News & Articles

Choosing a charity? Go local!
If you’re a contemporary business and reading this, you are most likely becoming increasingly aware of your corporate social responsibility. If so, good for you! You’ve reached a point in your business journey which has allowed you to actively consider how your brand can positively influence others – outside of day-to-day business operations. So, congratulations, […]

Waving goodbye to June
Cottage by the Sea staff and 25 children from Newcomb Park Primary School celebrated the last week of June together with a big splash! As we head deeper into the winter time, with shorter days and longer nights, our Cottage camps are slowly getting colder and the winter swell is slowly getting bigger! From watching […]

Having fun is the same in every language!
For the second occasion this year Cottage by the Sea welcomed a small group of Western English Language School students under its roof, only this time the children were from the Footscray campus in Melbourne. Starting on Tuesday the 20th of June to Friday the 23rd of June, the camp was planned out to involve the […]

What a week with Herne Hill
A shortened work week (due to the Queens Birthday Long Weekend) doesn’t stop the workload and fun for the staff members at Cottage by the Sea that’s for sure! We were straight into it on Tuesday morning, with an early pick-up time of 9:30am where 19 kids from Herne Hill Primary School were patiently waiting […]

You got a friend in me
Each year, Bethany reaches out to provide its services to more than 6000 individuals and families experiencing hardship within their lives and each year both Bethany and Cottage by the Sea work together to provide short-term relief to the children involved within their services through providing and running week-long camps for them, held by the […]

A Long Camp and the Long Walk
Ending the month of May could not have been any better for staff members Jae, Sean, Troy, Foxy and Natalie! The five camp leaders had the opportunity to participate on a week long camp with long-time partner and supporter of ours, The Cathy Freeman Foundation as part of their Horizons Program. Beginning on Monday the […]
Going down to the Riptide
It was a very happy hump-day for Cottage as 10 children from Geelong East Primary School joined us for some fun on a short but awesome three-day camp, which was held at our Riptide Cottage! The morning started out with a bus ride from Geelong East back to Queenscliff, followed by a short tour of […]
Taking a Break with Arbonne
This week, our Take a Break program welcomed 19 local Geelong kids from Whittington Primary School into the Cottage. The four-day camp began early on Monday morning and ended late in the afternoon on Thursday – meaning that the program was packed with lots of fun things for the children to see and do whilst […]
In Sydney with the Cathy Freeman Foundation
In the first week of May, staff members Natalie and Sean flew to Sydney to spend seven working in partnership with the Cathy Freeman Foundation. The camp was the first one for the year and involved 16 indigenous students in years 11 and 12, from four communities around Australia. The students were selected to participate […]

From the City to the Surf with our Mentors!
During the second week of the school holidays, Cottage by the Sea welcomed back a small group of our older mentors on a three day camp. The 15 participants, all of whom are in year 10 to 12 and come from all different regions across Victoria, know the Cottage and its staff all too well, […]

Saving lives and fighting Bac!
School holidays have just begun for Victorian school students and for Cottage by the Sea that means we are in for a whole lot of fun with our Mentors! Over the past week, we’ve had 32 of the year 8 and year 9 Mentors visit us. We’ve played fun games, studied extra hard and learned […]

Meet our newest REEF kids!
This week, Cottage by the Sea welcomed our newest REEF participants who were selected from two separate schools in Wendouree, the most populated suburb located within the City of Ballarat, regional Victoria. 16 Students from Forest Street Primary School and 14 Students from Yuille Park Community College, all of whom are in grade six, took […]

Second Year REEF Camp Out
Our second year REEF kids visited us for their second camp this year, where they spent 3 days at the Cottage over a weekend in late March. Although the camp was a bit shorter than the usual camps they are use too, the staff had nonetheless packed a variety of activities into their program. Arriving […]

What A Hit!
On Friday, the 10th of March 2017, Queenscliff Golf Club held their first annual fundraising event in co-operation with Cottage by the Sea. The proposed partnership gathered plenty of guests to the golf course on Swan-Bay Island, where participants accomplished the entire 18 holes within four hours and competed in a putting contest for an […]

A Ferry Good Time
Tuesday morning at the Cottage was a morning like any other. The staff had arrived early to prepare for a new week of kids and with a sunny forecast on the cards who wouldn’t be excited! The beds were made, the lunch was cooking and the treasure in the sandpit had been buried. Now all […]

WELS – What an adventure we’ve had!
The Western English Language Schools consist of co-educational primary and secondary based learning which operates under the government in many different areas throughout Victoria. They are a school that takes on students who have recently migrated or found refuge within Australiaand aim to teach the children basic English skills, all the while focusing on many […]

8 Boys, 6 Beaches & 1 Birthday
Recently, eight young boys connected with the Kyabram Integrated Family Service were selected to participate in a four day camp held at Cottage by the Sea. Getting on the road early Monday morning to travel over 200km south of Kyabram to a Melbourne service station where two of our friendly staff were awaiting with smiles […]

The Most Fun ‘Yuille’ Ever Have!
Last week an array of students from, Yuille Park Community College in regional Victoria, stay by the seaside for a change and spent their time on camp participating in all the adventurous activities that Cottage by the Sea has to offer. In the few days that they visited, these kids did it all! From exploring […]