Congratulations to Judy Peters; now Judy Peters OAM!

Congratulations to Judy Peters; now Judy Peters OAM!

We are delighted that BUSHkids’ Governing Council Member and Chairperson of Friends of BUSHkids Bundaberg was awarded an Order of Australia medal in the Australia Day Honours.

Having been raised in Central Queensland Judy has been a long-time supporter of BUSHkids, devoting much of her spare time to the organisation despite her many commitments as a member of Bundaberg Regional Council. She has been member and chairperson of Friends of BUSHkids in Bundy from its inception and has worked tirelessly to support us not just in Bundy but across Central Queensland.

Following her retirement from Bundaberg Regional Council in 2020 after 26 years, Judy agreed to join the BUSHkids’ Governing Council, providing the organisation with her wealth of experience in local government, private enterprise and the not-for-profit sector.

 

“Judy has always been a massive asset to BUSHkids in Bundaberg,” said BUSHkids’ CEO Carlton Meyn. “It’s thanks to Judy and her team that we have such a strong presence in Bundaberg, Wide Bay and across central Queensland. We are delighted that Judy has been recognised for all her hard work over the years.”

 

From everyone at BUSHkids, congratulations Judy Peters OAM, a well-deserved honour for a wonderful, kind and generous person.

 

Dalby Outdoor Area Officially Opened

Thanks to everyone from the Dalby community who joined us on Tuesday morning for the official opening of the centre’s new outdoor area.

BUSHkids has now been part of the Dalby community for over 20 years providing services to the local area and outreach to towns including Tara, Chinchilla and Miles.

It was only thanks to the support of local business and volunteers in Dalby that we were able to refurbish the outdoor area and it was great to meet and thank some of the many generous donors in person.

Thanks again Dalby, we hope to be supporting you and communities across the northern Darling Downs for many years to come.

Here are some photos from the day:

 

Emerald Centre Renaming to the Leslie Wilson Outback Centre

BUSHkids was proud to welcome his Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, Governor of Queensland in Emerald on Wednesday 26 May to rename the centre in honour of his predecessor and founder of BUSHkids, Sir Leslie Orme Wilson, 15th Governor of Queensland.

Since Sir Leslie Wilson’s founding of BUSHkids over 85 years ago, the organization has helped change the lives of over 50,000 young Queenslanders and their families.

We’d like to thank the current governer, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit our Emerald Centre and perform the official renaming for us.

The now titled ‘Leslie Wilson Outback Centre’ has been providing services to the Central Highlands since 1997 and receives wonderful support from the local community thanks to the hard work of our Friends of BUSHkids (FoBK) volunteers who are chaired by farmer and grazier, Charlie Wilson, Sir Leslie’s grandson.

BUSHkids vision for the development of supports across Western Queensland is becoming a reality under Charlie Wilson’s leadership as chair and the Friends of BUSHkids in Emerald are working to help BUSHkids achieve this through a long term, sustainable fundraising program that will support this approach long into the future.

If you’re interested in supporting BUSHkids, please call our Brisbane Office on 07 3870 7288.

You can also find pictures from the day below.  Tap or click on individual pictures to see more, then tap left or right of the picture to cycle through the gallery.

Emerald Centre Renaming

 

Media:

  • Facebook Video Post from the Governor of Queensland’s page:

 

Valé and thank-you to our Deputy-Chair Gloria Ryan

BUSHkids Council member Gloria Ryan was legally trained and enthusiastically contributed to all aspects of our contracting matters, supporting BUSHkids with legal input, comprehensively advising on the Scheme’s Policies and Procedures and navigating our trademark’s 12-month registration process – just some of Gloria’s many professional contributions voluntarily given to support our organisation over more than a decade of service.

Council member         •         June 2009

Deputy Chair         •         November 2014

Passed away         •         April 2021

 

“Gloria certainly made a great contribution to BUSHkids over a number of years. She was a lovely person, always greeting you with a welcoming smile.

“Gloria was one of those people who did not seek thanks or acknowledgement. She once told me she had a very soft spot for BUSHkids – clearly an understatement.

“I feel privileged to have shared experiences in the 12 years we served together on BUSHkids’ Council. So generous with her talent and time, Gloria will be sorely missed.

“Her empty chair at our Council Meetings will be a sad reminder of the friend we have lost.”

Allison McLean  B.Bus. GDPA CA
Honorary Treasurer

Valé, Gloria

BUSHkids’ Expresses our Condolences to the Queen

BUSHkids Expresses our Condolences to the Queen.

Our Chairman, Dr Neil Bartels OAM, made a special visit to Government House this week to sign the condolence book for HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on behalf of BUSHkids.

BUSHkids has a long association with the royal family stretching back to 1959 when Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, officially opened our newly built home in Yeppoon.

Since then there have been numerous royal visits to BUSHkids and in 1973 the queen officially consented for the prefix ‘Royal’ to be added to the organisations name; allowing us to proudly call ourselves called the Royal Queensland Bush Children’s Health Scheme. Most recently two members of our Warwick team were introduced to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and his wife Kate during their visit to Australia in 2014.

All of us at BUSHkids extend our deepest sympathy to the queen and the members of the royal family for their loss.

Wallabies bound into Bundy to help BUSHkids

Two Wallabies bounded into Bundy to help BUSHkids yesterday, but there was no need to call wildlife rescue!

Wallabies and Queensland Reds Rugby Union stars Tate McDermott and Filipo Daugunu were visiting Bundy as part of the 2021 ‘Reds to Regions’ tour which sees Reds players connect with the wider Queensland community during their pre-season training. Already stars of the Queensland Reds both and Filipo and Bundy born Tate were capped by the Wallabies last season.

To get the most out of the visit, BUSHkids took over Bundaberg PCYC for the morning so as many of our families as possible could take part in the day. Events included the players facilitating a game of Simon Say’s under the direction of our Bundaberg Occupational Therapist, an obstacle course, tug of war, wheelbarrow races and ball games run by the players. It wasn’t just fun and games however, these physical activities enabled our occupational therapist to monitor the kids’ motor skills.

Emma Cullum, BUSHkids team leader in Bundy, said the session with the Reds players had been a great opportunity for the kids and a real help to the BUSHkids’ therapy team.

“It’s given us a group opportunity to look at the kids’ development and see where they’re at and where they need support from our allied health team here in Bundaberg,” Emma said. “Also, with two sporting people that they can aspire to be like, to play with and be involved with, it’s great to have that happen locally.”

“Our thanks to our OT Ingrid Fourie and her husband for the work they did to make the event possible,” said BUSHkids CEO, Carlton Meyn. “I’d also like to thank Judy Peters for her support and all the media that attended. Maddie Fog and Emma Cullum our Team Leaders in Bundaberg did a great job on the day and of course our special thanks go to the Queensland Reds for supporting BUSHkids; especially Tate and Filipo for taking time out from their pre-season training to help us out. The kids really loved the day!”

Here is a gallery of photos from the day:

BUSHkids Bundaberg & Reds Event 2021

Media links from the day (updates pending):

Bundaberg Now story: https://www.bundabergnow.com/2021/01/22/rising-reds-mix-with-bush-kids-in-bundaberg/

 

BUSHkids Annual Report 2018 – 2019

BUSHkids released its 2019 Annual Report after a successful AGM on Friday evening. Our Chairman Dr Neil J Bartels OAM wrote the following in his annual report address.

“On the eve of our organisation’s 85th anniversary of service to Queensland kids and families and their communities, it is gratifying to see our BUSHkids teams continuuing to expand the reach, breadth and depth of our high-quality services across the State…”

 

Continue reading Dr Neil’s address in our flipbook edition of our 2019 annual report here.

You can also download your own copy of our annual report here.

 

BUSHkids officially launches three new NDIS ECEI Service Centres in Maroochydore, Hervey Bay & Gympie

BUSHkids officially opened three new NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention Service Centres in Maroochydore, Hervey Bay and Gympie.

Please scroll down for links to published news articles, image galleries and video recordings of the coverage.

Published News Articles:

BUSHkids’ doors officially open at Gympie venue – written by Philippe Coquerand for The Gympie Times. Article also available on their website by clicking here (news subscription required).

BUSHkids launches NDIS Early Intervention service in Gympie – written by Philippe Coquerand for The Gympie Times. Article also available on their website by clicking here (news subscription required).

Child service returns to its roots on the Fraser Coast – written by Blake Antrobus for the Fraser Coast Chronicle. Article also available on their website by clicking here (news subscription required).

7News Sunshine Coast Video:

Reporting by Danielle DePinto

Alternatively, a backup of the above video is available by clicking here.

7News Wide Bay Video:

Reporting by Ashleigh Dwan


Alternatively, a backup of the above video is available by clicking here.

Launch Day Galleries:

Maroochydore Launch Day

 

Gympie Launch Day

 

Hervey Bay Launch Day

To request full resolution images, please e-mail info@bushkids.org.au.

BUSHkids Annual Report Released!

Annual Report

The Royal Queensland Bush Children’s Health Scheme annual report is published each year on December 6, the anniversary of the organisation’s creation in 1935.  The annual report details all our operations over the previous year, the services we have provided, how many children and families we have supported and BUSHkids’ financial position.  It also outlines what BUSHkids is planning to do in the coming year to provide support to children and families in rural and regional Queensland.

To read the organisation’s 2017-2018 Annual Report, please click either of the below links:

 

BUSHkids officially launches three new NDIS ECEI Service Centres

BUSHkids officially opened three of its new NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention Service Centres in Rockhampton, Gladstone and Emerald.

Please scroll down for links to published news articles, complete image galleries, video recordings of 7 News CQ and WIN News CQ coverage of the events and audio recordings featured on ABC Radio.

Published News Articles:
Launching better future for our kids, by Sean Fox. Accessible at https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/launching-better-futures-for-our-kids/3476270/

New disability scheme for kids changes mum’s life, by Hannah Sbeghen. Accessible at https://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/new-disability-scheme-for-kids-changes-gladstone-m/3477677/

Emerald early intervention support to help kids thrive, by Kristen Booth. Accessible at https://www.cqnews.com.au/news/emerald-early-intervention-support-to-help-kids-th/3471141/

7News Central Queensland Video:
Reporting by Brittany Hancock.

WIN News Central Queensland Video:
Reporting by Sophie Lester.

 

Launch Day Galleries:

 

Gladstone Launch Day

 

Rockhampton Launch Day

 

Emerald Launch Day

To request full resolution images, please e-mail info@bushkids.org.au.

ABC Radio Interviews:
Listen to the full radio interviews featured on ABC Radio using the audio player’s below