HBF Run Team Success 2019

It may have started out as one of the coldest mornings we’ve experienced this year, but that didn’t stop more than 33,000 people packing the streets of Perth for the HBF Run for a Reason.

Our 40 strong team were spread across various groups with several in the half marathon and even some ‘tiny sparks’ walking in the prams and families 4km. We caught up with a few of the team at the finish but with the change to the staggered start times this year, many of our team were finished before the 4km event had started.

Several months ago we set our sights on a fundraising target of $7,240 to fund a special project across 4 Perth hospital Neonatal Units which consisted of:

• 6 free standing mobile phone recharging stations.

• Creation of 36 Neonatal Unit specific milestone cards which can be downloaded FREE from our website.

• Printing of the milestone cards and large display boards for easy access for parents within the Neonatal Units.

• Coffee machine.

• Microwave.

• Going home signage.

Feedback from our families let us know just what a difference these small things would make to their Neonatal Unit stay. Our reason for running was simple. Everyday 10 babies born in Western Australia are admitted to a Neonatal Unit. Their families need our support!

Our team have put in a phenomenal effort! Not only have they been busy sharing their personal stories, telling everyone why they support Tiny Sparks WA and what we do, they have also been raising funds. To each of them, their families, friends and supporters we are SO grateful. Not only have we reached our target, we have smashed it! As of 5pm 18/5 collectively the team had raised a staggering $11,229 with donations continuing to come in! (As soon as the final figure is reconciled we will let everyone know.)

We will be inviting some of top fundraisers to assist us with handovers to the hospitals. It’s their hard work that has made this project a success! We will also be inviting all of our team to send in some Care Package messages to encourage and support more families.

If you’ve been inspired to make a difference we welcome you to join our team for the City to Surf. Keep an eye out for team details. If running isn’t your thing and you’d prefer a sophisticated evening of wine and delicious morsels, please join us for ‘A Night to Sparkle’ presented by Boutique Events, all proceeds to Tiny Sparks WA.

Entertainment Books are here!

Entertainment Books offer amazing discounts to restaurants, attractions, accommodation providers and more! Available as a digital download you can have the discounts at your finger tips wherever you go, but if you’d prefer a hard copy that’s fine too!

Not only will you enjoy the benefit of amazing discounts, you’ll be raising funds for Tiny Sparks WA, allowing us to continue to expand our programs, supporting more West Australian families, in 2019 and beyond.

Holt Rock Hoedown

The Westfield Country Music Club host The Holt Rock Hoedown in April and October each year. Holt Rock is located approximately 400km east of Perth (about 4 1/2 hours drive) and the Hoedown is hosted at the Strother’s Shearing Shed. This is a great family friendly event! A lovely mix of country and city people coming together to camp and enjoy some country music. We are thrilled to have been chosen as beneficiaries of this event. We would love to see lots of our families there, especially those in the region.

You can contact Robin on 0438 922 943 for more information or message through their Facebook page which can be found https://www.facebook.com/holtrockhoedown/

Dust off your cowboy boots and hats and practice your ‘yee-haw’!

HBF Run for a Reason

We’ve been participating in the HBF Run for a Reason as an organisation for the past 5 years and it’s always an excellent event!  We would love for you to run, jog, wheel or walk your chosen distance as part of our team on Sunday May 19.

This year we are hoping to raise enough to complete a special project we’ve been thinking about for a little while.  With several hospitals moving to Family Integrated Care (or similar) many parents are spending more time at hospital with their babies. Everyday 10 new WA families are thrown into the chaos that is the neonatal unit.

We’ve spoken with families, consulted with the hospitals, and they were wrapped with our plans! The funds raised from this years HBF Run for a Reason will directly fund items for 4 hospitals and include -

• several phone recharging stations

• creation of new milestone cards which will be downloadable FREE from our website

• several milestone card display boards, containing printed cards for parents to use and keep when in hospital

• several customisable ‘going home’ signs so families can take a photo when being discharged 

• microwave

• coffee machine

We’ve negotiated discounts and in-kind support, but to achieve all of this we need to raise $7,240.  We are so hopeful of surpassing this target, and extra funds will go straight into our Care Package program.

If you haven’t already signed up, take advantage of the early bird special and register to be part of our team. Choose ‘Individual’ then ‘I’m part of a team’. The team name is Tiny Sparks WA. 

We can’t wait to see you there!

Program Expansion

In 2018 we were so very fortunate to be beneficiaries of the amazing Army Art Exhibition. We are pleased to announce that funds received from Army Art are directly funding 48 additional placements in Developmental Playgroup in 2019! This will double our program to a total of 96 placements for the year!

Army Art are also entirely volunteer run and each year make a significant contribution to the WA community. We are so grateful to their committee and volunteers who work tirelessly to put together the annual exhibition.

Each term 24 placements will be offered in Developmental Playgroup, in two streams split as follows:

Group 1 - Babies aged 6 months up to reaching the milestone of walking (12 placements)

Group 2 - Toddlers who are walking up to age 3 years (12 placements)

Each group will run on opposite fortnights during school terms, on Tuesday mornings from 10am - 11:30am at Ability Centre, Coolbinia.  Each session will be facilitated by an experienced Play Leader and attended by suitably qualified and experienced Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist and Speech Pathologist on a rotational basis.

This program is suitable for any baby/toddler who was admitted to a neonatal unit at birth. Both children born prematurely and those born full term but sick are welcome to enrol. Enrolment is on a first come first served basis and will open on January 16.

More information about Developmental Playgroup can be found on our website here.

Army Art cheque presentation with their Ambassador Senator Linda Reynolds, Committee and volunteers.

Celebrating our 5th Birthday with some of our Term 4 2018 families.