We wish to extend a huge congratulations to our Chairperson and Co-founder Amber on being awarded the City of Rockingham Community Citizen of the Year at today’s Australia Day Awards. Amber makes a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of children and families on a local, national and international level. Along with being the driving force behind Tiny Sparks, she volunteers her time to passionately advocate for others with a number of other organisations such as Telethon Kids Institute and the Child and Adolescent Health Service. Bravo Amber!
Developmental Playgroup Program Expansion
We are incredibly excited to announce that we have received generous funding from Telethon 7 to expand Developmental Playgroup! This year Developmental Playgroup will be running from two locations, Ability WA in Coolbinia and Ability WA in Canning Vale.
Each group will run fortnightly during school terms. Tuesday mornings at Canning Vale and Wednesday mornings at Coolbinia. The session time is 10am - 11:30am. Each session is facilitated by an experienced Play Leader and attended by suitably qualified and experienced Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist or Speech Pathologist on a rotational basis.
A maximum of 12 children are accepted into each group on a first come first served basis. The groups are broken up as follows:
6 months to Walking
Walking to age 3
Limiting the number of participants ensures the specialists can observe each child (through play) during the session, however is not intended to be a substitute for one-on-one therapy. Placements in the program are heavily subsidised by grants and our fundraising efforts. We are therefore unable to offer any further discounts or pro-rata fees.
A strict wellness policy applies as the attendees are considered 'medically fragile' and we ask that anyone who has been unwell in the prior 48 hours to avoid attending the group. In the event of a COVID related lockdown (stay at home orders) the sessions will move to an online format to ensure continuity and connection.
We are so very grateful to Telethon 7 for their contribution! Their generous support will facilitate 192 playgroup placements in 2022.
Christmas 2021
Spending your baby’s first Christmas in hospital can be stressful and have a huge emotional impact on families. We truly understand what families are experiencing because several of our co-founders spent their baby’s first Christmas in NICU too. When establishing Tiny Sparks in 2013 we knew it would be important to assist families to celebrate all of the special occasions, to bring them a little cheer, and to let them know we care.
Since then each year we’ve had the absolute privilege of working with the gorgeous family behind Foote and Flame to create a unique ‘Baby’s 1st Christmas’ ornament. Year on year they have so very generously donated the ornaments to form part of our gift.
Our Crafty Creators have also worked hard each year to ensure a gift made with love, that can be treasured forever is provided to every baby. This year is no exception with hundreds of stockings and quilts received.
We know that any time a baby is separated from their family for medical care has an impact. It doesn’t matter if the separation is a few hours, days, weeks or months, it isn’t the way any family ever imagined it would be. This is why we send gifts out to all hospitals all over our great state of Western Australia. The families in Bunbury, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Albany, Broome and others are often overlooked, but need just a such support and care.
As 2021 comes to a close we wish you all a magical holiday period and a healthy and happy 2022.
Christmas auction 2021
For the very first time we are running a Christmas Auction on Facebook to raise much needed funds for our programs in 2022. Everything from sporting memorabilia to Rotto ferry tickets is up for grabs! You can view all of the auction items, including reading all of the terms and conditions in our Christmas Auction Album here. We invite you to share this with your family and friends, the more bids we receive the more families we can assist in 2022. Happy Bidding!!
November Coffee Morning
Our final coffee morning for 2021 will be held next Monday 29/11 from 10am at Biara Cafe (formerly Stickybeaks) at Kings Park. This will be a lovely opportunity to celebrate our 8th Birthday and close off Neonatal November celebrations. Along with the usual pregnancy, birth and beyond chatter our Crafty Creators are very welcome to join in or drop by, to pass along any final items for the year.
