b'VERY SPECIAL KIDSMembers of the Very Special Kids Youth Advisory Group (above and right)The impact on a young person whose brother or sisterparents and siblings. It is vital and difficult work, started is dying, or has died, is multi-faceted. Siblings can find40 years ago by two families on their own journey with themselves dealing with a level of grief and lonelinesschildhood death and nurtured by the remarkable first theyve never experienced before, alongside parents whoVery Special Kids employee and patron, Sister Margaret are also struggling to find a way forward.Noone, who passed away in January 2025. When a child is diagnosed with a life-limiting condition,The Newsboys Foundation is proud to support the naturally the focus is on the child, but the whole family,organisations Youth Advisory Group, as well as helping including the siblings, are impacted as well, Juliato fund a bi-annual Mittagundi Adolescent Camp, where McAlpine, Very Special Kids General Manager Clinical1416-year-old siblings of seriously ill children get to Services said. To have or have had a sibling with a life- have outdoor adventures, experience farm life, live limiting condition can be a hard and isolating experience.without technology and connect with nature and, most Seriously ill children often require round-the-clockimportantly, one another. care from their parents and carers. Our sibling support program is designed to ensure siblings feel supported andIt takes them out of their comfort zone; it puts them heard at all stages and teaches them to understand andin the wilderness and forces them to be physically process their emotions.challenged as well as emotionally challenged, with no access to technology, electricity or mobile coverage Julia Very Special Kids lives in the deep end of life, and death.said. It is a charity that works with entire families as theyWhile purposefully challenging, Mittagundi Camp is experience the grief of a child living with a life-limitingdesigned to foster self-confidence, resilience, teamwork condition and their potential death.and life skills. During camp, young people have the As well as offering holistic palliative care for the child,opportunity to connect and build relationships with other Very Special Kids provides counselling support, and asiblings who have a similar lived experience.range of programs for the emotional wellbeing of the 12NEWSBOYS FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT 2025'