Christine Horvath has no idea what she inspired. A teacher and head of junior school at Wantirna Secondary College, she passed away from cancer in late 2005, just as one of her students, Chris Varney, was completing Year 12. Her untimely passing meant Christine didn’t get to see Chris fully blossom. He had been an…
New research, conducted in partnership with Ocean Mind – a charity supported by Newsboys Foundation since 2019 – has shown that “surf therapy” can help reduce mental illness symptoms. Researchers at Deakin University studied 36 young people at Ocean Mind aged between eight and 18 who had reported symptoms of anxiety, depression or ADHD. Researchers…
A group supported by Newsboys Foundation has won the prestigious Victorian Government Group Achievement in the Community Award at the 2025 7NEWS Victorian Young Achiever Awards. Newsboys has been supporting the Very Special Kids Youth Advisory Group (YAG) since 2023. “We are proud to support the Youth Advisory Group and are delighted that the group’s…
For 26 years, the Mirabel Foundation has been dedicated to supporting children orphaned or abandoned by parental drug use. These young people, and their kinship carers (often a grieving grandmother), face a dauntingly difficult road and when it threatens to become too much Mirabel’s Intensive Support Program, supported by the Newsboys Foundation, steps in. On…
Imagine having a gift for music but seeing your dreams fade because of geography and logistics. There are many ways for a gifted child not to reach their potential, but loneliness is recognised as one of the key likely dream-crushers. “There’s a lot of research into gifted and talented learning,” Dorian Jones, CEO of the…
Helping Hoops’ Teuila Reid is fun to be near in the stands, watching basketball. Teuila’s eyes shine and there is pure enjoyment in her voice as she observes a teenager standing still on the baseline, hands half in pockets, with his eyes glued to a training drill being run by Coach Omar. “When he first…
A decade ago, Dr Tom Brunzell was new to Victoria, pushing a big idea. He had emigrated from New York because he was inspired by work the Australian charity, Berry Street, had been doing in developing an evidence base charting the neurobiological impacts of childhood stress and childhood trauma on children’s growth and school Engagement….
Rebecca Stephens, a talented young flautist from Bairnsdale, has won the 2022 Newsboys Foundation Regional Music award. The award recognises and supports emerging musicians from rural and regional areas across Victoria. Rebecca began playing music in 2013, starting flute lessons when she was just seven years old. She has completed all AMEB exams from preliminary…
Ash Murdica, a student at Drouin Secondary College, is the winner of 2021 Newsboys Foundation Regional Music Award. Ash was undertaking grade 7 AMEB piano, and working towards her grade 4 AMEB theory exam when she won the award. For her application, she performed Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturne in E Minor, Op.72 No. 1 on piano,…
Flautist Eliza Creek, 17, from the small town of Nhill near the border between Victoria and South Australia, has been named as the recipient of the Newsboys Foundation Regional Music Award 2020. A recent story published by The Age is available to read here and our media release is available to read here….