Club NSW and Life Ed celebrate a milestone
Monday, 15 Apr 2019
Life Ed started in NSW in 1979 with a single mission -- to empower children and young people through education. Now, 40 years and 7 million Australian children later, this vision continues to be our driving force.
We still travel to schools big and small, near and far, teaching children about nutrition, physical activity, and drug and alcohol prevention. Last year alone, Life Ed visited more than 280,000 children from over 1800 schools in NSW.
These days, our lessons have expanded to include cyber-safety and respectful relationships, vans are equipped with iPads and touch screens, and TAM has been joined by TAM-e, a software tool which includes 3D and augmented reality fly-through of the human body.
Behind our organisation is a strong network of supporters, working together to ensure that the next generation of Australians lead safe and healthy lives.
Since 2012, ClubsNSW and the clubs community have partnered with Life Ed in our mission to empower children, donating more than $1 million to help us reach tens of thousands of children across the state.
This includes local support from almost 100 clubs across the state via the ClubGRANTS program to help Life Ed reach children from disadvantaged areas, boost the delivery of its secondary school drug and alcohol prevention program, attend community events, and support tech innovations so children learn in a way that is relevant to them.
Life Ed NSW CEO Kellie Sloane said as a not for profit, Life Ed relies on the generosity of organisations including ClubsNSW whose support makes a difference in kids’ lives.
“For the past 40 years Education has been an innovator in the health education space. The impacts that we have seen over this time are encouraging. Young people smoke significantly less than people did 20 years ago. They are far less likely to binge drink. They take fewer drugs,” Ms Sloane said.
“Lessons learned in early school years really do make a difference when confronted by adult-sized problems later in life. Last year a survey of 1000 NSW residents over the age of 18 found that 60 per cent of people who went through the Life Ed program said it helped them make better choices about their health and wellbeing.
“But there is still work to be done. Children today are growing up in an online world and face new and complex challenges.
Together, with continued support from local people and businesses, we are able to reach more communities and address current issues with preventative health and safety education, with long lasting community impact.
