Around 8,000 people including Lifestart families and friends attended the Make It Real rally held in Homebush on Monday 30 April 2012 wearing every shade of red to show their support of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Prime Minister Julia Gillard addressed the Sydney rally and announced the NDIS would be launched in four pilot sites across the country in 2013 supporting more than 10,000 Australians living with disability. The PM said that an NDIS will give all Australians with a significant disability the peace of mind to know that their care and support needs will be addressed, no matter where they live or how they acquired their disability.

Lifestart families took the opportunity to speak with Ms Gillard about the challenges they face and the impact on their lives in caring for a child with a disability. The rally was heralded as an enormous success with significant media coverage and speeches by key politicians and disability advocates to make the case for the NDIS. The Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin spoke at the rally along with the Premier, the Hon. Barry O’Farrell and Minister for Disability Services, the Hon. Andrew Constance who outlined the New South Wales Government’s commitment to the NDIS. There were also a number of other speakers who added to the discussions on the NDIS.

Everone in the community is encouraged to join up to the Every Australian Counts campaign to put weight behind the future of the NDIS.

Thanks to the great teams of paddlers, spectators and volunteers at this year’s Kayak for Kids on Sunday 25 March 2012. The fifth annual event was an outstanding success for Lifestart and a wonderful experience for all involved. The race was run from Blues Point to Clontarf on beautiful Sydney Harbour and attracted a record number of 912 paddlers.

It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves in the paddling legs and then at the Lifestart family picnic at Clontarf after the race. The weather and conditions were perfect for us and a fundraising milestone of $213,000 has been reached to date to ensure that Lifestart remains at the forefront of early childhood intervention and school age services for children living with disability or delay and their families.

The Premier, the Hon. Barry O’Farrell was on hand to fire the starting gun to commence the race with former World Ironman Champion and event ambassador, Guy Leech participating in the fierce paddling competition. We were thrilled to have the Hon. Andrew Constance, Minister for Disability and Minister for Ageing, and Senator Matt Thistlethwaite paddling the final leg of the course with Guy Leech. This was a great show of bipartisanship in support of kids with disability.

Prizes were given for races involving individuals, teams and various categories of crafts ranging from surf ski to sea kayak. The Corporate Challenge Cup was awarded to the team with the best combined racing and fundraising results, going to the Grace Team 2012 who have raised a massive $38,270 so far. Best team fundraising trophies went to the Westfield Community, team Mumble and Maddox and the Trust Busters while Karen Colquhoun walked away with the title of best individual fundraiser. The team Prokayakers were first to reach Clontarf in a fantastic time of 1:08:31 and congratulations goes to all paddlers who did their best to complete the challenge. Jonah and the Whales were our first team of 12 to cross the finish line.

Events such as Kayak for Kids play an important role in raising the funds required to keep Lifestart’s specialist services operating for around 550 children and their families in our seven branches around Sydney. In addition to being a considerable result financially, the event has raised Lifestart’s community profile very positively. The response from participants and supporters has been very encouraging and many people are already looking forward to next year’s challenge.

It was incredible to see so many kayakers paddling on iconic Sydney Harbour for Lifestart. It is heartening to know that everyone in our community cares about helping children living with disability and their families. Lifestart is still accepting donations for the event by going to www.everydayhero.com.au/event/kayakforkids2012.

Thanks to the great teams of paddlers, spectators and volunteers at this year’s Kayak for Kids on Sunday 25 March 2012. The event was an outstanding success for Lifestart and a wonderful experience for all involved. The race was run from Blues Point to Clontarf on beautiful Sydney Harbour and attracted close to 900 paddlers… an amazing record to have achieved.

It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves in the paddling legs and then at the annual Lifestart family picnic at Clontarf after the race. The weather and conditions were perfect for us and a fundraising milestone of $181,000 has been reached to date to ensure that Lifestart remains at the forefront of early childhood intervention and school age services for children with a disability or delay.

The Premier Barry O’Farrell was on hand to fire the starting gun to commence the race with former World Ironman Champion and event ambassador, Guy Leech participating in the fierce paddling competition between rival teams. We were thrilled to have the Hon. Andrew Constance, Minister for Disability and Minister for Ageing, and Senator Matt Thistlethwaite paddling the final leg with Guy Leech. This was a great show of bipartisanship in support of kids with disability. Prizes were given for races involving individuals, teams and various categories of crafts ranging from surf ski to sea kayak.

The Corporate Challenge Cup was awarded to the team with the best combined racing and fundraising results, going to the Grace Team 2012 who raised in excess of $22,000. Best team fundraising trophies went to the Westfiled Community, team Mumble and Maddox and the Trust Busters while Karen Colquhoun walked away with the title of best individual fundraiser. The team Prokayakers were first to reach Clontarf in a fantastic time of 1:08:31 and congratulations goes to all our paddlers who did their best to complete the challenge.  Jonah and the Whales were our first team of 12 to cross the finish line. Race results are now online to view at http://www.arocsport.com.au/K4K/k4k_results.html.

The image of so many kayakers on the harbour was truly inspirational and a reminder that many people in our community care about children with a disability and their families.

Lifestart is still accepting donations for the event by going to www.everydayhero.com.au/event/kayakforkids2012.

Lifestart is delighted to announce that the Premier, the Hon. Barry O’Farrell, will be firing the starting gun for this year’s Kayak for Kids event to be held on Sydney Harbour on the 25th of March 2012. The 17.5km race will commence at 9am from Blues Point and finishes at Clontarf, hugging the northern shore of the harbour. The course runs in four stages and caters for the serious paddler as well as the novice.

Kayak for Kids aims to raise community awareness about children living with disability and raise funds for Lifestart’s early childhood intervention and school age services. The event is about having fun on the world’s most beautiful harbour, pulling together as a team, and thinking about the contribution people with disability make to our community.

The event attracts competitors and spectators from all over the state, with solos, doubles and teams of 3 - 12 people. This year we are anticipating 750 enthusiastic paddlers will support Lifestart. A number of business leaders have thrown their support behind Kayak for Kids and are promoting a friendly rivalry among competitors to win the Corporate Challenge Cup. After the event paddlers, supporters and sponsors will join in the fun at the annual Lifestart family picnic at Clontarf.

Premier O’Farrell has been a long time supporter of Lifestart and we welcome his committment to launching our major fundraising event of the year.

Registrations close on Wednesday 21 March 2012 so go to www.kayakforkids.com.au to get your registration in.