Late last year we were able to support two significant projects in conjunction with West Welcome Wagon and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

With their connections to over 400 families in the west, West Welcome Wagon are a great resource to provide direct support families in need, so much so, resources and support are delivered directly to the families’ front doors.

“All items are delivered directly to clients’ homes by volunteers. It is great to see the families we support,” said volunteer Catherine Ryan.

West Welcome Wagon is relies fully on the help of volunteers. At a time of a nationwide shortage of volunteers, it was a huge effort to plan and coordinate their Christmas Toy Drive deliveries with the delivery of their Back-to-School packs prior to Christmas in a huge effort minimise double-handling.

Both community and corporate volunteers, spent countless hours gift wrapping donated toys and packing backpacks ensuring none of the 400 families with school-age children missed out.

While the team were continuing to provide some last-minute school essentials last week, in total they have provided nearly 200 uniform vouchers, 540 backpacks and backpack refill kits as well as 10 CAS calculators for senior maths students.

“We are hearing about the cost-of-living increases and this time of the year places a heavy burden on families. We hope that with our assistance, the children of our clients will arrive at school prepared and ready to learn,” said Catherine.

West Welcome Wagon welcomes individual and workplace volunteers throughout the year to pack resources ready to be delivered to families in need. Both daytime and after work options are available. Learn more – www.westwelcomewagon.org.au/volunteer

From the team at Community Bank Seddon, we thank our community for the Toy Drive donations before Christmas as well as the ongoing support of our customers who enable us to support vital local projects such as these.