24/7 care needs one hour of rest – not a lot of time but very precious to a person who is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Click here to create change today... more

In late 2009, the Youngcare team moved to a new Head Office in Spring Hill thanks to the support of many businesses and the community. Youngcare would like to take this opportunity to thank the Gambling Community Benefit Fund for their very generous support of our move.

Financial support from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund has meant that we have been able to purchase much needed items for our office. We have been able to purchase a range of office equipment, digital media equipment and furniture. 

The Grant has enabled our organisation to buy a projector and screen which is an excellent tool that allows us to showcase our promotional videos to supporters in our office. It also means that we can host large stakeholder and all staff meetings.

Some other items which have helped to turn our office into a usable space were pieces of furniture – so practical yet so essential! We were also able to purchase a camera to take to events, saving us money on professional photographers. We also were able to install corporate signage at the front of our office so our office is easily recognised.

Youngcare is very grateful to the Gambling Community Benefit Fund for its support. The receipt of these funds means that we can direct our funds to areas of greatest need. It’s only with the support of wonderful organisations like the Gambling Community Benefit Fund that we are able to make a difference in the life of a young Australian with full-time care needs and give them the lives they deserve to live.

Brisbane-based charity Youngcare is continuing its campaign to provide dignified and appropriate care alternatives for young people with 24/7 care needs, today announcing its latest project at Coomera.

Premier Anna Bligh today turned the first sod on the new Gold Coast Youngcare Apartments.

Ms Bligh said the State Government was pleased to be delivering on an election commitment to provide $3 million in recurrent care funding over the next three years through the Young People in Residential Aged Care (YPIRAC) program.

"Young people deserve to live young lives, and we can help them do this by supporting and investing in initiatives like the Youngcare Apartments Gold Coast,” Ms Bligh said.

Click here to read more.

Massive Support from The Doma Group and Servcorp in Canberra Raises a ‘Trivial’ $85,000 for Youngcare.

On Friday 14th May, The Doma Group of Canberra hosted a massive trivia night for more than 500 people at the spectacular Hotel Realm in Barton, Canberra. The night was a brilliant success exceeding all expectations by raising over $170,000 for Youngcare and the Queanbeyan Home Foundation.

The team at Youngcare is so pleased to be a part of this brilliant event and are so thankful for the support of those who attended and their wonderful contributions to the night. Youngcare would like to extend an extra special thank you to The Doma Group for organising and hosting the night and to Servcorp for their ongoing support.

In the last Youngcare newsletter, Youngcare acknowledged the awesome work of two great ambassadors of Youngcare who threw themselves in the deep end in the name of charity, recently tackling the 20km stretch of sea between Perth’s Cottesloe Beach and Rottnest Island in the 2010 Rottnest Channel Swim.

The National Brand Development Manager at Terry White Chemists, Chris “Swifty” Swifte and Symbion General Manager, Andrew “AV” Vidler raised $60,000 for three worthy charities – Youngcare, the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Bowel Cancer and Digestive Research Institute Australia.

After a gruelling training regime spanning 12 months, Swifty and AV took to the water on February 20 with their boat, crew and paddler accompanying them.

“Everyone at Youngcare is so inspired by Swifty and AV’s dedication to the cause and the outstanding results achieved – a 20km swim is not for the faint hearted!” Youngcare CEO Marina Vit said.

“They finished the race in 7 hours and 18 minutes, which is an outstanding effort and Youngcare is very grateful for the $20,000 donation.”

“A big thank you must also be extended to all those who pledged their support to Swifty and AV, with particular mention to Symbion Pharmacy Services, Terry White Chemists, Medibank and Apotex.”

To read more about Swifty and AV’s Big Swim journey, please visit www.ourbigswim.com.
 

“So on behalf of Youngcare and all the residents at Sinnamon Park, a very big thank you goes out to the whole team at the Harcourts Foundation for your dedication to our cause,” added Kirsty.

Guests kicked up their heels in the Grand Ballroom, entertained by Australian music legends Black Sorrows and Mental as Anything, while Channel Nine’s Melissa Downes was a gracious host.

I will certainly continue to champion Youngcare’s cause and will volunteer again in future.”

“On behalf of Youngcare, a big thank you to Jack and his wonderful class mates and teachers at Eagle Junction State School – we’re so pleased to have you as friends of Youngcare.”

Youngcare will keep you updated on Sarah’s progress. If you would like to read more about Sarah or support her family in some way, please visit www.developingfoundation.org.au/family/sarahjane.