Cafs (Child and Family Services, Ballarat) is seeing an increase in demand for support from across the region.

Families are already feeling the pinch and now they face the additional pressure of trying to equip children with all the necessities required for the school year.

Cafs’ focus for the start of 2024 is firmly on giving the gift of education to local children
and families experiencing hardship.

Cafs are now calling for financial donations, or the donation of gift vouchers of any denomination, which would enable families to purchase school necessities including basic uniform items, shoes, stationery, back- packs and lunch boxes. Visit www.cafs.org.au or call 1800 692 237

Cafs (Child and Family Services, Ballarat) is asking people from across the Central Highlands to make the call and take the first step to becoming a foster carer.
The need for new foster carers is ongoing, with more than 1500 children staying in foster care homes across Victoria each night. The roles of foster carers vary, from providing emergency overnight shelter to weekend respite care and short- and long-term arrangements.
The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare CEO Deb Tsorbaris encourages people who have considered becoming a foster carer to make a call and find out more.
There are so many ways that foster carers support these vulnerable children and young people, from simple overnight stays, to respite care on weekends, and short- and longer-term placements, and our incredible foster care agencies are out there in the communities to help and support carers,” she says.
Cafs CEO Wendy Sturgess says foster carers make such an important contribution to the lives of children and young people who, for any number of reasons, cannot live with their biological family.
“Our primary goal, when we care for children, lies in working towards returning them home to their families. Our foster carers provide stability and keep children safe in a caring home environment. We acknowledge their tireless commitment to supporting young people in our local community.
“Foster Care Week also provides an opportunity to highlight the ongoing need for more foster carers right across the Central Highlands.
“We always need foster carers to help us care for children in our community so we’re asking people to consider taking that first step to becoming a foster carer with Cafs,” says Ms Sturgess.
Recent findings from Fostering Connections market research underscored strong community support for foster caring, with 80 per cent of Victorians saying they believe the community should provide support for children who can live with their families.
Ms Tsobaris says that despite cost-of-living difficulties, Victorians have shown they are sympathetic to the plight of children and young people.
“We know its tough out there, and its even tougher for some families, which means new carers are needed more than ever. Victorians showed during Covid that we can come together as a community and support each other. Even though these are tough times, these vulnerable kids need the support and care of their communities,” says Ms Tsorbaris.
Foster Care Week, which began on Sunday, September 10, is an annual opportunity to celebrate the vital role that foster carers play in ensuring that every child in Victoria has a loving home during times when they’re unable to live with their family.
Fostering Connections, a joint initiative between The Centre, foster care agencies across Victoria, and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, is encouraging foster carers from all walks of life to support their community by opening their homes to become part of an incredible network of people supporting local children, young people, and families.
“Foster Carers have an enormous impact on the lives of the children and young people they support. Caring is changing and we see great success in fostering from all types of people, stepping up to meet the needs of all types of children. Anyone over the age of 21 who has a spare bedroom can apply to become a foster carer,” says Ms Tsorbaris.
Those interested in becoming a foster carer can obtain more information about fostering a child by contacting Cafs on 1800 692 237 or can visit cafs.org.au.

IT’S been said that “clothes maketh the man” – and there’s little doubt that applies for women as well.
But sometimes obtaining snappy threads, so essential to making a vital good first impression, is easier said than done.
That’s where Thread Together comes in. Based in Sydney and also run in Victoria, under a partnership arrangement, by Ballarat’s Cafs (Child and Family Services) this not-for-profit provides new in-vogue clothing and accessories to those who otherwise could not afford such goods.
We’re talking new fashion house labels provided gratis to those doing it rough, thus diverting countless tonnes of perfectly good new clothing that would otherwise be dumped in landfill annually by big fashion houses.

In recent days Thread Together, or TT, held its second ever pop-up day in
Daylesford, working in with the town’s Thursday Good Grub Club to reach folk in
genuine need of the innovative free quality clothing and accessories.
Cafs TT program and volunteer lead Nicole Roberts says Threads Together is
extremely rewarding to be involved with and, come July, will have been running in
Ballarat for two years.
She says TT held its first visiting pop-up event in Daylesford in March last year
and it was extremely well received, providing free quality new clothing and accessories
for men, women and children.
“I absolutely love it,” Nicole says, recounting some of the heart-warming stories of
those whose lives have been changed for the better as a result of TT.
“I remember one young guy, a teenager, who lived in a caravan at the back of a
factory and had been offered a job interview in hospitality, but didn’t want to attend
his interview because he didn’t have anything suitable to wear.
“We decked him out in quality labels including R.M. Williams boots. And he got
the job. He was so kind and grateful.”
In the time it’s been helping out residents of Victoria’s Central Highlands
region TT has helped so many people doing it tough including some who have led
comfortable lives but, due to circumstances, have found themselves in a place they
never thought they’d be.
Sometimes it’s domestic violence escapees, sometimes it’s prisoners coming out of
prison with nothing, who need to find work and reintegrate.
“Sometimes it’s people with a serious illness who can’t work,” Nicole says.
“There was a lady, a single mum, who had a terminal illness and had nothing to
wear to her son’s debut. We were able to deck her out in a beautiful Carla Zampatti
dress.”
Besides Daylesford, TT is also delivering its pop-up visiting van services to
Bacchus Marsh and Ararat, driving out to locations in the Cafs van full to capacity
with new fashions of all sizes and styles.
“But now we’re about to get a new dedicated wardrobe van – and we will be
returning every three months to Daylesford in the future,” Nicole says.
She says presenting well in new, impressive attire for a job interview, work
placement or application for a rental property can be the first step towards a better
life for many doing it tough.
“It can break that cycle. It’s that one step forward, which means someone can
then keep taking more steps forward,” she says.
To use TT clients have to first receive a referral to it from another agency – or
from Cafs itself.
“All of the clothing is new and is donated from fashion houses. The fashion
industry regularly pays for landfill and TT was started about 15 years ago by Andie
Halas, a partner in Seafolly, who thought that surely it would be possible to do
better,” Nicole says.
Thread Together headquarters remains in Sydney and Nicole says the donated
clothing is transported free of charge by Toll.
As a non-profit, TT runs on fundraising, and the Hepburn Springs Golf Club has
become a staunch supporter through its annual Tee-Up for Kids Day, held in memory
of Ian Stanley.
Now, as TT introduces its new quarterly seasonal pop-up visits to Daylesford with
its new dedicated wardrobe van, Nicole says it is keen to provide the pop-up visits for
those in need wherever it can throughout the Central Highlands region.
“We are open to everywhere that it’s possible to get to,” she says.

Words: Eve Lamb | Images: Contributed