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The heart of A Very Special Day
September 22, 2026
Thanks to the generosity of our community and the support of matching partners who doubled donations throughout the day, A Very Special Day has raised an incredible $560,600 and counting for children with life-limiting conditions and their families.
The stories behind the day
One of the stories shared during A Very Special Day came from Sue, whose family has been connected with Very Special Kids for more than 30 years.
On A Very Special Day, Sue shared:
“Today is a day full of emotions for me. This year 34 years ago I was 25 and a half weeks pregnant with twins. I was at work and my water broke. To say I was in shock was an understatement.
Fast forward all those years to today and we have been supported by Very Special Kids through some of our worst moments, after both of our twin boys, Frazer and Pierce, died. They passed away 16 years apart and Very Special Kids has supported us for the past 31 years. Thank you.”
We invite you to revisit this video recorded with Sue and her family in 2008, offering a glimpse into a relationship with Very Special Kids that spans decades.
The day also highlighted the many ways families choose to honour the memory of a child while helping others.
Among them was the family of Lucie, who set out to raise $150 in her memory. By the end of A Very Special Day, the family’s community had donated a very generous $12,000, creating a lasting tribute to Lucie while helping other families access the care and support they may one day need.
Lucie’s mum, Kath, reflected on the support her family received following Lucie’s death.
“We all spent four nights with Lucie at Very Special Kids after she died and we were treated so well. It was extremely sad but also so comforting to be surrounded by such wonderful professionals.”
A Very Special Day was also shaped by the generosity of families who shared their stories to help others understand the impact of Very Special Kids.
We are grateful to the families of Ali, Alba and Very Special Kids Advisor Beatrice for sharing their experiences throughout the campaign, helping shine a light on the realities of living with a life-limiting condition and the importance of children’s hospice care.
We also thank Very Special Kids Advisor Charlotte for helping spread the message and encouraging supporters to be part of the day.
Our Board Room was a hive of activity on A Very Special Day, with a wonderful team of volunteers hitting the phones to speak with our supporters, , processing donations and making sure every donation is doubled across the 24 hours.
Because of your generosity, families facing the unimaginable will continue to find care, comfort and connection through Very Special Kids. Thank you for making A Very Special Day truly special for the children and families who rely on us.
Thank you to our matching partners and private philanthropic donors, whose generosity helped amplify the impact of every gift on A Very Special Day.
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Meet Charlotte: Very Special Kids Advisor
September 20, 2026
Sixteen-year-old Charlotte is a Very Special Kids Advisor.
In her role, Charlotte draws on her lived experience with a life-limiting condition to help shape our services and programs. Learn more about her here.
My strengths:
- I am kind, caring, fun and positive
- I am resilient and persistent – I don’t give up easily
- I am very good at connecting with people
- I love playing with kids and people
- I enjoy learning people’s names and how they communicate
Things I love:
Colouring in
Talking and hanging out with friends
Being on my phone
Dog
Netball – I play club netball as a goal shooter
Cooking and baking sweet food
My family
My carer Jane
My favourites:
Colour: light blue or sky blue
Food: my nan’s lasagne and watermelon
Music: country and pop songs
Fun fact: I am getting an assistance dog called Teddy (he is in training and I am very excited!)
Why I was interested in the Very Special Kids Advisor role:
- I like helping, supporting and encouraging people
- I want people to feel welcomed, included and not alone
- Supporting others makes me feel happy and purposeful
- I like making people smile
What matters most to me:
Inclusion is extremely important to me.
When others are left out, it makes me feel sad. I feel best when people are kind, inclusive and understanding.
We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Charlotte. Stay tuned as we introduce another Very Special Kids advisor next month.
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Meet our Very Special Advisors
August 26, 2026
A new pilot initiative is giving children and young people with life-limiting conditions a direct voice in shaping services at Very Special Kids.
Inspired by the success of our other sibling advisory groups, the Very Special Kids Advisors bring together young people directly supported by Very Special Kids to share ideas, give feedback and support other children and young people in the hospice.
The Very Special Kids Advisors:
- Help adults understand what children and young people need
- Makes sure information is easy to read and understand
- share ideas to improve the support and services offered by Very Special Kids.
Their perspectives can help make things better for every child and young person connected with Very Special Kids.
Meet our first three Very Special Kids Advisors and hear what inspired them to get involved:
“I like meeting new people and talking to them.”
Beatrice, 8, who lives with infant-onset FSHD muscular dystrophy
“I want people to feel welcomed, included and not alone.”
Charlotte, 16, who lives with Labrune syndrome
“I want other kids to enjoy staying here as much as I do.”
Ethan, 16, who lives with congenital methaemoglobinaemia type II
Over the coming months, we’ll introduce each of our Very Special Kids Advisors and share more about the unique perspectives they bring to the group.
A very special thank you to the Newsboys Foundation for partially funding the Very Special Kids Advisor initiative.
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Mia’s goodbye
August 7, 2026
Dying to Know Day encourages open conversations about death, dying and grief, helping build understanding so people feel better prepared and supported when loss touches their lives.
For families supported by Very Special Kids, these conversations are part of everyday life. They are deeply personal experiences that are navigated with compassion, care and the support of people who understand what families are facing.
For one family, that care provided something precious in the midst of unimaginable loss – time with their very special child, Mia.
Thirteen years together
For 13 years, Mia defied expectations.
As her mum Margie shares:
“Mia’s doctors said she would never leave hospital. They said she wouldn’t make it to her first birthday. We celebrated 13 amazing birthdays together.”
Born with an extremely rare brain malformation called holoprosencephaly, Mia required around-the-clock complex care.
Over time, Very Special Kids became a trusted part of family life. Through respite care, family activities and support, Margie found comfort knowing Mia was in safe hands.
To me Very Special Kids means trust.
The children’s hospice is the only place that I can feel Mia is safe when she’s not in my care.
While Mia lived with complex medical needs, her family continued celebrating the milestones, moments and memories they shared together.
Then, one morning, everything changed.
“Mia just didn’t wake up one morning.”
The hours that followed are largely a blur for Margie.
Among the people who stepped in was Very Special Kids family support practitioner Jenn, who has walked alongside the family throughout Mia’s life.
Jenn helped coordinate the practical arrangements that followed, including Mia’s transport to the Balam Balam suite at Very Special Kids House for after death care.
Later that evening, Margie received a call from Jenn.
“Jenn said, ‘We’ve picked up Mia, she’s here with us.'”
For Margie, those words brought comfort at a time when everything felt uncertain.
“I just didn’t want her at the coroner’s, not even for one more night.”
A week with Mia
For Margie, after-death care provided something she never expected to have: time.
A week to sit beside her daughter. A week to hold her hand. A week to begin saying goodbye.
The private, home-like Balam Balam suite gave Mia’s family the space and privacy to spend quality time together.
Friends and family could visit when it felt right. They could come and go as needed, while the nursing team provided specialised care for Mia’s body.
Reflecting on that time, Margie says:
“In that week she was there, it was when I was at my most peaceful.”
After such a sudden loss, it also gave her the opportunity to begin saying goodbye.
“Because we didn’t get time to say goodbye. It was time for me to say goodbye.”
Throughout the week, Margie maintained physical contact with Mia. Staff helped create precious keepsakes through memory-making activities, while family and friends spent time together sharing stories and memories.
“It was beautiful, the little things that I would never have ever thought of.”
Support extended beyond Margie alone. Jenn helped young family members understand what had happened to Mia. Family accommodation, meals and practical guidance eased some of the burden during an extraordinarily difficult time.
A final farewell
When it came time to say goodbye, Mia’s life was honoured at Very Special Kids House through a Guard of Honour.
Very Special Kids staff lined the hallway and gathered outside the hospice, standing together in tribute as Mia’s family and friends came together for a final farewell. Surrounded by the people who loved her most, a song was sung in Mia’s honour before she was transported to her final resting place.
One memory from that morning has stayed with Margie.
A nurse who had helped care for Mia the night before had returned after finishing her shift, simply to be there and pay her respects.
“People came back from night shift for Mia, to say goodbye.”
For Margie, those small acts of care spoke volumes.
“You couldn’t make that up.”
Beyond Balam Balam
For Margie, what stands out most is the trust she has in Very Special Kids.
We trust Very Special Kids with our kids when they are alive.
We can trust them even more when they’re not here.
Like many bereaved families, grief support did not end when Margie’s family left the Balam Balam suite.
“I’m so appreciative of what Jenn and Very Special Kids did in the next few weeks and even up to now.
“My family remembers her and the impact she had, she always made herself available and helpful.”
Through counselling, peer support and bereavement programs, she continues to connect with others who understand her experience.
One of those places is a Very Special Kids scrapbooking group, Creating Memories, where she creates keepsakes of Mia alongside other bereaved parents.
“You feel safe. You feel safe to be a grieving mum.”
Through life, death and beyond
At Very Special Kids, support extends far beyond clinical care. Families can access respite, counselling and sibling support, as well as end-of-life care, after-death care and bereavement support, all provided free of charge.
Whether a child’s death is expected or unexpected, families are given the time, space and compassionate support they need to navigate what comes next.
For Margie, that support continues to make a difference every day.
And for Mia, it helped create something precious: the time for her family to say goodbye.
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Lachie’s story
June 15, 2026
“Lachie’s now learning to walk with a walking frame. He likes chasing his little sister and he’s always trying to run over people’s toes.
He’s a bit cheeky!”
When Lachie was two-and-a-half years old, he was diagnosed with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease, or ‘PMD’ as it’s known.
PMD is a rare genetic condition that affects the coating around the nerves, stopping messages travelling from his brain to his body.
Lachie knows what he wants, but due to his condition, his body often won’t comply.
Like the conditions of so many very special children, PMD has no effective treatment, and no hope for a cure.
“First we thought, ‘At least we know what’s going on and he won’t get any worse’.
Then we found out Lachie’s condition was progressive. That was a really big blow.”
Despite everything, Lachie is still very much a happy child. He lives with his mum, dad, and little sister, Jasmine, on a country block in Goulburn Valley.
The great outdoors, Alanna says, is where Lachie loves to be.
“He’s a cheeky, happy-go-lucky boy who takes everything in his stride. We’ve got a paddock out the back and he loves spending time there with the sheep.”
But their joy is mixed with heartache as Lachie’s condition will worsen as he grows.
For families of very special kids outside major cities, specialised paediatric care can mean hours of travel, time away from home, and long periods separated from support networks – during the very moments they need them most.
Then there’s the profound sense of isolation, which is all too familiar to Lachie’s mum, Alanna.
“It can feel really lonely sometimes. There aren’t many other families with very special children around here. Even your wider family doesn’t always get it. People say, ‘Oh yeah, that’d be hard,’ but they don’t really understand.”
After Lachie was diagnosed, his family were referred to Very Special Kids and received their own family support practitioner, Jenni.
Alanna sums it up as: “life-changing”.
“When Jenni first came out and did a home visit, it was so lovely. She’s seen many other families in similar situations, so she gets it. She just understands. She’s such an easy person to talk to.”
“Matt will be in the kitchen cooking, while Jenni and I will sit at the table and have a chat. Because it’s not a clinical setting, it feels refreshing, not draining.”
Like every family support practitioner, Jenni has an extremely heavy caseload.
She tirelessly supports over 40 very special children and their families right across the Hume region in country Victoria. As Jenni herself explains:
“All family support practitioners are at full capacity. We’re constantly having to triage families and make difficult decisions about which family should take priority.”
We simply need more practitioners.
It’s never been more necessary.
We urgently need your help to hire more family support practitioners, so that wherever a family with a seriously ill child is in Victoria, there’s someone to walk beside them, providing advice, support, and respite care at Very Special Kids House.
For now, Lachie is defying what the doctors said was possible. But his family lives with the constant uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring.
Please make a donation today to ensure Lachie’s family, and others like them, have someone beside them for every step still to come.
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24 hours stepping up for Frankie
May 15, 2026
When Harry steps up to the treadmill on Friday 29 May, he’ll be thinking of his daughter Frankie.
“It’s not really about me, it’s about raising awareness,” he says as he limbers up for the hours long challenge alongside his brother Tom.
Frankie lives with MPS Sanfilippo Type A, a form of rapidly progressing childhood dementia that is life-limiting.
As her condition advances, the four-year-old is expected to gradually lose skills many children take for granted, including the ability to walk, talk, sleep and eat. It is this reality that gives purpose to every step Harry is preparing to take.
“We aren’t renowned as the best runners,” Harry says with a laugh.
Still, the brother duo has taken on the Very Special Kids’ 24-Hour Treadmill Challenge to give back to a charity that has walked alongside Frankie, their family and others facing life-limiting childhood illness.
With the support of his workplace, JLL, Harry and Tom are already in the final stretch towards their ambitious $100,000 goal.
“What really matters is what it makes possible,” Harry says.
“Every dollar we’ve raised so far can make a meaningful difference for families like ours. The support from our community has been hugely motivating, and we hope people continue to get behind it and help us finish strong.”
For her parents, Harry and Bella, Frankie’s diagnosis in September 2025 followed months of unanswered questions.
“Call it a mother’s intuition, but Bella always knew that something was up,” Harry remembers. “Frankie just wasn’t hitting milestones.”
When their second child, Freddy, was born, the gaps became harder to ignore. Bella and Harry attended countless doctor appointments, searching for answers for their little girl.
When the diagnosis finally came, it brought heartbreak, but also clarity.
“It didn’t bring relief,” Harry says.
“But at least it helped us understand what we were facing.”
Soon after, the family was referred to Very Special Kids.
They have since accessed respite care at the purpose-built hospice, where nurses and healthcare professionals provide around-the-clock support.
“It’s fantastic having Very Special Kids as a resource,” Harry says.
“Frankie loves performing or playing with the music instruments in the music therapy space. She also loves her trips down the street with the hospice staff for sushi and icecream treats.”
Support extends beyond medical care. The family also receives specialised counseling that reflects the complexity of living with a child’s life-limiting condition.
“Compared to other counselling services, Very Special Kids has a better understanding of what families are going through. It makes it a lot easier to talk about the feelings of grief I’m going through.”
For Harry, that support is personal. It meets Frankie where she is, and wraps around the whole family, adapting as their needs change and ensuring no one is navigating this alone.
“In my eyes it doesn’t feel like palliative care. It feels like support. It feels like respite.”
After being introduced to Very Special Kids, Harry and his brother Tom were keen to find a way to give back.
“I didn’t realise how much Very Special Kids relies on donations” Harry says. “Seeing how much Frankie enjoys it, I wanted to do something.”
Frankie will be cheering on her dad and uncle during the 24-Hour Treadmill Challenge, giving them that extra push to keep going.
“It’ll be pretty difficult not to hold back emotions,” Harry says. “I hope she’s proud of her uncle and father.”
The 24-Hour Treadmill Challenge is about more than endurance. Across 24 hours, individuals, families, businesses and teams come together, each with their own reason for stepping up, united by a shared goal to support children and young people with life-limiting conditions.
It also opens the door for honest conversations, creating space for people to ask questions and better understand what palliative care means in their own communities.
Very Special Kids aims to raise $1 million through the 24-Hour Treadmill Challenge, ensuring that more families like Frankie’s can access the care and support they need, when they need it most.
From 9am on Friday 29 to 9am on Saturday 30 May, the community will come together to make that possible.
To cheer on and support participants visit vsktreadmill.org.au.
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Mila’s story
April 30, 2026
As Mother’s Day approaches, messages celebrating motherhood begin to fill screens, shops and inboxes.
For many, this time of year brings joy and connection. For others, it can carry a different kind of weight that is layered with grief, remembrance and longing.
This is the experience of families like Mila’s.
Mila was born with a rare neonatal condition that meant her life would be heartbreakingly short. Sadly, she died on the day she was born.
After Mila’s death, her parents, Ashley and Gene, stayed at Very Special Kids House. Surrounded by care and support, they were able to spend precious time with their baby and found the comfort they needed to begin to grieve. Ashley shares,
Having a private space for our family at Very Special Kids meant everything during the most heartbreaking time of our lives.
It gave us the dignity to grieve together, in our own time and in our own way, while being close to our baby.
That space allowed Ashley and her family to slow down, to stay present with Mila, and to choose how and when to share those moments with others.
“We welcomed friends and family when it felt right for us, so they could meet Mila in a calm, light‑filled space that felt safe and peaceful.
It truly became a beautiful oasis. Somewhere we could stay close to Mila, hold her, talk to her, and spend those precious final moments together without feeling rushed or watched.”
Support for the entire family
During this precious time, Mila’s family created meaningful keepsakes through memory‑making activities, including a handprint painting, to honour her life.
Ashley’s older children, Charlotte and Ezra, were also supported during this time, with dedicated spaces and care designed to help them feel safe, comforted and supported.
“Charlotte and Ezra absolutely loved their time at Very Special Kids House.
They connected with the caring staff and enjoyed spending time with the other children. The freedom to move between the different spaces gave them a sense of comfort and control, which was so important during such an uncertain time.
They especially loved the soft play area and the music room. Places where they could just be kids.“
As parents, having our family support practitioner Justine there to support Charlotte and Ezra was incredibly reassuring. She helped them begin to understand and process their emotions, which in turn gave us the space and time to process our own grief.
When it came time to leave Very Special Kids House, Mila’s life was honoured in a way that has stayed deeply with her family.
“The Guard of Honour was an incredibly meaningful and powerful way to say goodbye to Mila. Seeing so many staff members standing silently, taking part in the farewell, was a moment that will stay with us forever.”
What continues to resonate most for Ashley is the respect and care shown to Mila throughout her short life, and beyond.
“It was incredibly meaningful to have the nurses check on her, both during the day and throughout the night. They spoke to her gently, treated her with such respect, and honoured her presence in a way I will never forget.
It made me feel like her life, and even her body after she passed, mattered to them too, not just to me.”
Very Special Kids offers families a range of holistic services, including after death care, at no cost. These supports exist to ensure families are surrounded by dignity, compassion and understanding at the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
As Mother’s Day approaches, it is important that our wider community stay mindful of the many ways this time can be experienced. Bereaved Mother’s Day, held on the first Sunday of May, honours mothers whose children have died and recognises that motherhood, care and love continue long after goodbye.
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Storme’s story
February 26, 2026
Storme always drew people in and made them feel part of his world.
An old soul with a cheeky grin, he spoke his mind with fearless honesty and always carried confidence well beyond his years.
Helen first started caring for Storme when he was five years old, and his magnetic personality shone through immediately:
“He was so intelligent, unique and funny…his personality would suck you in, and he just fell into your heart,” she recalls.
“He didn’t care if you were a child, a teacher, a principal, a doctor, a specialist, a surgeon. He just spoke to you. He had no fear and would say it how it was.”
Storme continued to embody these traits, even when life took an unimaginable turn.
It all began with something so ordinary: a runny nose.
What seemed like a minor irritation slowly became something more, leading to months of uncertainty and, eventually, a terrifying diagnosis for nine-year-old Storme.
Esthesioneuroblastoma. A very rare cancer, usually reserved for men in their 60s or 70s.
The severity of his disease didn’t really hit home until palliative care began being discussed.
Very Special Kids made the transition a softer landing, Storme’s mum Helen admits.
“At first it was just a hard no. Then we had another conversation. I didn’t feel like I was being pressured. They just planted a seed,” she said.
After Storme and Helen settled into Very Special Kids House, it quickly became a warm and safe space for them both.
“I used to love when people would visit Storme there. They’d walk in and Storme would say, “Can you sit here and watch me play my PS5?”… They realised it wasn’t sad and depressing and see him having fun and being happy.”
It was a stark change to their hospital memories, particularly when it came to mealtime.
With Storme’s dietary issues, he avoided any hospital meals, which added a lot of pressure on Helen to meal prep for every hospital visit, long or short.
At Very Special Kids, with an in-house cook, it was a huge change.
“Storme would have cravings, sometimes it’d be salty, because with the cancer, it affects your sense of smell and taste and he’d say, “I feel like potato cakes”, she remembers.
“Or they made what they called a cheesy beano. Egg, beans and cheese in a sandwich and Storme would be in the kitchen and love to help.”
In those final weeks of Storme’s life, the hospice quickly became the Ballarat-based families Melbourne home.
“Very Special Kids were probably the most accommodating organisation I dealt with. I was able to sleep in his room with him and have extra space when I needed it to arrange appointments and catch-ups.”
“I knew Storme was being really well looked after and happy and feeling safe,” Helen said.
When it was time to say goodbye, Helen found solace in the care and familiarity of Very Special Kids.
She spent several days in the Balam Balam suite – a private, peaceful space that gave her the time and privacy she needed to be with Storme after his death.
“I have no doubt that was the best for Storme, the environment,” she says.
“I was truly able to be with Storme in those last days. I didn’t have to worry about anything else. Food got put under my nose, people came and left.
“I was just there to be beside Storme. And I don’t know another place that would’ve allowed it that way.”
Looking back, Helen says there’s so much she would share with other families facing the same situation. “I’m a planner, and I thought, ‘Okay, I’d like this, this, and this. This is how I want it to be.’ But when the time came, some things I did differently, and some I didn’t do at all.
“It was good to know these plans were just ideas, and if things changed, that was okay.”
Reflecting on the time since Storme’s death, Helen shared, “I have some really hard days, and it’s really lovely still being able to talk to Very Special Kids…I felt really close, really supported.”
Storme’s memory is never far from Helen’s mind.
“We do a lot of stuff that Storme did,” she says. “He was very competitive and loved playing board games, so we often think about him when we play one now.”
“I’m just really thankful I got the chance to have Storme in my life.”
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How you can support families during the holidays
December 16, 2025
The festive season can be an emotionally charged time that brings on mixed feelings of joy, love, nostalgia and stress. For parents and siblings of children with life-limiting conditions – and families who are grieving – this time of year can also be clouded by feelings of grief, isolation and heightened sensitivity.
Whether it’s Christmas, Ramadan, Easter, Diwali, Hanukkah or New Year celebrations, festive occasions can serve as poignant moments of reflection.
While others celebrate, we grieve; while our friends and extended families share joy, we anticipate an impossible loss in our future.
– Anonymous family
At Very Special Kids, we want to ensure all families in our care feel supported during the holiday season. We’ve compiled some helpful tips to show how friends and extended family can be there for their loved ones at this busy time of year:
Ask, don’t assume
Grieving families and those managing a child’s complex health condition have unique needs. It’s important to ask what would make their holiday season easier, instead of making an assumption on their behalf.
For example, while one bereaved family might appreciate having their child’s memory acknowledged at the dinner table, this might be difficult for a sibling who struggles with grief in public. Where possible, enquire in advance or in a private setting. This simple gesture can help ensure you respect boundaries while still showing you care.
Send the invite
An invitation can go a long way, especially for a family who may be feeling isolated from their community. Make it clear that there is no pressure to accept, and that the invitation is extended with understanding that they may need space or be unable to participate.
This gesture can provide a sense of belonging and show that they’re still valued and included, even if they can’t fully engage.
The gift of practical support
The logistical and emotional challenges of the holiday season can often be overwhelming for families who have or have had a child with a life-limiting condition. Be mindful of their ability to participate in events, contribute to meals or engage in gift giving. Offering flexibility in these areas can alleviate a lot of stress.
For example, you might be able to help with meal deliveries, offer to take care of errands or organise a spring cleaning to help the family start the new year fresh. Additionally, if a family has a child with complex health needs, be prepared and accommodating of any last-minute cancellations or changes that are out of their control.
Create inclusive and comfortable environments
Try to make your celebration inclusive for everyone. For example, if a child with complex needs is attending you might need to adjust the environment to accommodate a wheelchair or temperature regulations, have a quiet space the family can retreat to or leave space in the fridge for special dietary requirements.
For bereaved families, it can be helpful to ask how they would appreciate their child being honoured on days like Christmas. This could be as simple as including a special ornament on the tree, a candle on the table or spoken words of acknowledgement during your celebration. Having this foresight can help some families feel more prepared when arriving at a full, noisy home of people.
Thoughtful gift ideas
A gesture like tickets to a family outing, a show or an experience can be a wonderful way to show your support and help families create beautiful lasting memories together.
For bereaved families, it can be a lovely gesture to provide a gift in memory of their child. For example, you might donate a gift that the child may have liked at the age they would be now or make a donation to a charity in their child’s memory.
While the holiday season can be a joyful time for many, it is important to recognise that some may be experiencing different emotions this holiday season. Thoughtful gestures of kindness, understanding and support can make the world of difference.
If you are a Very Special Kids‘ family and need someone to talk to, please reach out to your family support practitioner or call 03 9804 6253 between business hours Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).
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Four ways to spread cheer this Christmas
December 5, 2025
The end of the year can be a challenging time for many families we support. As school finishes and caring responsibilities intensify, we take extra care to support families during this time.
The holiday season brings a lot of joy but also highlights what is missing. For families who celebrate Christmas, it can be a mix of special and sad moments. We’re honoured to support them as they cope with grief and slowly build new memories.
That’s why your involvement matters more than ever. Every act of kindness can help bring comfort and joy in simple, meaningful ways. Here are four ways you can spread cheer this festive season:
Pick the Perfect Tree
Looking for a fresh Christmas tree? Malvern Xmas Trees is once again selling beautiful trees from the front lawn of Very Special Kids, with a percentage of proceeds supporting our work.
Where: 321 Glenferrie Road, Malvern
When: Saturday 29 November to Sunday 21 December (or until sold out)
Hours: 10am to 5pm weekdays, 7am to 5pm Saturdays and 8am to 5pm Sundays
Pop in, choose your tree, and know your purchase is helping families in need this Christmas.
Light up the season
Across our community, incredible supporters are decorating their homes with dazzling Christmas lights – not just to spread festive cheer, but to raise funds for Very Special Kids.
If you know someone who loves going all out (or maybe it’s you!), why not join in? It’s a beautiful way to celebrate the season and make a difference.
The perfect stocking stuffer
Our Christmas Elf and Santa piggy banks are bringing plenty of holiday cheer this month!
For just $15, these festive little piggies make the perfect stocking stuffer or Secret Santa gift –and every purchase helps support children and families in need.
Support families like Emma
This year’s Christmas Appeal shares the story of nine-year-old Emma, who lives with a rare genetic condition that causes cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and affects her hearing and vision.
Though Emma is non-verbal, she has her own way of communicating and expressing who she is, including doing some festive artwork with child life therapist Cassie at Very Special Kids House.
As her mum Ashley explains, Emma speaks with her heart:
“Cuddles are her absolute favourite thing…that tells you so much about her. She shows the world nothing but love, despite everything it’s thrown at her. But she is on borrowed time”
Emma’s mum Ashley appreciates every single Christmas, every photo they get to have with Santa as a family. Because they never know when it may be their last.
Your Christmas gift could help provide Emma’s family the comfort of knowing they won’t have to face the holiday season – and beyond – alone.
Every tree purchased, every light displayed, every donation made helps us provide vital care and support to children with life-limiting conditions and their families.
Thank you to all our supporters who help us make the festive season a bit brighter for families in our care.
