A message from Northcott CEO, Liz Forsyth
Coming into spring we are full of gratitude for the successful year we’ve been having here at Northcott and full of excitement for what is to come.
Because of your generosity we have been able to continue to support and empower people with disability to live the life they choose. We remain committed to being a leader in the disability sector, striving to create a more inclusive society in everything we do.
In this issue of Northcott in Action you can learn about all the exciting things going on around the Northcott community as well as a bit about our organisation’s proud history.
First of all we would like you to know that we value your opinion. Please take part in a short survey included with this newsletter. This will help us to better understand what motivates you to support Northcott. Your feedback will also help us shape various initiatives that will enrich the journey of the people with disability.
Our #NorthcottGratitude campaign was a great success and a timely reminder to all of us to be thankful for the beautiful moments, big and small, each day brings. There are amazing and talented people throughout Northcott and we are excited to share some of their stories with you, so you too can see how they are living life to the full every day.
The business students from Western Sydney University worked with Northcott to manage several successful fundraisers again this year. We were thrilled to be able to work with these students, helping to build their practical experience while also raising vital funds for Northcott.
We would also like to pay special tribute to Chris Bates, a long-standing supporter of Northcott who passed away earlier this year. Through Drive4Life Chris has been organising guided four-wheel driving tour raising funds for Northcott for over 15 years and we are so grateful for his many years of generosity and commitment.
Northcott is excited to be running our Giving Day online in 2022, we look forward to sharing that excitement with you all on the day. It is sure to be another wonderful event for the whole Northcott community!
As always, please reach out to us at any time if there’s something you wish to discuss. We are more than happy to talk about what we do and how we can support you and any ideas or feedback you might have.
Thank you
Liz Forsyth
Northcott Gratitude Campaign
You may have read about Ben last June, who is a talented young man attending our Everyday Life Skills program in Casula. Ben has come a long way since he joined the Northcott family after finishing high school. Ben has just graduated from our Vocational Skills program, has a part time job and acts as a role model for others at the Casula centre. Ben is passionate about music and not only has he been teaching his friends to play the piano he is also a founding member of the Northcott Casula rock band known as the “Nun chucks”!
Ben shows gratitude for helping them overcome challenges, and he inspired the #NorthcottGratitude campaign that encouraged everyone to show appreciation for something or someone in their life.
Today I AM GRATEFUL for:
“The compassion and passion of carers and care team who make a difference every minute of every day!”- Peter
“I am grateful for having a safe place to call home, my wonderful family and for having meaningful work to do”- Jen
“I am grateful for everyone’s individuality and perspective that creates such a diverse environment to work within”- Kimberley
“I am grateful to be alive in this world”- Blake
#NorthcottGratitude even went international- spreading the gratitude message all the way to Budapest, Lebanon and London!
We were thrilled to hold mindfulness sessions in Parramatta with Uma Panch who guided us through a meditation workshop . Kim Smith also gave her time to share her yoga expertise, taking us through a guided breathing session. We are so grateful to these wonderful women for sharing their time and showing us how to practice gratitude in our lives.
Campbelltown ELS Gratitude
The team at our Everyday Life Skills program in Campbelltown went above and beyond to participate in #NorthcottGratitude.
Program participants engaged in an activity that allowed them to reflect on the supportive staff at Northcott and recognize what it is about them that they’re grateful for.
Here’s some of what they shared:
“Always helps me and calms me down”
“Makes me a cup of tea and understands my communication”
“They teach me new things and help me grow as a person”
Well done to Corinne and the Campbelltown team for engaging with #NorthcottGratitude and sharing the results of this beautiful activity with us!
Western Sydney University Fundraiser
Northcott has been working with the students from the School of Business at Western Sydney University for more than 13 years, and we were thrilled to continue this partnership in 2022.
Students organized a range of exciting fundraising events including an online escape room, FIFA tournament, games, music and trivia nights. Our Campbelltown team were happy to attend one of the trivia nights, but disappointed to end up finishing 5th!
The students did a phenomenal job raising more than $23,000 for Northcott, exceeding their original goal of $20,000. Thank you to Karina Wardle, Uma Panch and all the students and their family and friends who made this happen! Welook forward to continuing this great partnership for years to come.
Northcott Flag passed through generations!
Northcott speech pathologist Hannah Curtis made a special visit to our librarian Judi Lipp to hand over a piece of Northcott history with a special family connection. Hannah’s grandmother Joyce Donaldson worked as a teacher librarian and arts and crafts teacher at the Northcott School before its closure in 1989.
During her time at the Northcott School Joyce worked with students to create a school flag to be used at carnivals and other celebratory events. The students designed the flag themselves and helped to make it using adapted sewing machines. Judi was thrilled to receive the flag from Hannah alongside some wonderful photographs of it being created and some other Northcott School memorabilia. These fantastic mementos from Northcott’s history will be preserved in our archive so future members of our community can continue to learn about our long history.
Tribute to Chris Bates
Chris Bates has been involved with Drive4Life since its inception in 2006, helping to raise more than $920,000 for Northcott alongside Drive4Life Director Mick Whitehead. Northcott was deeply saddened to learn that Chris passed away following a battle with cancer.
Drive4Life provides guided 4-wheel drive tours of parts of Australia that are off the beaten track. This allows people to experience the wonders of the Australian Outback while raising much needed funds for worthwhile causes, such as Northcott.
Northcott is immensely grateful to Chris for all the time he spent raising vital funds for our organisation through Drive4Life. We are sending our sincerest condolences to Chris’ family, Mick and all the Drive4Life team for this sad loss.
Giving Day 2022 is coming soon!
We are excited to be holding our annual Giving Day again on November 29th 2022! This is an exciting day for our community to come together to raise vital funds to allow Northcott to continue to provide essential support to people with disability.
If you would like to volunteer on Giving Day either from our offices or remotely please reach out on 1300 605 993 or email us on fund@northcott.com.au
What people with disability are saying about Northcott?
We recently surveyed the people with disability we support to find out how they feel about Northcott and our services. Listening to their feedback and ideas is essential in how we continually shape and improve our services.
”Northcott staff responded well to COVID-19 and I felt well supported during the lockdowns.”
“I feel understood and supported to achieve my dreams.”
“Very caring and supportive workers and never fail and let you down”
“Northcott is the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve had so much help and support over the years”
We would also love to hear from YOU our valued supporters. You’ll find a short survey included with this newsletter that will help us to better understand what motivates you to support Northcott. Your feedback will allow us to gain important insights into what you’d like to know and how we can best support you to engage with Northcott.
Citi team volunteered at North Parramatta office
Northcott was thrilled to welcome a team of volunteers from Citi to our North Parramatta office in July. The Citi team supported our Vocational Skills participants to create resumes and participate in mock interviews, helped out with gardening and craft activities in the Everyday Life Skills program and worked with our fundraising team to write thank you cards and research new funding opportunities.
This was part of our ongoing partnership with Citi that includes their continued support of The Northcott Experience Tasker (NEXT) program, which seeks to boost employment pathways for youth with disability. We loved having the Citi team spend the day with us and we thank them for their ongoing support of Northcott!
“Citi Volunteers recently had a fantastic experience supporting Northcott’s Vocational Skills participants and learning more about the programs run by Northcott.” Louise Lindsay, Head of Sponsorship, Community and Engagement at Citi Australia
