Happy Holidays 2025

Davencare Foundation would like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday period. May you have the chance to relax, spend time with family, eat good food and spend time doing the things that revive and inspire you.

Whilst we are still finding our feet in this new (for us) sector, we wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on our first year and acknowledge the many wonderful things we have been privileged enough to witness and be a part of this year.

First up, thanks must go to Hands Across Canberra, The John James Foundation, The Snow Foundation and Aspen Medical Foundation, for generously allowing us to step in and be part of the grant round as part of the Canberra Foundations Collaborative. Their generosity and knowledge sharing has allowed us to contribute funding an exciting 10 projects this year. We are excited to see where each one leads in the coming months - from street art murals and activation of community spaces with Woden Community Services, to sharing the joy of music with an exciting new program from Music of Canberra, to helping support the amazing work done by Delta Therapy Dogs, through to empowering future advocates and leaders through the Cerebral Palsy Alliance - we are thrilled to be able to contribute to these wonderful organisations and programs.

A real highlight was being invited to witness a workshop run by Variety (the Children's Charity) which saw us step into the classroom and observe as students entered into a discussion with Emma who has lived experience of living with a disability and was leading the disability inclusion workshop program. This workshop was so enriching and we are keen to see how we can help more schools and students access it - and we would encourage anyone in the education space to make themselves aware of it: https://www.justlikeyou.org.au

As well as our grantmaking, this year saw Davencare Foundation give to a number of different organistations. Through Bears of Hope, we provided 3 cuddle cots, allowing parents and families more time with their stillborn babies 3 different hospitals, supported The Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation's areas of urgent impact, contributed to accommodation for families who need to stay close by and donated directly to NETS - the organisation that allows for all the transfers to happen when a child becomes ill and needs to get to a major city. We have partnered with The Street Theatre and are excited to see a new project come to life next year in the binaural sound space.

In the wellbeing front, we were inspired to learn of the work Andy and his team is doing with The Youth Impact Foundation - the umbrella organisation that has brought together a whole range of NFP's in the youth mental health space and is working hard at amplifying impact whilst reducing duplication - their ambitious goal is to create a sustainable model which you can learn all about here: https://www.theyouthimpactfoundation.org.au/ourmodel

On the project front, we have been working hard behind the scenes, slowly building our documentary film project Ripples, with The Horse Media. This project saw us get a sneak peak at a hospital in Indonesia, venture into the research labs in ANU, get introduced to the most inpsiring and self proclaimed "run away nun" and journey on the back of a motorbike for a toyride. The journey so far has seen us connect with a number of impactful and inspiring people, showing that philanthropy isn't just about giving money, it's also about a way of thinking, being, and showing up in the world.

Throughout this year we have been given the chance to meet people contributing to the many areas that make up the ecosystem that is 'giving' in Australia, and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to do so. We look forward to learning more and continuing to grow as we progress on this journey of doing our bit to contribute to making the world a better place.

Stay safe, and Happy Holidays!

The Davencare Team.