Monthly Archives: January 2021

School holiday fun in the hospice

Our Under the Sea school hospice holiday program has been a gone ‘swimmingly’ again this year!

Children staying in the hospice joined in art therapy sessions, sensory activities and puppet shows. They also had the opportunity to meet, see and touch some friendly sea creatures, with the help of hospice staff and volunteers. We were lucky to have some sunny summer days to have fun with splashing art outside in the garden!

Untitled design (5)

Activities for the program are carefully planned and selected to help develop and enhance the children’s creative, sensory and motor skills. The hospice is now back to full eight bed capacity, and the program is able to involve and engage kids of all ages and functional capacity.

Thanks to Creative Art Therapy Australia, Wildlife Xposure and Dream Puppets for helping give the kids a great time!

Announcing our new partnership with The Lott

We are thrilled to announce a new partnership with Tabcorp (The Lott), launched with a generous donation of $100,000!

Very Special Kids has a strong connection with The Lott, with Tatts being a major contributor to the building and running of our children’s hospice in the 1980’s. Tatts also supported the Piggy Bank Appeal and built our iconic giant piggy banks seen travelling around Victoria. Many Tattersalls retailers continue to help Very Special Kids by collecting donations in store and we are incredibly grateful for their ongoing support.

The Lott Sponsorship and Community Manager, Hans de Koning, said he was pleased to be able to rekindle the long history with Very Special Kids. “Very Special Kids’ incredible work is so important to the children and their families and it’s heart-warming to be involved with this organisation again”.

We are delighted to have The Lott’s support in ensuring families have access to essential care and respite, and thank their customers and retailers for making this wonderful contribution possible.

Pictured above accepting The Lott’s generous donation at our children’s hospice are Jane Dinn (Fundraising Lead, Events and Corporate Partnerships), Marcia Christmas (General Manager, Fundraising and Marketing), Sharon Stynes (Fundraising and Events Manager) and Ben Lyons (Personal Care Worker).