By DANE LILLINGSTONE
THE official opening of the new BUSHkids centre in Warwick was a resounding success with over a hundred guests and supporters turning out to show support.
Guest speakers, a barbecue and activities all round were on offer as the Wood Street centre officially opened on Friday 25 September.
The massive centre, twice the size of the previous one on Guy Street, features multiple rooms for the various services provided and will them to cater to more children.
Multiple guest speakers told their stories of their involvement with BUSHkids from BUSHkids CEO Carlton Meyn and BUSHkids Council chairman Dr David Bartels, to Warwick local parent Ian Mace, deputy mayor Ross Bartley and Variety Queensland CEO David McDonald.
Mayor Peter Blundell officially opened the centre in what is BUSHkids 80th anniversary year.
John Villiers Trust trustee Darvell Hutchinson came from Melbourne for the opening and spoke of the $500,000 that was donated to the centre. The trust is set up by the late entrepreneur John Villiers. Variety Queensland CEO David McDonald also announced a $10,000 donation for a new playground.
BUSHkids Council chairman Dr David Bartels said the services the centre provides would only get bigger.
“The centre is important because it serves this whole Southern Downs region. It covers a large area right down to Inglewood,” he said.
“Because we have funding from the Federal Government from the Department of Social Services it means we can actually roll out more services as well and because it’s a larger area within the premises itself and we can also do community programs.
“We’re looking at getting paediatricians and experts and so forth in child health coming and giving talks and lectures to young parents, parents and people with special needs.”
Dr Bartels said that in the future they would look at providing services for children suffering from different forms of abuse and growing diseases like obesity and diabetes.
Speech language pathologist Alison Dowdle said the new centre would allow her and the team to provide more services.
“There will be much more opportunity for better community engagement and getting more services for kids and getting kids through the service,” she said.
“It’s a much, much bigger centre. We have a shared office space and we have five generic therapy rooms.
“We have a speech pathologist, an occupational therapist, a child psychologist, a family health support worker, and manager of early intervention team.
“We do sessions in the centre but we also do outreach. We outreach to Inglewood, Killarney, Stanthorpe, Allora, Clifton, Maryvale and Yangan.”
Ms Dowdle said the service was easy to use for those who needed it.
“It’s really easy to get a referral. Parents can self-refer, they don’t need a GP, they just call up and say my child needs help. They go on a waitlist. It’s a free service to the community, the only thing is they pay with their time, doing the homework and being on a waitlist,” she said.
