photograph of Solomon and mum Tianda

‘The last 10 months have been so devastating, challenging and humbling for our family. So to receive this support from Little Wings and NRCF, ensuring we had the medical care our Solomon needed, helping us relocate and being so understanding in the wake of both his injury and the impact of the floods, has meant everything to us. Thank you.’

A $10,000 community grant from NRCF funded two outstanding projects from Little Wings Australia.

The Little Wings Hospital Flights program – delivered  four missions and assisted two local families (one family completing three journeys to and from Westmead Children’s Hospital; the second family completing one return journey to Westmead Children’s hospital).

The Medical Wings Program – this saw Little Wings in partnership with Royal Far West deliver two, week long clinics in Emmaville. These clinics assisted children aged from five to twelve years with complex needs, providing both assessment for a correct diagnosis and intervention plan. Further training was also provided to the teachers and parents/guardians of these children, ensuring support between clinics. 

37 children directly benefited from these projects.

Two children were able to access specialist medical treatment that was not available locally in the Northern Rivers. They were able to attend their treatments and return home within a 24-hour period, easing travel fatigue, financial and employment burdens and keeping the families connected and functioning to ensure best medical care and outcome for the child.

The Medical Wings clinics saw 35 children across the clinics. Each of these children received speech, occupational and psychological testing to obtain a true diagnosis. They then received intervention throughout the week plus development of an individual care and intervention plan.

Those who participated in the Medical Wings clinics received support and training on building resilience, how to seek assistance early and recognise signs that their child was declining in mental or physical health. Building resilience in the face of trauma is a strong theme in this program and NRCF was thrilled to be able to assist through our annual Community Grant Program.