Good evening,

Welcome to Spring!  Although, it may not feel too Spring-like where you are. As I write, communities across Victoria have been hit by major flooding.  For anyone dealing with the floods - whether flooded yourself or assisting with the emergency response - the thoughts of all of us at Geelong Mums are with you. We have connected with social workers and delivery partners in flood affected areas and are standing by to help if we are needed.

Geelong Mums did us proud in October, hosting Nicole Livingstone, CEO of the AFLW, who spoke at our Business Breakfast.  It was great to see lots of new faces from businesses across Geelong - if you were there please do book a corporate volunteering shift. In fact, I’d love to welcome any corporate team to a day of volunteering at either the Clayton or Geelong warehouse - please do click on the link and join us. 

Something very special happened at the Breakfast.  One of the waitresses at the event approached me to say thank you for the goods she had received from us several years ago!  We both had tears in our eyes as she shared the positive impact our support had on her life and how grateful she was.  You just never know when you might come across someone who has received a gift from us.  It’s wonderful to hear firsthand how our support - YOUR SUPPORT - helped turn someone's life around.  Thank You.

Spring is a time of renewal and growth - and spring cleaning!  If you’re having a clear out we’d love to receive any baby goods you have - and know that you will be providing hope and renewal for a family in desperate need.

THANK YOU for your ongoing amazing support.

Ruth Holdaway MBE
Chief Executive Officer

Our community is amazing!

We've been simply overwhelmed by the support of so many generous businesses and student groups that have come through the doors of Geelong Mums for our Corporate Volunteering sessions at our South Geelong Warehouse.

Over the last two months we have hosted teams from City of Greater Geelong, Energy Australia, GMBA, Bell Accounting and G Force Employment. School groups are also becoming a fixture with students from Geelong College, Christian College, Sacred Heart and Deakin Uni.

Without all of their help washing prams, making beautiful clothing packs, scrubbing tired looking shoes and checking toys, books and puzzle pieces– we just could not get these essential items out the door and to families in need so quickly! Thank you for all of your time and effort - we are so lucky to be the place you choose to spend your time! 

A Partnership with the Sexual Assault & Family Violence Centre

The Sexual Assault & Family Violence (SAFV) Centre in Geelong have recently set up their purpose built Women’s Family Violence Refuge. Geelong Mums are proud to be collaborating with and supporting the highly skilled staff at SAFV, who offer a vital service within our community.  

Geelong Mums provides ongoing support to the fully furnished refuge. The units are designed to be a welcoming, comfortable and settled environment for clients. The clothing, linen, books and toys Geelong Mums provide are intended for the women and children to take with them once they leave. This allows for the impact to continue beyond the refuge, and support them to re-establish their own homes. 

The refuge offers six units for women and children, along with a shared playground, barbecue area, sensory garden and secured parking. It is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with highly qualified staff providing support to residents.

Geelong Mums is proud to respond and contribute to the collective and individual need that SAFV work with. 

Geelong Mums Business Breakfast

We were delighted to host our second annual "Rise and Shine" Business Breakfast earlier in October. Thank you to all the businesses who joined us, with a special shout out to our presenting partner Built. Also, a huge thank you to Nicole Livingstone for her inspiring words. What a treat!

It's been wonderful having so many new companies sign up for workplace volunteering. If you'd like to join, visit our website to sign up your workplace today.

Photos by JWphotographyvideo.

Footy Finals Fever!

Footy Finals fever hit Geelong Mums with a vengeance, and the vibe was all about the Geelong Cats! We celebrated the hard work of our amazing volunteers with a week of wearing team colours, footy trivia galore and spot prizes. It goes without saying we loved refuelling them with a daily "footy food" morning tea-- mini hot dogs, party pies and hot jam donuts! 

Donor Love

As always, we could not do what we do without help from our community. Your donations allow us to provide much needed essentials for families requiring support. 

Every single day beautiful donations come in through the gates from individuals like Anthea, who cleans prams. From every five she sells, one is donated to us. 

Yashvi and her Mum also donated their outgrown pram and purchased items in honour of their dear Grandfather and Father who recently passed away. And of course, the super talented knitting and crafting groups like Anne, Linda, Bev and Jennifer from the Wandarrah Art & Craft Group brought in their works made with love. 

These generous donations bring a smile to all of our faces, and we just cannot thank you all enough for your support.

Remembering Geelong Mums in Your Will
- A Lasting Legacy

Leaving a gift in your will, no matter how large or small, is a special and powerful way to support Geelong Mums. It is another wonderful way to ensure the longevity of your charity of choice, and continues to be sustainable long into the future. Your last gift and legacy will directly help support the community by helping us continue to share more and waste less so that every child in Victoria who needs us will thrive.

If you choose to leave us a gift and would like to know how, please contact me on my details below or visit our website. Alternatively if you have already made arrangements, we would love to thank you personally for your thoughtfulness and learn best how you would like to be recognised and communicate with you.

Susie Rouffignac, 
Head of Fundraising and Communications 
[email protected]
0428 102 903

Have you heard about our vision for 2030?

Late last year, our Vision for 2030 was developed. It sets the direction of the organisation and highlights three key goals that we want to achieve.

By 2030 we will:

Support every child up to the age of 6 that needs us

Reduce waste through the reuse and rehome of the things kids need

Share our services across and beyond Victoria

Our first goal focuses on children up to the age of 6 years. You may ask why?  The key is to get the first 2000 days right. Evidence shows that focusing on interventions during the first 2000 days of life is exponentially effective in improving long term health and wellbeing outcomes over a lifetime.  

Whilst our primary focus will be children 0-6 years, in consultation with case workers, we will continue to support other members of the family up to the age of 16. 

Our second goal to reduce waste is focused on investing our energy into changing the way we consume goods. We are reducing waste and pollution by extending the life cycle of kids’ essential goods through repair and reuse.

Our third goal is to extend our services beyond Victoria. We are going to be busy reaching every child that needs us in Victoria and we look forward to moving beyond.  There is growing demand for the services we provide in other states of Australia.

Our goals are ambitious yet we believe they are achievable. But we can't do it alone. We need your help. If you can continue to support us we can do this together!

Important Dates

• Upcoming Appeal
  Stay tuned for information about our upcoming appeal. Our end of year appeal raises much needed funds that help us continue to provide essential services to the families that need us most.

• Closed for the Holidays
  Please take note of these dates for info about our warehouse closure over the holidays:

  • Saturday 17th    Donations close

  • Wednesday 21st    Last day for volunteers

  • Thursday 22nd    Last day for gift giving/orders

  • Monday 26th - Monday Jan 2nd    Warehouse closed for the holidays

  • Tuesday Jan 10th    Volunteers, donations, gift giving restart

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