Berry Street’s Gratitude Event: a hopeful future for children impacted by family violence

Berry Street’s Philanthropy team hosted 60 philanthropic and corporate donors on Thursday 14 November, 2024. The annual gratitude event provides an opportunity to showcase the remarkable work being done by staff across the organisation, to share that work with our partners and supporters and connect with them and thank them for their contribution and generosity.

This year’s gratitude event was the perfect opportunity to highlight our podcast, Stories from Berry Street.

Podcast host and ABC stalwart Richelle Hunt facilitated the presentation, and she was joined by series guests and our very own, Jenny McNaughton, Dr Annette Jackson, Dr Allison Cox, James Stubbs and Mandy Gambino to follow up on their podcast episodes and dive a little deeper.

It was a great opportunity to welcome our new CEO Terry Symonds and connect him with our deeply committed philanthropic and corporate partners, to have him learn more about Berry Street and our continued commitment to reimagining the future.

Feedback from the guests has been overwhelmingly positive, described as “a wonderful event; very moving and insightful.”

Berry Street relies on significant independent income to invest in innovative solutions which shift the system, so children, young people and families get help before they are in crisis, with a focus on therapeutic interventions for victim-survivors to get the support they need to recover.

Berry Street’s gratitude event provides a valuable avenue to connect with our supporters and help secure funding for our vision of a the future.

Guest Panelist discussions

Our guest panelists provided thought provoking insights into some of the critical issues impacting Berry Street, including:

Dr Annette Jackson, Executive Director of Statewide Services, who spoke about the devastating impacts on children and young people who are coming into our care after experiencing childhood neglect.

Annette shared that neglect comes in many different forms including physical, emotional, cultural and developmental neglect, with studies showing that children who have experienced serious neglect can be just as harmed as children who have experienced other types of abuse.

Learn more about the impact of childhood neglect in episode six of our ‘Stories from Berry Street’ podcast.

Deputy CEO, Jenny McNaughton and Mandy Gambino, Senior Manager for Family Violence discussed how family violence, the cost of living, drug and alcohol use, marginalisation and loneliness are all factors that are contributing to an increasingly fragmented community.

The ever increasing demand for services continues to rise and it is now more than ever that the community needs to get behind families and support vulnerable families.

Learn more about Reimagining the System and Family Violence in episodes one and four of our ‘Stories from Berry Street’ podcast.

James Stubbs, Director Northern Region at Berry Street, discussed how a new model of Care Professional Individualised Care (PIC) is providing an innovative solution for children and young people in care.

PIC is a relational model that provides professionals, such as psychologists, counsellors and social workers, with a full-time salary to provide care for a child or young person who aren't having their needs met in residential or foster care.

PIC is Germany's most successful form of out-of-home care and the model has been running in NSW for the past 8 years.

Learn more about Professional Individualised Care (PIC) in episode eight of our 'Stories from Berry Street' podcast.

Thank you to all of our guests who came to the event and showed support for the incredible work our people are doing across the organisation to create a hopeful future for children and young people impacted by family violence.