The Venny
The Venny was established in 1981 and is a communal backyard and adventure playground designed for children aged 5 to 16 years.
It exists to support intercultural play, therapeutic support and social cohesion for children and young people who are experiencing social disadvantage and trauma in complex family environments. The Venny helps to build bridges of trust, increase life opportunities, build socio-emotional capacity for children and young people and break the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage.
2018 Pitch
Funds Raised: $29,250
The Venny doesn’t judge, but it does listen. It listens to the voices of the children and young people of the community who take part in their programs and what they are going through. At TFN Melbourne, David spoke of the young men who are living with social disadvantage and are using anger and violence as a way to cope. In response, The Venny are seeking funding to hire a new staff member to implement a new skills-building program for 30 young men.
The impact…
The Venny is not just a place where kids can go to play, it’s where they can go to feel safe, supported and surrounded by positive role models. For kids living in disadvantage and unstable homes, the opportunity to engage in play and therapeutic activities can be hard to access though they are needed more. The Venny is a safe, fun place for these kids.
Since the event, the Venny was able to hire a specialist Youth Development Worker to support their Owning Anger and Boys Group activities. Every week, up to 50 boys attend these activities where they are given the opportunities to improve their self-regulation and access positive, healthy role models.
“Jonathon (not his real name) has been attending the Boys Group on a Friday night for 3 years. He also attends drop in sessions at The Venny every other day we are open. Jonathan is always at The Venny. His home life is really hard, being the youngest sibling and only boy. There is a long history of substance abuse in his family. When we asked Jonathon what the program means to him, this is what he said ‘attending the boys group program gives me time away from my older sisters and time where I can have fun with other boys. I also like the dinners’ ” - Debby Maziarz, Business Development Manager
Read their Impact Report
Learn more about The Venny
Supporting Sustainable Development Goals:
