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Dear friends,

I don’t know about you, but I felt like winter might never end this year – it seemed to be a long one! Finally, however, the sun is peeking through the clouds, the flowers are starting to blossom and there is a sense of renewal and hope in the air – it’s Spring!

And with Spring comes the inevitable ‘spring clean’. It’s a great time for a clear out – getting ready for a new year and, if needed, a new start.

And at Geelong Mums we can help with both the clear out and the new start. For you, we will be happy to take your pre-loved baby items off your hands. For the families we support, with your help we can give that sense of hope and a new start, by providing them with everything they need for their new baby or for a child in desperate need.

So far this year, across Geelong, St Kilda and Eureka Mums, we’ve rehomed a staggering $2.5M dollars worth of items – thanks to you, our incredible supporters and donors.

From cots to prams, car seats to high chairs, clothes to linen, shoes to toys – these items are now where they belong, in the hands of the babies and children who need them the most.

And don’t worry, if you don’t have baby items to clear out – we still need your help with a financial donation – a donation that will REALLY make an impact.

As we head into the festive season demand for essential items will increase and so will the number of orders we receive. Every dollar donated will help us meet this demand – so I really hope I can rely on your incredible continued support by donating to our Festive Appeal. Keep an eye on your inbox in November for details of how to give the best gift you possibly can to a child in need.

Thank you – and I hope this time of renewal is as kind to you, as you are to us.

Warm regards

Ruth Holdaway MBE

Chief Executive Officer

Looking after 14 Children from 3 families

Sylvia is a Refugee Health Nurse working for Western Health. She recently collected a car full of orders from Geelong Mums, for three of the families she is supporting. All migrant families, one was from Iraq, one from Afghanistan and one from Pakistan – all with different reasons for needing to start a new life in Australia. In total, 14 children received bed linen, blankets, clothing and car seats. We were proud to support the wonderful work Sylvia is doing to help these children to settle into their new Australian life.

We have social workers and nurses like Sylvia collecting items from our warehouse every day. In any given week, we can have up to 180 social workers collect items for babies and children in need.

We are only able to do this because of you – our generous supporters. Whether you donate preloved items, money or your time as a volunteer, we are so grateful for your help, which means we can continue to do this life-changing work.

Corporate volunteering – the ultimate team building experience

Each week we welcome teams from a range of businesses to join us for a day of volunteering in our South Geelong warehouse.

The feedback we continually receive is that a day with Geelong Mums is the best team-building experience they have participated in. The tasks are fun and engaging and our corporate volunteers love that their day’s work adds real value to the community.

If this sounds like something you and your team might enjoy, activities can include packing beautiful clothes, cleaning prams or car seats for a newborn baby or putting together toy or book packs for kids who would otherwise go without.

If you’re looking for a fun way to get your team together in the lead up to the festive season or to start the new year, a day of corporate volunteering can provide a truly special experience.

Spots are filling up for the remainder of the year, so sign up quick if you don’t want to miss out – we’d love to have your team join us.

Read more and make a booking [[link removed]] Lucerne Investment Partners raise $65,000

Photo: Sandra & Anthony from Lucerne Investment Partners with Kara our Fundraising Relationships Manager

Earlier this year, The Lucerne Investment Partners Charity Golf Day was held at the beautiful Huntingdale Golf Club – with Geelong Mums as the recipient charity for all funds raised.

The weather was perfect, the food delicious and the participants were incredibly generous. A big thank you to volunteer Silvana, for choosing Geelong Mums and for all her hard work to make the day a success. Thanks also to Anthony, Sandy, and the team at Lucerne Investment Partners for the money raised – a whopping $65,000!

It was a fabulous day and a significant contribution to helping us continue our operations to help families in need.

Read more about how to fundraise for us [[link removed]] FUNDER FOCUS: The Anthony Costa Foundation – a Philanthropic Partnership making a BIG difference!

Photo: The Anthony Costa Foundation team and families at the South Geelong Warehouse.

The Anthony Costa Foundation is a Geelong-based family foundation that seeks to make a positive impact in the communities where the Costa families live and work.

Earlier this year we entered into an incredibly generous multi-year, million dollar funding agreement with the Foundation. This ensures we can continue to provide our critical service to vulnerable babies and children, across the state of Victoria.

In addition, the family and team from the Foundation spent a day volunteering in our warehouse in South Geelong. This is a fabulous hands-on-experience, in which any members of our community can participate, and underpins the depth of the commitment of the Anthony and Elaine Costa and Robert and Rita Costa families to support those in need in our community. We are extremely thankful to all members of these families for their ongoing support.

Wandarrah art and craft group donation

There are many wonderful organisations that create homemade items for us to include in our special bundles for babies and children in need. Huge thanks to the Wandarrah Art and Craft Group from St Laurence Park who regularly make the trip to South Geelong to deliver their amazing creations, made with love and care. Most recently we received a trolley full of knitted teddies, clothing and toiletries. THANK YOU!

Upcoming Dates

Festive Appeal

Stay tuned for information about our upcoming Festive Appeal. Each year, our Festive Appeal raises much needed funds that help us continue to provide essential services for vulnerable babies and children.

Give now [[link removed]] Closed for the Holiday

We take the opportunity over the festive period to close our warehouses to volunteers and donors so we can give the space a good clean and implement new processes. We also give our staff team a much needed break.

Both our Geelong and Clayton warehouses will be closed on the following dates:

Saturday 16 December Last day for Goods Donations

Thursday 20 December Last day for volunteers in our warehouses

Friday 22 December Last day for Social Workers to place or pick up orders

Saturday 23 December - Tuesday 2 January Warehouses closed for the holidays

Tuesday 9 January we REOPEN to Volunteers, Goods Donations and Social Workers

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110 Balliang Street,

Geelong South VIC Australia Geelong Mums would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands we work on across Victoria and pay our respects to their elders, both past and present and to their children and young people, who are our future elders and caretakers of this great land.

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