There is a new call to Lifeline every minute somewhere in Australia. It is estimated that every day, 180 people attempt suicide. That’s more than one new attempt in Australia every 10 minutes.
Suicide remains the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15-44. Suicide accounts for more than one in five deaths of younger Australians. Men account for four out of every five deaths by suicide. More people die from suicide in Australia than in road related transport deaths. More people die from suicide in Australia than from skin cancer.
Lifeline provides access to crisis support, suicide prevention and mental health support services. Lifeline also provides national services and campaigns that promote emotional wellbeing, encourage help seeking, and address suicide prevention and awareness. They currently answer around 1,800 calls each day, with around 50 calls from people at high risk of suicide.
If you, or anyone you know, are in crisis, or experiencing suicidal thoughts or feelings, please talk to someone, and get help. Lifeline are only a phone call away. Phone their 24 hour crisis line on
13 11 14
We all have a role to play in suicide prevention. My life, and the lives of many of us, have been affected by the suicide of loved ones, and I will be donating 10% of all The Silver Forge sales this month to this very worthy cause. Please help if you can.
When I was a child, we used to get books through our school from the Scholastic Book Club – oh, the bliss of choosing books, and their happy arrival some weeks later! (This was obviously the start of what would later become my love of online shopping 🙂 )
One of the books I chose, and have loved and re-read many times over the years, was ‘The King of the Barbareens’ by Janet Hitchman. It is Janet’s autobiography of her childhood in foster care in the early 1900’s. Towards the end of a childhood in and out of various foster homes, Janet was placed in a Barnardos’ Home. Janet’s story is fascinating and touching – a really good read. Her time at Barnardos always stayed in my mind, and I have chosen Barnardos Australia as The Silver Forge’s worthy cause for this month.
The Barnardos website says: “Dr Barnardo was born in Dublin in 1845 and originally studied medicine in order to become a missionary in China. However, while a student in London he worked part-time in a ‘Ragged School’ and became aware of the poverty and homeless children in that city.
On realising that one of his students, ten year old Jim Jarvis had no family or home Barnardo asked the boy to show him the conditions under which he lived. Jim showed him Stepney Street and Dr Barnardo became aware of the terrible living conditions of these often young children. He estimated that there were 30,000 homeless children living on the streets of the West End.
Barnardo originally opened a mission for the children but was given donations to buy two cottages, which allowed him to establish the ‘East End Juvenile Mission’.
Barnardo abandoned his missionary plans in China in 1870 when MP Samuel Smith offered him one thousand pounds to work with the homeless. Barnardo rented a house at 18 Stepney Causeway and this became his first boys home. The house took 25 boys but many others had to be turned away because of lack of money and space. One of the boys turned away was 11 year old ‘Carrots’ who died of cold and hunger some days after. Barnardo decided that no other child should die this way and declared that “no destitute boy or girl ever be refused admission”.
In 1873 Barnardo married and opened a home for girls at Mossford Lodge. Ten years later Barnardo had 1,000 children in his care. A second Home, Leopold House, was opened in London, followed by Homes in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Newcastle and Liverpool. All Homes were open to children regardless of race or creed.
Barnardo began to foster children out to families and during his lifetime arranged foster care for over 4,000 children. He also worked with children with disabilities. He opened a small hospital in Stepney Street and the Children’s Fold in Ilford. These were followed by Homes in Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Barnardos’ emphasis on education and training led to a search for opportunities in the colonies. In 1882 the first Barnardos boys sailed for Canada. In 1883, a party of eight boys left Barnardo’s Stepney Home to start a new life in Australia.
Lack of suitable supervision during the long voyage delayed the immigration program – but Barnardos maintained contact with Australia by sending a party of ‘Musical Boys’ to tour Australia and New Zealand in 1891-92. Apart from bringing tangible proof of the work of Barnardos, they also raised 10,000 pounds. The money raised from this tour and a subsequent tour in 1902-03 was used to build the Australasian Hospital at the Girls’ Village at Barkingside. Thus, the link between the two nations was forged.”
Today, Barnardos Australia helps to stop child abuse. They find safe homes for abused children and young people, work with families to prevent abuse and use our knowledge to improve the future of disadvantaged Australian children. 10% of all sales from The Silver Forge shop for this month will be donated to Barnardos Australia to help with their valuable work assisting abused and vulnerable children. Do what you can to help!
The Silver Forge has very kindly been invited to have a market stall at ‘Christmas By Grace‘, so this Saturday, if you’re in Brisbane, why not come along!
‘Christmas by Grace’ is Grace Lutheran Primary School’s Christmas fundraising event, comprising of twilight market stalls, amusements for children, ‘Carols by Candlelight’ and fireworks to end the night. It will be held on Dalton Oval, 38 Maine Road, Clontarf on Saturday, 30th November, from 3.00 – 9.00pm. I’d love to see you there!
Since its inception over 60 years ago, Meals on Wheels has been a household name here in Australia. While age and disability may reduce some people’s capacity to get out and about, Meals on Wheels helps make it possible for them to stay in their homes (where most people are happiest), and maintain some independence.
Delivery of nutritious meals, social interaction and regular visits ensure a clients’ wellbeing and can help people live the lives they choose.
Each year, over 14.8 million meals are delivered by more than 78,700 ‘Meals on Wheels’ volunteers to about 53,000 recipients Australia wide in cities, regional and rural areas.
This month, I will be donating 10% of all The Silver Forge sales to Meals on Wheels. So pop over to The Silver Forge shop now, treat yourself, AND do your bit to help this worthy cause!
I recently picked up a copy of Ian Mannix’s ‘Great Australian Bushfire Stories’, and I found myself unable to put it down until I had read it cover to cover.The real and moving stories of everyday people’s experiences with bushfire that are contained within it affected me more deeply than any book I’ve read for a long time. In particular, it was a bizzare experience to read about the 2003 Canberra bushfires. I lived in one of the suburbs on the outskirts of Canberra at the time, and vividly remember the blackened skies and billowing smoke, and the preparations I was directed to make to my home in case the fire swung around and headed our way. I was lucky, unlike so many others, but it brought home to me what a dangerous and unpredictable country we live in, and how circumstances can change in an instant, uncontrollable flames spreading (literally) like wildfire, threatening (and taking) lives and property mindlessly. Reading Ian’s book brought a new dimension to the madness and terror that being caught up in a bushfire must be filled with.
We are extremely lucky that we have a valiant and heroic team of volunteers, who risk their own lives to protect those of others. Here in Queensland, our rural fire brigades are made up of more than 1,400 volunteer brigades, and more than 34,000 volunteers (both firefighters and support members). The Rural Fire Brigade Association of Queensland also support the 2,600 rural fire wardens who are an integral and highly valued part of the rural fire fighting movement – many of them volunteer firefighters as well.
These volunteers protect their local and wider communities: not only by fighting bushfires, but also attending house fires, assisting with flood preparation and clean up; providing support in cyclone preparation and clean up; and helping the community through hazard reduction burning, and delivering the ‘Prepare, Act, Survive’ message. Brigades work closely with other agencies such as local councils, SES, Department of Main Roads and Forestry and this close working relationship helps local brigades meet local community needs.
This month, while contemplating which worthy cause I could support, I was fortuitously inspired by my friend from the lovely MadeIt shops ‘i made this for you‘ and ‘..and then some‘, who has had her own experiences with bushfire, and I’m glad to say The Silver Forge will be donating 10% of all sales to the Rural Fire Brigade Association of Queensland. Please help support this worthy cause, either directly or by purchasing something from The Silver Forge shop, won’t you!
This month’s worthy cause is the Australian Marine Conservation Society. AMCS is an independent charity. It is staffed by a committed group of professional and passionate scientists, educators and advocates. It has defended Australia’s oceans for over 45 years. AMCS work tirelessly to create sustainable fisheries, protect threatened species, tackle threats to our oceans and to create marine sanctuaries.
I love the sea, and it is such a source of inspiration to me, so I like to help protect and save our beautiful ocean habitat! Therefore, I will be giving 10% of all sales for the month to the Australian Marine Conservation Society to support their good works. Head over to The Silver Forge Shop now and do your bit. The threat to our environment is getting worse by the day. Without clean healthy oceans, we are nothing!
I was recently contacted by Kelly, who is arranging a fundraiser at Vani-T Emporium in Glenelg to raise much needed funds for HeartKids. HeartKids are dedicated to providing support, encouragement and hope to families of children with heart disease, while raising awareness and providing vital funding into researching the causes of this chronic disease.
Kelly was looking for raffle prizes, and I was happy to donate these two pairs of earrings to this worthy cause. Good luck, HeartKids, I hope the fundraiser is very successful!
I saw a request from Camille, my fellow MadeIt seller from the gorgeous CurlyPops, asking for donations for a raffle and trivia night being held for the Heart and Lung Transplant Trust. Camille has recently undergone a double lung transplant, and I was happy to do something, however small to help by donating a pair of earrings.
Almost $2500 was raised, which is enough to cover the accommodation costs for one transplant recipient and their carer (from country Victoria or interstate) who are required to live close to the hospital for 3 months post transplant. Well done, Camille and the team! Do consider giving support if you can, and I strongly urge everyone who is not already signed up to get yourselves on the Organ Donor Register.Talk to your loved ones today. Maybe your legacy could be that you save some lives.
I don’t quite recall how I came across the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital (on Facebook I think) but the more I read, the more the story of the Hamlins and their fine work touched me. In our western world, we take it for granted that we have access to medical facilities, in particular obstetric facilities should something go not quite right while we are giving birth. (Both my children were delivered by emergency caesarean section, so I know how that can be!)
It wasn’t until I read ‘Hospital By The River‘ and ‘Catherine’s Gift’, written about Catherine and Reg Hamlin’s life in Ethiopia, that I started to really understand what life might be like if I had not been able to have those caesareans. For thousands of Ethiopian women, their lives are torn apart when they have difficulty in birthing their babies. First, their baby dies. As if that wasn’t more than anyone should have to bear, as a result of days of labour with the baby pressing down into the pelvis, blood supply is cut off to the walls of the vagina, and tissue dies, resulting in holes that are known as obstetric fistulae. The contents of the bladder and bowel leak uncontrollably through these holes. The woman is usually ostracised by her village because of the leakage and the smell; often her husband leaves her, and sometimes, there is nerve damage to the legs and feet, making walking difficult. Also, from lying still over many weeks in an attempt to stop the leaking, she can suffer atrophy and tightening of the tendons making it impossible to walk.
Catherine Hamlin and her late husband, Reg, have dedicated their lives to assisting these long-suffering women, not just by providing life-changing surgery to repair the fistulae, but by helping these women to make a dignified return to their lives; and also by providing them with ongoing support to ensure that they are able to give birth safely next time.
One of the items that the women are provided with during their stay at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital is a new shawl. My mother, sister and I are in the process of knitting one to send. Acrylic yarn is required so that the women may wash their shawls in the river and have them dry quickly. Information about sizing, a basic pattern, and when and where to send your blanket can be found here.
I highly recommend you read either the books I mentioned above or have a look at the website to see the story of these wonderful people, and of some of the courageous women who suffer so much and sometimes travel hundreds of miles in order to have the operation which will make them whole again. Donate if you can, knit or crochet if you can. Every little bit helps!
This month, 10% of all Silver Forge sales will be donated to this very worthy cause. Head to The Silver Forge shop now, and see if you can help out, and get yourself something lovely at the same time!
(photo credit to Renee Summers, CandyMountainPhotos)
The Daniel Morcombe Foundation needs no introduction. My heart went out to the Morcombes when Daniel first disappeared, and has stayed with them ever since. Their courage and dedication in the face of such tragedy is moving and inspiring.
The Foundation’s belief and vision is one that incorporates a future where all children are provided with protection, education and support in their lives. The objectives of the foundation include educating children regarding their personal safety (including abduction); assisting victims of crime, particularly where crime involves children; and honouring the memory of Daniel by appropriate public awareness.
10% of the proceeds from all June sales will be donated to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to help with their ongoing excellent work. Pop to The Silver Forge Shop and see if you can help.
My friend Kylie from Raw Toys also donates 10% of her sales each month to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation. Kylie makes the most divine wooden toys. I highly recommend you check them out and see if there’s a little something you might like – and you’ll be helping this wonderful worthy cause at the same time.
