Camp helps grieving families cope

By Tara Atley

Jun 23, 2022

Helping children with grief: Ella and Suzy Coad with Freeman the wombat.

After their first successful camp in the Goulburn Valley Region, not-for-profit Wombat’s Wish will hold another camp to support families through the loss of a parent.

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Wombat’s Wish is a non-profit organisation that travels throughout Victoria, supporting children aged five to 17 who have experienced the death of a parent.

Wombat’s Wish co-ordinator Nicki Dunne said the not-for-profit’s camps help assist children with handling loss and grief, as well as moving forward and taking the next steps on their bereavement journey.

“Wombat’s Wish has been in operating for 16 years and has supported hundreds of children predominately from Geelong and the Surf Coast,” she said.

“Moving into Northern Victoria has long been a goal of the organisation and we are very pleased to now do so with a camp dedicated for the Goulburn Valley region.”

Wombat’s Wish facilitates weekend camps for children and the surviving parent or carer which benefits up to 100 children per year, as well as one-on-one or group counselling support at no cost to the families.

Eight families attended the first camp in the region at Corop in May.

Samantha was one of the parents who attended the camp with her daughter Ella, and said it helped her family begin their healing journey.

“The weekend contained crying, talking and laughter — making new friends and finding that our stories, while unique, are similar,” she said.

“Both adults and kids found others related and felt they could talk openly about the experience of losing a parent/partner.”

One in 20 children aged five to 18 in Australia experience the death of a parent before their 18th birthday — that is one child in every Victorian classroom, according to Census data from the Australian Bureau Statistics.

The service was created by professional workers such as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and youth workers and was modelled off a similar UK-based organisation, Winston’s Wish.

Based in Drysdale, they first focused on the Geelong region, and only grew bigger and better as time went on.

Wombat’s Wish second Goulburn Valley Camp will be held at Corop from Friday, September 30 to Sunday, October 2.

For more information visit the Wombat’s Wish homepage https://wombatswish.org.au/about-us/ or to refer yourself or a family to our camp via www.wombatswish.org.au/refferal