Royal Far West in Manly, New South Wales | Charitable organisation

Royal Far West

Locality: Manly, New South Wales

Phone: +61 2 8966 8500

Address: 14-18 Wentworth Street 2095 Manly, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.royalfarwest.org.au

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• Medical and health
• Non-profit organisation
• Charitable organisation

25.01.2022 One Minute's Silence Every year on the 11th day of the 11th month, Australians observe one minute’s silence at 11am, in memory of those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts. On 11 November 2020, the Australian War Memorial will hold a nationally televised Remembrance Day commemorative ceremony which will comply with COVID-safe rules.... The Australian War Memorial’s website shares information and photographs, and includes different ways to commemorate, wherever we are. https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/remembrance-day Lest we forget.

22.01.2022 This time 48 years ago the 48th Annual Far West Camp at Manly was taking place! (30 December 21 January 1973). These camps were legendary they were specifically for kids from the far west of NSW ‘who need a holiday and who have never seen the sea’. Apart from the exhilaration of seeing the ocean for the first time, the camps offered routine medical and dental examinations, with minor problems treated. The camps were instigated by our founder, the Rev. Stanley Drummond, w...ho came to Manly from the hot Cobar summer in 1924 to recover from an illness, and had a vision that many of the children who were living in harsh conditions in outback NSW would similarly benefit from a seaside holiday. Quick to act, he and his wife Lucy raised funds to bring the first 58 rural children to a free seaside holiday. This tradition continued until 1977, by which time improved transport and government assistance for isolated children meant that the annual camps were no longer needed. Read more about our holiday camps here: http://rfw.care/DJYB50CNKhK

20.01.2022 The Cole Classic and Sun Run are back for 2021! The Cole Classic 1km, 2km and 5km sponsored swims begin at Shelly Beach and finish just a stone’s throw from Royal Far West on Manly Beach on Sunday 7 February. This year, if you’re taking part in the event, you can choose to fundraise for Royal Far West! By choosing Royal Far West, you’ll be helping to raise funds to help vulnerable country kids access the specialist developmental and mental healthcare services they urgently n...eed. To find out more or to register, visit: http://rfw.care/EZoP50Df76W If running is more your thing, you can also fundraise for Royal Far West in the 10km Sun Run from Manly to Dee Why on Saturday 6 February. However you choose to fundraise, we’d love to have your support!

18.01.2022 World Children’s Day (also known as Universal Children’s Day or International Children’s Day) is celebrated on 20 November in many countries around the world. It’s a fun day with a serious message, with 20 November marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is the most widely ratified international human rights treaty in history. The Convention sets out the ...rights of children, such as the right to healthcare, education, clean water, protection from violence, and the right to have their say in decisions that affect them. We’re staunch supporters of the rights of children at Royal Far West, championing our wonderful country kids to ensure they can access the health and wellbeing services they need to thrive.

18.01.2022 *Important Royal Far West service update* In response to NSW Health’s stay at home orders for Greater Sydney, in effect from 26 June 9 July, we have made the important decision to temporarily close our Centre for Country Kids and Drummond House facilities in Manly until at least Monday 12 July. The health and safety of our clients, their families, and our team is our top priority so we will be temporarily suspending all face-to-face services, accommodation bookings, events ...and external meetings until further notice. We recognise that this is a stressful and uncertain time. If you have an appointment or booking that is impacted, one of our team will be in touch to discuss alternative arrangements. We look forward to welcoming you again soon and will provide further advice as more information comes to hand. In the meantime, please call us on 02 8966 8500 if you have any queries and please stay safe.

17.01.2022 Turn your Christmas fun into a FUN-draising event! 2020 has been a challenging year for many of us, not least for Australia’s country kids, who've been affected by persistent drought, devastating bushfires and now COVID-19. So why not have some Christmas fun with your friends, family or colleagues while raising some funds for kids who are doing it tough? Simply host a Christmas themed competition, a morning tea or ask for a gold coin donation to attend your party. The fun ...is only limited by your imagination. All funds raised will go directly towards connecting children in rural and remote Australia with the vital developmental and mental health services they need. To find out more visit: http://rfw.care/n66H50CpLrY

17.01.2022 Calling all Manly locals! Starting from tomorrow, our friends at Christmas Trees & Markets at Royal Far West will be selling Christmas trees at our old school playground on South Steyne (entrance at 22 Wentworth Street)! There will be a variety of sizes available and all proceeds from sales will be will go towards providing children in rural and remote Australia with the vital developmental and mental health services they need.... To add to the excitement, brand-new for this year, we will also be hosting onsite Shop & Go Christmas markets on the same dates. All market vendors are Northern Beaches locals and there will be a range of products including candles and homewares, so it’s a great opportunity for you to support local small businesses by purchasing Christmas gifts. The markets, including tree sales, will run on the following dates: Sunday 29 November: 8am to 4pm Friday 4 and Friday 11 December: 12pm to 7pm Saturday 5, Sunday 6, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December: 8am to 4pm Don’t forget to pre-order your tree at https://www.aussiechristmastrees.com.au/shop to avoid disappointment. We can’t wait to see you there!

14.01.2022 Are you located in the Northern Beaches and looking to kickstart your fitness for 2021? Good news! Community Yoga classes, hosted by our friends at Community Northern Beaches, have returned to Royal Far West with classes each Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday 9.30am class Community $5 donation class all proceeds will help Community Northern Beaches to support vulnerable members of our local community.... Friday 9.30am class Affordable $10 class 25% of proceeds go to Royal Far West’s work in supporting happier, healthier children who live in regional areas. Community Yoga classes are located in the library of the old Royal Far West School, Level 1, Cnr Wentworth Street & South Steyne (entry via Wentworth Street). No booking is required, and mats are provided. COVID safe practices are in place for all classes. The classes will run every week until mid-December 2021, with no breaks over school holiday periods. We hope to see you there. For more information , please visit: http://rfw.care/ifzu50Dd6ga

12.01.2022 The theme of NAIDOC Week 2020 is Always Was, Always Will Be, and we are proud and honoured to celebrate this very important annual event at Royal Far West. Our site in Manly sits on the Traditional Lands of the Gayamagal Clan of the Eora Nation. Since our beginning in 1924, we have been welcoming and supporting First Nations People who live in rural and remote communities across NSW, including this last year, where 27% of our client children were Aboriginal or Torres Strait ...Islander peoples. Royal Far West has never discriminated against any child or any nationality, with care always being offered to all country children. We’re delighted to share these photos which include some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander client families over the decades. WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the photographs may contain images of deceased persons.

12.01.2022 NAIDOC Week's theme "Always Was, Always Will Be" recognises that the First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years. Royal Far West School's Sounds, Words, Aboriginal Language and Yarning (SWAY) is a culturally responsive program that nurtures cultural safety and identity within local rural communities. SWAY is a play-based, oral language and early literacy program that embeds Aboriginal stories, local Aboriginal language and culture. ...An evidence-based whole class and targeted intervention program, SWAY supports the development of key oral language and early literacy skills for children transitioning to school. SWAY builds the capacity of Early Childhood Educators, Teachers, SLSOs and AEOs within rural and remote communities, through professional development (3-day NESA accredited Training), mentoring and remote delivery of small group speech pathology intervention. Since 2013, our SWAY partnered schools and preschools have included Bowraville Central School - Bridges Program, Bowraville Preschool, Walgett Community College, Bourke Public School, Glenroi Heights Public School, Bateman's Bay Public School, Tullamore Central School, Mogo Aboriginal Preschool and Noah's Inclusion Services - where this wonderful photo comes from. This year's NAIDOC theme fits perfectly with SWAY's cultural objectives and the cultural safety and respect that comes from the sharing of local Aboriginal language, knowledge and yarns. Find out more about SWAY: http://sway.org.au/

11.01.2022 Help support country kids at your Christmas Table! The festive season is the perfect time to raise funds to support Australia’s country kids. Add a charitable component to your pre-planned Christmas activities at home or work or create an entirely new event to fundraise for country kids. No activity is too big or small and we’ll be here every step of the way to help ensure your Country Kids Christmas table event is a roaring success.... There are many ways you can create your own Country Kids Christmas Table activity. Click here to find out more: http://rfw.care/Gnr250Cd5h0

11.01.2022 Clinical Services Manager Rohan is a new face at Royal Far West, having joined our team only two months ago. Rohan's highly diverse role includes assisting our clinical teams with behind-the-scenes work such as allocating clinical staff to our various programs and liaising with various teams about undertaking outreach trips. An integral part of Rohan's role involves working with our programs and clinical teams to develop improvements in the processes and systems we use at R...FW. Rohan's continuous work providing upgrades and improvements means we can go on providing the best service possible to our clients and their families. Find out more about Rohan here:

10.01.2022 *We are here for our country kids, families and communities* 2020 is shaping up to be one of the toughest years in recent memory. COVID-19 has significantly changed the world we live in, and in order to do our bit to protect our client families and communities from the spread of the virus, our face-to-face programs at the Centre for Country Kids in Manly and in-community are suspended for the foreseeable future. To achieve our mission, Royal Far West has always embraced a spi...rit of innovation, perseverance and adaptiveness, and we are meeting these significant and unprecedented challenges head-on by transitioning our services to Telecare (via technology) to ensure that no child in the bush is left behind. We remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting people who live in rural and remote Australia, and we value the continued support of our partners, donors and friends during this challenging time. Our CEO, Lindsay Cane AM GAICD, explains more about how we're transitioning our services and our key priorities during this period. Read the full article here: http://ow.ly/NfrE50z8qvb

10.01.2022 Our community outreach program Healthy Kids Bus Stop is a free screening program for children aged 3-5, with the aim of supporting early intervention and identifying any potential barriers that may prevent a child from starting school ready to learn. Luke* attended a Healthy Kids Bus Stop with his mum when we visited Glen Innes and was identified as needing support. His Mum said, The Healthy Kids Bus Stop really kicked things off for our family and joined a lot of the dots t...ogether for us we are so appreciative. To kick off our Healthy Kids Bus Stop visits for 2021, the team will be visiting Lake Cargelligo from 23 to 25 February to offer free health and developmental checks with dental, hearing, oral health, speech, occupational therapy and dietetics screenings for children aged 3-5 from Lake Cargelligo and surrounding areas. Registrations are essential. Book your spot now via our website: http://rfw.care/fY2G50DaYv0 *Names are de-identified to protect the privacy of our client families.

10.01.2022 We’re celebrating NAIDOC Week at Royal Far West! This year’s theme is Always Was, Always Will Be, which acknowledges that Australia’s story didn’t begin with European settlers, and celebrates First Nations people, who have occupied and cared for this continent for more than 65,000 years and are spiritually and culturally connected to it. Royal Far West has a long history of supporting Aboriginal children, families and communities in rural and remote Australia. Last year, 2...7% of our client families identified as either Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and we are committed to continuing our journey of reconciliation as an organisation. Today, Gaimaragal Group Director and friend of Royal Far West, Susan Moylan-Coombs, visited our Centre for Country Kids for a live webinar with our team. Susan provided valuable insights into how we can all continue our journey and learn and grow our understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Join us in celebrating NAIDOC Week and acknowledging the importance of seeing, hearing and learning the First Nations’ history of this country, and celebrating the oldest continuing cultures on the planet. Pics: Guest speaker Susan Moylan-Coombs in our specially created NAIDOC Week ‘Book Nook’. Art by Kim Cameron Wenzlick and with Royal Far West's Reconciliation Journey Team Members Vanessa (left) and Hannah (right).

09.01.2022 We’re celebrating National NAIDOC Week! This year’s theme is Heal Country which invites us to embrace First Nations’ cultural knowledge and understanding of Country, and pay respect to the culture and values of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Heal Country theme has special meaning to us at Royal Far West. Over the past 18 months, we have seen the devastation to Country firsthand through our Bushfire Recovery Program. We also witness and have the privileg...e of supporting the healing journey of affected children and their families. NAIDOC Week provides a wonderful opportunity for us to learn from and celebrate the rich history, knowledge, and traditional practices of the oldest continuing cultures on the planet. What is ‘Country’? It’s more than just the place we live. Country is family, kin, lore, ceremony, traditions, and language. We encourage all our friends and supporters to find out more about the traditional lands we live on, and how we can all learn from, listen to, and help to Heal Country. Our inaugural Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) FY22 will be officially launched next month, and fundamental to its implementation in our workplace is acknowledgement of the need for healing. We are looking forward to sharing it with you all soon.

06.01.2022 Our Healthy Kids Bus Stop team stopped by Hillston and Hay last month, to offer developmental screening and health check-ups to 67 local children aged from two to six! The Healthy Kids Bus Stop is a friendly ‘one stop shop’ that aims to detect early signs of developmental delay or health conditions in country kids before they begin school. This award-winning program was delivered through a collaborative partnership between Royal Far West, the Murrumbidgee Local Health Dist...rict and Ronald McDonald House Charities Australia, with additional audiometry and speech services provided once again by The Shepherd Centre. Hillston Central School and Hay Public School generously hosted the Bus Stop in their towns., and other key partners included local preschools, schools, councils and community service organisations. The program is a collaborative exercise to benefit young children within the community at no cost to their parents/carers. Over the three days, 222 assessments in hearing, oral health, speech and language development and fine and gross motor skill development were carried out on the children. Thanks for having us Hillston and Hay! We’ll see you next time.

06.01.2022 Our friends at PARTYLINE, the online magazine of the National Rural Health Alliance, have just launched their June issue, which shines a light on different approaches being taken in rural health education and training, and shares examples of applying rural health research to rural health services and practices. Read our article about partnerships building capacity to support country kids here: http://rfw.care/T9yB50FndXq

05.01.2022 Meet Telecare Coordinator Team Leader Sophie. Our nationally recognised Telecare program delivers Speech, Occupational Therapy and Psychology Therapy sessions via video-link for children in rural and remote Australia. Sophie and her Telecare Coordination team are vital to the success of this program. They are responsible for managing the weekly appointments for almost 850 kids into preschools, primary school, homes and the occasional paddock! We help schools and parents refe...r kids for the Telecare program and then act as their link between schools/parents and our clinicians in Manly. As the Team Leader, Sophie’s role is to oversee the coordination of the Telecare program by supporting my team and working closely with our Clinical and Program teams and Partnership team. Sophie says, "I’ve always been passionate about improving equity in access to health care and the Telecare program does just that - it connects country kids to much needed allied health services they may not have been able to access locally." Read more about Sophie here:

05.01.2022 Your support will give country kids like Amelia a brighter future. Amelia was just two when she started to throw these doozy tantrums. At first we just thought it was the ‘terrible twos’. But then they started to happen more and more often, and would become these full-blown meltdowns. Nothing I did would console her and I just couldn’t find a way to connect with her or comfort her, said Amelia’s mum Jenny. It’s not uncommon for parents like Jenny to assume or be told that ...the issues their child is experiencing are simply ‘bad behaviour’ and sadly, it makes navigating a complex health system to access the right advice, services and support incredibly difficult. This difficulty is only compounded if you live in rural or remote Australia. Royal Far West’s Paediatric Developmental Program helps children like Amelia. When she visits us in Manly in the New Year for the initial residential component of the program, Amelia will have a number of comprehensive health assessments with our multi-disciplinary team of paediatric specialists, free-of-charge, and our team will finally be able to provide Amelia with a diagnosis so she can begin to receive the help she needs. Amelia is one of the lucky ones. There are thousands of other Australian country children who have complex, undiagnosed health concerns and limited or no access to the right healthcare. Your support can ensure more children are able to access the vital services and support they need to thrive. To read more about Amelia, or to make a donation to Royal Far West today, please visit: http://rfw.care/sTRe50Ct0aB

04.01.2022 Meet Marketing Specialist Hannah! Responsible for all things web and social, Hannah explains how this week, she's been sharing important content with our team and wider community about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in celebration of NAIDOC Week. On why she loves working at Royal Far West, Hannah says, "Everyone is here for the exact same reason to help change the lives of country kids. I’ve genuinely never worked in such a supportive team and I think the re...ason for that is a complete lack of ego from anyone who works here." Find out more about Hannah here:

03.01.2022 In December 2019 ‘mad cricket fan’ Darren from Central West NSW secured Sir Donald Bradman’s signed Cricket Bat No. 15 with his winning bid of $5,365, saying he was thrilled that the money would support our families that are directly impacted by the bushfire crisis. The Bushfire Recovery Program, developed with UNICEF Australia and the Paul Ramsay Foundation, assists children up to the age of 12 and their families experiencing trauma as a result of the bushfires, providing di...rect support in affected communities to promote resilience and coping, and decrease long-term adverse reactions in children. The auction proceeds purchased books and sensory equipment. The stories help children to process their experience and provide a scaffold to talk about their feelings, and the sensory equipment helps them learn to regulate by using their bodies to calm their minds. The equipment has already made a positive change for these kids and their families. Comments include: My son has been using sensory tools every day at home since receiving them, and our package of sensory tools had arrived at a 'perfect time', and we used the weighted ball to take to a doctor appointment with our child that day. For more information on our Bushfire Recovery Program please go to: http://rfw.care/HFdA50FhkSa A big thank you to News Corp Australia for donating the bat, and to Helping Hand Group for donating its auction platform.

02.01.2022 There’s till time to make a tax-deductible donation before 30 June to set children like Jack on the path to a brighter future. Four-year-old Jack from Cobar had an undiagnosed developmental condition which had already seen him labelled as ‘the naughty kid’ and expelled from his preschool. Thankfully, Jack eventually received a referral for our Paediatric Developmental Program and travelled to Manly to attend the weeklong, residential component of the program at our Centre fo...r Country Kids. Here, Jack had access to a full range of multidisciplinary clinicians all under one roof, at no cost. Finally, the puzzle pieces began to move into place for his parents. They started to understand what was happening for Jack, and how they could support him in his transition to big school. A few months after their visit, Jack’s mum told our Paediatric Developmental Program Manager, Frances: Jack is doing better already. We can now see what’s happening - we recognise triggers and behaviours - and most importantly understand why he acts the way he does. Over the last few months, we’ve become closer and more cohesive as a family. The closeness was always there, but it was really difficult to navigate affection with Jack’s extreme reactions. He’s been giving us cuddles without us initiating them in the last couple of months! I know it sounds like a little thing, but it makes such a big difference to all of us. By making a tax-time donation today you will help many more children just like Jack access the Paediatric Developmental Program, completing their puzzle and helping to set them on a path to brighter future. Donate now at: http://rfw.care/3QKA50Fku8x