Youngsters at Mitchelton community pre-school will be getting more active, thanks to funding from Arrow Energy.
The Blackwood Street Child Centre will use Arrow’s funding to buy equipment for its Getting Active Initiative, which encourages young children to enjoy physical play and challenges.
“Right from infancy, the children will learn the joy of active movement and begin to develop gross motor skills as well as positive attitudes to physical play,” Centre Director Nadia McDonald said.
“It will encourage their participation, teamwork, self-confidence and safety.
“Our objective is to build children’s self-awareness and knowledge of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, while building and supporting their self-confidence. We believe these values will promote children’s ongoing ability to contribute to the community in healthy, safe ways.”
Ms McDonald said Arrow’s funding would buy equipment for the centre’s three playgrounds.
“We have three outdoor playgrounds, for the different age groups – infants/toddlers, 2-3 years and preschoolers (3-5 years),” Ms McDonald said.
“The funds will be used to resource these playgrounds with the necessary equipment to achieve our getting active objective. It has been carefully selected to ensure it has everyday versatility and projected long-term use.
“All of the resources will be used to promote engaging physical development programs (lesson plans) for the 154 children currently enrolled, as well as future generations.”
Arrow Community Relations Manager Glenda Viner said Arrow had a particular interest in promoting healthy lifestyles, especially to younger generations of people.
“I am pleased Arrow has been able to join Blackwood Street’s efforts to encourage youngsters to be active,” Ms Viner said.
Arrow’s funding comes from its Brighter Futures community investment fund.
Other Brisbane groups awarded Brighter Futures funding from the latest round are:
- Hunt for Homeless – Funding to cover the cost of Christmas lunch on Christmas Day for Brisbane’s homeless community. The event is usually attended by 200 people on Christmas Day and includes entertainment, food and small practical gifts (toiletries etc) for the homeless. It is an opportunity for the attendees to experience Christmas cheer and be exposed to the services offered by the 139 Club.
- Mater Little Miracles – Funding towards next year’s Mater Little Miracles 5k annual fundraising in Brisbane. This charity walk aims to raise more than $300,000 state wide toward an annual goal of $1.6 million to fund research to help children, mothers and babies at Mater Hospital. More than 4,000 participants attended the 2013 Brisbane event.
- The Glenleighden School – Funding to cover the costs of an educational orchard for the school, at Fig Tree Pocket. The school’s Veggie Patch Revolution project is a teaching environment and will produce fruit and vegetables and allow senior students to develop a business model by maintaining a cafe and selling produce. The project educates children with language disorders about health and safety and the environment. It is integrated into lesson plans and within the Australian educational curriculum.
Brighter Futures supports local, not-for-profit groups on projects that build community capacity in health, education and environmental awareness. This year, Arrow invested more than $4.6 million in 117 community projects across the state.
For more information email Brighter Futures or phone 1800 038 856 (toll free).
Media Contact:
Blackwood Street Child Centre
Nadia McDonald
Phone: +61 7 3354 1244
Email: director@blackwood streetchildcentre.com.au