MEDIA ALERT

New Bunbury home for Foodbank, Youth Focus and Financial Wellbeing Collective in Dalyellup

A new community hub at 4 Wayland Close, Dalyellup Beach Estate will house community services for food relief, mental health and financial wellbeing services with Foodbank WA, Youth Focus and Financial Wellbeing Collective co-locating at a new purpose-built premises servicing the South West region.

Foodbank Bunbury has serviced the local community for 21 years from the current Davenport premises. With the end of lease on the current premises Foodbank have reviewed a broad range of options to ensure continual food relief service to the Bunbury community.

This location, near the entry of Dalyellup Beach Estate, meets the key criteria of accessibility and dignity in service. This will ensure food relief and other much needed community services are in community for as long as they are needed and continue to improve to meet demand.

Partnering with Youth Focus and the Financial Wellbeing Collective to co-locate to create an opportunity to support South West residents with wrap around services.

Youth Focus have been providing services to the region since 2010 and the new premises will enable them to increase their capacity to deliver mental health support to young people in the South West, well beyond the 1,000 sessions they currently provide each year.

Through the Financial Wellbeing Collective, South West residents can access confidential assessments and referrals to free services like financial counselling, emergency relief, food access, and energy coaching support.

Quotes attributable to Kate O’Hara CEO Foodbank WA

“We know the services we provide helps people stay in their homes because we help address food stress. No Western Australian should go without food and in planning for this new location, we wanted to ensure we would be closer to communities in need, easily accessible by public transport and amongst other retail.”

“Our Bunbury branch is not just a service distributing a broad range of nutritious foods. We also collect a large volume of fruit and vegetables from growers in the region. Our next big hurdle is raising the required over $6 million to bring this vision to reality.”

Quotes attributable to Youth Focus CEO Derry Simpson (she/her)

“We’re very proud to be partnering with Foodbank and Financial Wellbeing Collective to provide wrap around support to young people and families in the South West. By co-locating with other community services providers, we’ll be able to support more young people, when and where they need it.”

“At Youth Focus we aim to ensure that young people are able to access the services they need, in a way that works for them. Collaboration is at the heart of our approach, and by working alongside other community-based support organisations we can provide the wrap around supports that young people are seeking, together in one place.”

Quotes attributable to Financial Wellbeing Collective General Manager Helena Jakupovic

“The Emergency Relief and Food Access Service triage and assessment will be delivered onsite at Bunbury by Anglicare WA, one of our lead partners, on behalf of the Financial Wellbeing Collective. We know that clients experiencing financial stress leave it too late before reaching out for support. This collaboration provides immediate referrals to clients who may need extra support.

The Financial Wellbeing Collective is proud to continue our collaboration with Foodbank WA and to extend this collaboration to Youth Focus in the region to provide onsite assessments and immediate referrals to clients who may need extra support. This collaboration enables comprehensive access to services in one central location.”

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Media contact:

Moira Aynsley | Head of Strategy, Brand and Technology
moira.aynsley@foodbankwa.org.au | 08 9463 3218 | 0433 567 224

About Foodbank WA

Hello, we’re Foodbank WA. We believe everyone should have access to healthy food. There are Western Australians going without every day, and we are working hard to change that.

We provide food and groceries to those who struggle to afford them. We also deliver nutrition education to promote healthy eating and advocate on behalf of people that experience hunger and food insecurity.

We are here to support Western Australians in times of need. We do this through:

Providing 9.2 million meals last financial year to those who were doing it tough

Distributing food and groceries through 500 frontline charities

Providing breakfast and fruit to 560 schools feeding 25,600 children weekly

Delivering nutrition education attendances to over 6,577 children, adults and parents

We work with farmers, wholesalers, manufactures and retailers who donate and redirect surplus product to us. This also plays a vital role in tackling food waste and positively contributes to climate change by reducing CO2 emissions arising from landfill.

Our purpose is to Feed. Educate. Advocate.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing food insecurity, don’t struggle in silence and reach out today on 1800 979 777.

For more information please visit foodbank.org.au

About Youth Focus

For over thirty years, Youth Focus have been committed to a clear vision – a world where a young persons’ mental health does not get in the way of them being who they want to be.  

Established in 1994, Youth Focus is a leading not-for-profit organisation that delivers innovative and accessible mental health services and programs across Western Australia to help young people thrive.

The purpose of Youth Focus is to be trusted to champion the mental health needs of young people in WA, supporting them to thrive in their community.

For more information about Youth Focus please visit youthfocus.com.au

About the Financial Wellbeing Collective

The Financial Wellbeing Collective is a collaboration of 12 not-for-profit community service organisations and local government who provide a range of integrated and person-centred services, with the aim of reducing the drivers and impacts of financial hardship in the Western Australian community.

They advocate for the most financially vulnerable in our community, support those experiencing financial difficulties, and help individuals increase their financial security, resilience, and wellbeing.

For more information about Financial Wellbeing Collective please visit thefwc.org.au