Beneficiaries

The following grants totaling nearly $6.4 million were given out after Telethon 2009:

 

THE AMANDA YOUNG FOUNDATION:

To provide educational material about Meningococcal disease that is specific and directed at young children, their parents and their educators.

 

ASTHMA FOUNDATION OF WA INC:

To fund the “Breathe Better Project” which will provide asthma education and support services for people with asthma and those who care for someone with asthma. 

 

CARERS WA:

To fund the cost of the young carers event at the end of the year.  These carers are children and young people who help care in families where someone has an illness, a disability, a mental health issue or an alcohol or drug problem.  They carry out adult duties and this event gives them time to focus on themselves, make lasting friendships and help them discover coping mechanisms which will assist them in their caring role.

 

CYSTIC FIBROSIS WESTERN AUSTRALIA:

To fund the continuation and expansion of the “Outreach Service”.

 

FOODBANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA:

To fund the continuation of the “School Breakfast Program” in regional WA.  This program provides the supply of vitally important nutritionally valuable food items for the program such as milk, fruit, cereals etc.  It also provides a bridge of support between the food industry and community support agencies looking after WA in need, many of whom are children.

 

JOONDALUP YOUTH SUPPORT SERVICES INC:

To fund the cost of a 1 year pilot program to assist young mothers through on-going case management by employing a Youth Worker and all operational costs pertaining to that role. 

 

KALPARRIN (Parents of Children with Disabilities Inc):

To fund the cost of providing parents/carers of children with disabilities some respite and emotional support ie. Mother’s weekends away, couples weekends away, a father’s support network and an annual sharing family day.

 

LIONS EYE INSTITUTE/CENTRE FOR OPTHALMOLOGY & VISUAL SCIENCES, UWA:

To fund the cost of the employment of a 0.5FTE Orthoptist to conduct eye assessments.  Normal visual function is of great importance in children’s ability to learn and interact with their environment therefore by identifying genetic and environmental causes of lazy eyes in children, this will allow us to identify families at high risk and allow regular screening and early intervention to minimize vision loss.

 

MAKE-A-WISH® AUSTRALIA:

This grant will fund the wish of 1 child living with a life-threatening illness.  The mission of Make-A-Wish is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

 

MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY ASSOCIATION OF WA INC:

To fund the cost of conducting a 5 day mid week Busselton retreat for 10 children with MD and their families (approximately 40 people).  Due to the enormous amount of work entailed in packing up equipment and for parents also knowing there will be no respite for them, staying home often becomes the easier option and holidays are not taken.  MDA WA proposes a service by offering 24 hour full time care support, accommodation, activities, excursions, meals and transport.  This would allow the children with MD and their siblings time to spend together and also allows parents to have a well deserved break.

 

NEONATAL EMERGENCY TRANSPORT SERVICE (NETS): 

NETS WA is the Newborn Emergency Transport Service of WA, a mobile intensive care unit for babies. Every year, NETS safely transports around 900 unexpectedly sick or preterm newborn babies from their hospital of birth to the neonatal units at Princess Margaret and King Edward Hospitals. These babies are often critically ill, & require highly specialised care during transport across often vast distances. To this end, NETS provides 2 teams of skilled neonatal-trained doctors & nurses, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Of equal importance to the care of these babies is specialised equipment. Thanks to the generosity of Telethon & the people of Western Australia, NETS will be acquiring a state-of-the-art, purpose-built neonatal ambulance, as well as 2 new high-tech neonatal transport cots, all equipped to deal with any possible complication that may occur on transport. The new equipment is a very exciting step forward for NETS & will enable us to provide even better care for the babies of WA.

PARKERVILLE CHILDREN & YOUTH CARE INC:

To fund the cost of a qualified Child Medical Practitioner from PMH at the Child Advocacy Centre for a period of 3 years.  These centres provide a one stop shop in caring for and treating child abuse and play a significant role in the response to child abuse and maltreatment and quick medical assessments which have proven extremely important in the first stage of healing in a child’s mind. 

PERTH LEGACY:

To provide care and assistance to the dependants of deceased service personnel, to build and maintain the morale of single parent families. These funds will cover the costs incurred by Legacy children for education expenditures, to fund annual holiday camps, social activities and food and clothing assistance.

 

PRINCESS MARGARET HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN:

To purchase screening and diagnostic equipment to expand and improve the newborn hearing screening program.  In the first year funds will purchase equipment for all metro hospitals and 5 regional hospitals.  In the second year, funds

will enable PMH to increase newborn hearing screening equipment at all remaining regional hospitals.

 

RED KITE:

To fund 9 Telegroup sessions with a long term aim to establish Redkite support services throughout the paediatric/adolescent young adult oncology sector where professionals will steer young people and their families to Redkite Community Support Services to ensure continuity of care for children and youths diagnosed with cancer and their families. 

 

ROLE MODELS WA:

To fund the establishment and operation of four academies for Indigenous Australian girls - this is a 3 year commitment to assist disadvantaged Indigenous youth of WA located in the remote communities by delivering sporting and mentoring programs that are unique, innovative and build individual personal development. 
   

SAVE THE CHILDREN:

Funding will support the Warmun Early Learning Program, a program based on improving educational, health and developmental outcomes for Indigenous children 0 – 4 years old and their parents/carers in Warmun and surrounding areas.  Funding will support the continued employment and training of local staff including ongoing education and technical support thus allowing them to improve and expand the current program across the region.

 

TELETHON INSTITUTE FOR CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH: 

This funding will enable the Institute to research the impact of external environment factors on children in early life or as a consequence of exposure of their mothers to such factors whilst their children are in utero.  It will also enable research into Aboriginal child health issues and building the capacity of Aboriginal health researchers to further develop and extend research initiatives.

 

TELETHON SPEECH AND HEARING CENTRE FOR CHILDREN WA (INC):  

We are continuing our ongoing commitment to the Telethon Speech and Hearing Centre for Children.  In addition, we are funding the operation of the Ear Doctor Bus for twelve months.  

 

THERAPY FOCUS:

To fund the purchase of customized and specialised aids and equipment for sixteen children with disabilities – the aim is to assist them to make the most of their unique abilities and participate in the activities of their families, peers and community.

 

WA COUNTRY HEALTH SERVICE:

To fund the purchase and installation of new ultrasound machines in 10 regional WACHS facilities and new standard monitors in 5 smaller regional hospitals in WA.

 

WA DISABLED SPORTS ASSOCIATION INC:

To provide funding to assist children with disabilities in the geographical area – to connect children with disabilities with their local community recreation facilities to create sustainable community participation.  This will involve a total of 12 community recreation facilities – 4 in metropolitan Perth, 4 in outer metropolitan areas and 4 in regional WA.

 

WOMENS & INFANTS RESEARCH:

Telethon funding of the Preterm Birth Genome Project will enable Western Australian researchers to make a substantial contribution to the global consortium investigating the genetic basis of preterm birth.  Moreover, research to understand the genetic basis of preterm birth offers a real possibility to reduce the rates of preterm birth by allowing targeted, personalised treatment based on an individual's genetic risk. 

 

YOUTH FOCUS:

To fund the employment of a youth counsellor to provide services for 70 youths at risk for a period of twelve months.  This counselling addresses issues such as youth suicide, attempted suicide, depression and self harm.