About Us

Nurture Works Foundation Inc.

EMPOWERING HOPE IN CHILDREN

Nurture Works is a unique organisation that is passionate about empowering children with the lifeskills they need to face life's

adversities.

OUR OBJECTIVES

To promote positive wellbeing with children through community awareness, training programs and media.
To build resilience, social and emotional skills in children experiencing harmful effects of social and emotional abuse to alleviate the effects and prevent further abuse.
To give children who have experienced the harmful effects of social and emotional abuse an experience of positive loving community to help build their resilience.
Therefore: To Empower Hope in Children.

To empower hope in children we offer programs and initiatives via a threefold approach:

The child in the community
The child in the school
The child in the family

All initiatives across the three areas aim to focus on the whole child (intellectual, physical, emotional and spiritual).
The running of specific interactive BUZ camps, BUZ school programmes and BUZ workshops,promoting resilience, well-being and Empowering Hope in Children by addressing:

Conflict Resolution
Protective Behaviours
Bully-Proofing
Self-Awareness
Poor Self Esteem
The Link between Environment and Emotional Abuse
Building Confidence
Emotional Competence
Relationship Skills
Empathy and Respect
Overcoming Fear
Handling Grief

Nurture Works commenced in 2001 as an initiative of St. Mary’s Community Care (Busselton)

Building Stronger Communities

Nurture Works Foundation Inc.

The community benefits through an increase in stronger, more resilient and positively moral young people. Thus reducing delinquent behaviour, depression, self harm, suicide, crime, drug abuse and vandalism.

Activities

Through a camping program (series of 8 camps per year) targeted at 80% of children who are experiencing the harmful effects of social and emotional abuse as defined above. (Each camp has a different emphasis that develops life skills, e.g. courage, resilience, emotional intelligence, relationships etc.)
Through the use of Youth Mentors for children in our camping and community programs.
Through local community events and programs.
Through community training and support for those working with children in schools and the community.
Through a series of 7 school programs that target children in their own supportive school environment. (4 general social and emotional skills programs across year levels, a protective behaviours program, a grief and loss program and a playground leadership and peer mediation program)
Through strengthening a child’s class community and through peer support.

BUZ - Build Up Zone

The 5 BUZ nutrients for social and emotional wellbeing:

Each person is treasured and encouraged to contribute
We build one another up, there is no place for putdowns
We look for peaceful ways to solve problems
Negative are changed to positives, we focus on the good.
Feelings are acknowledged and allowed to be expressed in healthy ways.

It makes more sense to build-up children

rather than wait to fix up adults.

All BUZ program areas are founded on a ‘Strengths’ approach rather than a ‘deficit’ approach. In everyday terms this means that we focus on looking for what is ‘right’ or going well in a child or family’s life and building on that.

If we have made a difference in just one life

it makes it all worth it.

A lady was walking along a beach when she saw

thousands of starfish washed up on the shore.
As she was picking them up one at a time

and throwing them back in the water someone came by and asked. “What are you doing?”
“I am saving these starfish.”

The lady replied.
“But there are thousands of them,

I don’t think you will be making

much difference.”
The woman picked up another starfish

and threw it back into the ocean.
“It made a difference to that one.”

Target groups

Children experiencing the harmful effects of social and emotional abuse and therefore at risk of mental health conditions
- Children whose social and emotional development is below age level as a result of failure to thrive because of inadequate nurture
- Children who have witnessed domestic violence and experienced family breakdown
- Children who have experienced social and emotional abuse in a school setting (incl bullying, isolation and stereotyping)
- Children experiencing trauma, grief, loss or change who have not received adequate support in their family or community setting and are vulnerable to social and emotional abuse as a result.

(Children = 5 to 12 year olds – Primary School Years)

Parents, care givers and professionals who work with children in community settings.