Reaching Out Is What We Do Best

Our Stories

January has been a super busy month us at the Cottage but we couldn’t be more pleased to have finished it off in the best way possible with our very first Take-A-Break camp for 2018 and a very special little girl’s birthday to celebrate too! Every year we work with the Colac Area Health and Colac Family Services to provide ongoing support and care for many of their children and families. This time we were hosting a short camp with 20 kids, ranging from ages as little as five all the way to the age of twelve.

The camp ran for four days between Monday and Thursday, which allowed a great amount of time for the children to all get to know each other and to mix with our Cottage staff. Throughout the week the kids were involved in many of our favourite recreational activities and fundamental games to really help bring them out of their shells and to bring out the best in them. It was great to see each and every one of them giving activities like boogey-boarding and swimming a go, as well as guiding each other through the low ropes course and exploring around the Marine Discovery Centre in awe.

Fresh home-made meals like pizza, lasagna, chicken noodles and veggie stir-fry were just some of the scrumptious items we had on the menu throughout the week to keep the kid’s tummies full and their energy levels strong. We were all super excited and overly delighted when Marco the chef brought out the biggest and brightest ice-cream cake that we’ve ever seen at lunchtime one day. The reason being, it was one of the younger girls ninth birthdays and her family had even decided to join us for the day to help celebrate and sing along! It was a truly magical and memorable moment.

The Cottage staff were super impressed with the continuous encouragement and provision that the older children provided to the younger children during this camp. They really displayed traits of leadership and mentoring and ensured everyone was having a great time.

It was great to give the families and carers of these children a break for the week too, due to all their hard work and continuous efforts. Thanks to Colac Family Services for providing us with such a great bunch of kids and allowing us the time to really help give these children the true chance of experiencing a fun and exciting childhood.