History

The Kath Dickson Family Centre Journey

The Kath Dickson Family Centre began officially as an Incorporated Association in 1975 although the services offered to the community by its founders began many years before.

The organisation has always had a philosophy to serve, educate and protect children and their families, with particular emphasis on those who are at risk and/or who are disadvantaged. The Kath Dickson Family Centre has always had not-for-profit and charity status, bestowed on it because of the tremendous charity work it has undertaken throughout its history.

Prior to 1974 the Kath Dickson Family Centre was known as the Toowoomba Family Care and Support Association long before there was any formal child care services available.

The focus of this small but dedicated group was the provision of community and family services for the people of Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. Kath Dickson had just retired and wanted to set up a facility to care for "latch - key" children. Children whose parents were working long hours and leaving young children to care for themselves before and after school. Whilst still a Principal, Kath had set up outside school hours care rooms for children who came to school early and often without breakfast. This was twenty years before this type of care was formalised in Australia.

From its inception, the organisation relied completely on donations to support its community work. Among Kath Dickson's papers was a Donors Book that named each of the years and the people and groups who contributed to its work. These included Scott's Distress Fund; Quota; Jaycettes; Salvation Army; Rotoract; Life Line; St Vincent De Paul; Rotary; St Stephens Guild; Toowoomba Police Citizens Youth Club; Buffalo Lodges Lutheran Ladies Guild; Bundaberg Charitable Toy Making Group; 7th Battalion Officers Mess; Toowoomba Orchid Society; Toowoomba Special School; Apex Club; Victoria League; Toowoomba Opportunity School; Toowoomba Grammar Interact Club; St Luke's Mother's Union; The Green Griffin; Lions Ladies; Business and Professional Women's Club and a host of private Toowoomba citizens and businesses.

In 1974 the federal government sought expressions of interest in sponsoring a new child care service in Australia, which was to be known as Family Day Care.

The Toowoomba Community and Child Support made a momentous decision to become the Sponsors of this new child care service in Toowoomba, which was the first in Queensland (and probably Australia) Dr John Irvine was the co-founder of the Kath Dickson Family Centre and the other driving force in its growth and development. Even today Dr John continues to support our services, he delivers workshops so we can raise money, he supports our applications for grants and is our mentor as we strive to continue his and Kath's vision for the disadvantaged.

The Kath Dickson Family Centre Association Incorporated was formed officially in 1975.

Miss Dickson was a strong and consistent advocate for children throughout her career as a pioneer educator (Kath was the first female Principal in the Education Department in Queensland) and through to the community support centre that bore her name and further, into the extension programs that have radiated from Toowoomba for 35 years.

The growth of Family Day Care throughout the late 1970s was paralleled by the expansion of the Toy Library to include children of families isolated by location or financial difficulty. The Centre also recruited special education teachers to assist in the choice and use of resources to better meet the developmental needs of children with a disability.

In commermoration of a life well lived - we created the Kath Dickson rose , seen below.

Kath Dickson Family Centre Association Inc also provided the following services -

a drop-in centre where parents could meet in a supportive environment
shelter for homeless women with children
playgroups for children with a disability
education for parents and community members though workshops and training sessions
a van that enabled large toys to be delivered to special needs children across the area

In 1984 the organisation added the STEP (Systematic Training for Effective Parenting ) program to its repertoire of education services for parents. The parenting courses are still offered through Kath Dickson Family Centre

In 1986 the homeless shelter and the drop in centre were moved temporarily to make way for a new building which would house an Occasional Care Centre, the Family Day Care Co-ordination Unit, an ever expanding Toy Library and community education programs.

In July 1987 the organisation was honoured by a visit from the Duchess of Westminster, who was interested in the work undertaken by the Kath Dickson Centre.

In this year also the organisation began its volunteer training programs that continue today.

Interestingly Kath Dickson herself was honoured in 1987 for her long service to Amnesty International. Amnesty was founded in London in 1960 and Kathy joined in 1961 becoming the longest serving Amnesty member in Australia.

In 1989 Kath was honoured by the Australian College of Education, the first recipient who was not a graduate of the College. Following on from this Award, the Kath Dickson Award for Excellence in Early Education is presented each year to a College member.

In 1988 the Kath Dickson Family Centre became a founding member of the Toowoomba Welfare Committee to minimise duplication of services and share information and resources with other health and charity services Lifeline - Dept of Children's Services - Department of Community Health.

In 1996 the federal government department of Family and Community Services approached the Kath Dickson Family Centre to sponsor an isolated Family Day Care Scheme and again in 1999 the organisation was approached to reopen a community child care centre that had closed due to financial difficulties.

Also in 1996 the Community Toy Library received special funding from the Jupiter's Casino Community Benefit Fund to establish a large mobile toy library service so the resources, toys and books were then available to families everywhere.

Later further funding was received to aid the purchase of a new community resource library, which assisted the organisation to update its resources as the referring agency for SIDS and SANDS, for its community education programs and for parents and carers.

As the organisation headed into the new millennium the Parent Support Program was established in the Toowoomba region. This service focuses on the training of volunteers who visit the homes of new parents on an informal basis. This home visiting program has proven to be very beneficial for new parents who are often isolated from extended family. The parents feel support by their volunteer rather than feeling evaluated by an institution. Research that paralleled the first three years of the program indicated that parents were more relaxed, suffered less post natal depression, understood more about the health of their babies and themselves and enjoyed rather than feared parenthood. The program is continuing through funding from the federal government.

Also in 2000 the Kath Dickson Family Centre became a care and education support for the Fresh Hope drug and alcohol rehabilitation service. This service is the only rehabilitation program where children and their mothers can attend together for as long as the program takes, usually up to two years. This allows the children to heal at the same time as their mothers. When families are not separated the negative implications of long separations is diminished. The Kath Dickson Centre provides training, workshops and seminars, outings, mentorship, financial assistance and special child care for the children at Fresh Hope. Neither Fresh Hope nor Kath Dickson Centre receives any funding for this program.

In 2002 the Kath Dickson Community Education Centre was established. The focus of the Education Centre was to have a small, personal space for young women who were under orders and wanting to take up informal and later, formal studies. The Centre also catered for the many students wanting to undertake prevocational courses before entering formal studies.

In 2003 Kath Dickson passed away at the age of 93 and left behind a legacy to all the needy children in this community.

In 2004 the committee governing a small Creche and Kindergarten affiliated kindergarten that had been running in Dalby for 40 years approached the Kath Dickson Family Centre for help. The owner of the building that housed the Kindergarten was selling his unwanted properties and the Kindergarten was in danger of closing down. The Kath Dickson Family Centre purchased the building and now sponsors the Snow White Kindergarten.

Also in 2004 the Kath Dickson Centre established a fresh fruit delivery for the elderly people who have been part of the Centre during its life and who have become too old or incapacitated to shop for themselves. The fresh seasonal fruit is delivered to their door and we are assured they eat it all over the week till the next delivery.

Also in 2004 the Kath Dickson Toy Library and Playgroups were established in Dalby and Springfield. These extension Programs were established because of the results of research undertaken by Kath Dickson Centre, which indicated a need for family-centred programs in communities that are isolated from mainstream services. These services receive no funding.

In 2004 Volunteering Queensland approached the CEO regarding the provision of an office for their Co-ordinator. Seemingly they had a commitment from a local government organisation, which didn't eventuate. The co-ordinator was housed in the community education centre for 12 months free of charge as their funding was small and not expected to continue into 2005.

In late 2004 the Kath Dickson Family Centre teamed up with TRAMS the Catholic Refugee and Migrant Support Centre to assist them with the Sudanese mothers and their children.
In response to the stated complexities of this situation we:

run weekly play groups where the mothers can see appropriate parenting behaviour being modelled
demonstrate the appropriate toys for ages and stages of children
offer advice, through an interpreter, on behaviour management
offer English language immersion for children and parents through play
parenting courses in conjunction with an interpreter

In 2005 the Kath Dickson Family Centre established a Snoezelen Room for children with a disability. This dark room is filled with special lights, aromatherapy, soft furnishing and relaxation music. The concept of Snoezelen is to stimulate the child's senses in a calm way.

The Snoezelen Room is open to all children and their carers and we ask only a gold coin donation to replenish to essential oils. Prior to the Kath Dickson Snoezelen Room, children and their carers used the sensory rooms at aged care facilities and were paying up to $10 per session. This cost put the therapy out of most people's reach, particularly the families who have very little disposable income.