What is Souths Cares?
Souths Cares was established by Peter Holmes à Court and Russell Crowe in 2006, with David Peachey joining the team as Souths Cares Ambassador in 2007 and Nigel Vagana in 2009.
Souths Cares assists disadvantaged youth, and focuses on the South Sydney and Coffs Harbour communities.
We do this by drawing on the rich heritage of the Rabbitohs and engaging current players in the delivery of programs that promote the benefits of education and healthy lifestyles.
Souths Cares projects seek to increase the efficiency in delivery of services through partnership with established service providers, Government and the corporate sector.
Souths Cares has a focus based around the delivery of programs that encourage youth to achieve their goals with a focus on education, training and employment in the South Sydney and Coffs Harbour regions.
Our programs include:
Teachers Aide
The NRL players and our Ambassadors David Peachey and Nigel Vagana are involved in our Teachers Aide program with the players and ambassadors having undertaken specific training with the Department of Education and Training.
Schools involved in the program include: Alexandria Park Community School, La Perouse Public School and Green Square School.
Programs currently being delivered via the Teacher’s Aide program include numeracy & literacy programs, healthy & active lifestyles, anti-bullying and positive role models.
Players are rostered to attend each week during the school term throughout the playing season and during pre-season training.
An achievement program has been established to recognise and reward positive behavior and successful learning outcomes for the students. The Bunny Buddy’s program was established through the generosity of Rabbitoh’s members and has proven a very successful way of rewarding young people in the South Sydney and Coffs Harbour regions.
Due to a number of players moving to other Clubs and younger players coming into the full time squad we are looking at developing an update of the teacher’s aide training that the players have undergone. This training will be provided again by the Department of Education.
The Teacher’s Aide program is assessed on an ongoing basis to ensure relevant outcomes are achieved. The NAPLAN testing results showed a marked improvement in La Perouse Primary and Alexandria Park Community School and the principals at both schools have requested that we continue with this program.
Healthy and Active Lifestyle Program
Through the support of a number of organisations we have been able to establish a Classroom and Training Centre at Sydney Corporate Park. David Hannan and the Hannan Properties Group have provided the venue and through funding from the Indigenous All Stars match and the Learn, Earn, Legend Program we have been able to resource the facility. De Longhi’s, Randwick Council and Australian Technology Park are also great contributors and supporters of the program.
Life Education have come on board and the program has been offered to years 5 and 6 students across the South Sydney Region. The NRL Players will make cameo appearances and speak about their own journeys and the lessons they have learnt in achieving their goals in making it to the top in the NRL competition.
This program began Friday April 1 2011 with the first lesson provided to La Perouse Primary School, acknowledging a long serving relationship with the Rabbitohs. The lesson was a success and we are looking at rolling out three lessons per school for the remainder of the year. We are hoping to engage with over 30 primary schools in the local area and offer an ongoing program that will follow the kids as they progress through to year 10.
Indigenous Leadership Program (Schools to Work Transition)
This Leadership Program is in proposal phase and negotiations are currently underway with DEEWR and Department of Education officials to identify and determine the criteria for participants and outcomes for this unique program.
We are currently working with Max Employment to ensure that the program has achievable and sustainable outcomes which will be aimed at predominantly year 11 and 12 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island pupils. It is hoped that through the program they will be able to build self esteem and have a greater understanding of their culture. The sessions will then lead into employability skills and real employment outcomes. The uniqueness of this program is that some of our corporate partners, community groups and NRL players will also be along on the journey and have offered their help as mentors for this program. This mentoring phase is a key focus of the program and will continue well beyond the length of the sessions.
Another important aspect of this program is to have the major tertiary institutions involved such as Sydney University, University of New South Wales, University of Technology and Randwick and Eora TAFE’s. These institutions will be able to provide opportunities for further education for those who wish to pursue this.
We are currently talking to Juvenile Justice Department officials to see if there are opportunities within their environment to involve their youth in the program as well.
It is hoped that eventually there will be a Parent Engagement aspect to compliment this program providing further benefits to our community.
With a number of organisations at Sydney Corporate Park and Australian Technology Park who have already indicated that they would support this initiative it has a real local community flavor.
Social Marketing Campaigns
Building on the many campaigns we have been successfully involved in last year we have already been approached by a number of organsiations seeking our support for various causes.
These include:
NSW Fire Brigadehas approached us about taking part in a poster campaign called “Protect Your Mob” with house fire safety messages targeting Indigenous communities across NSW.
NSW Police Association has asked that our players to take part in a small video campaign called “Last Drinks.” This program is targeting young males and alcohol fuelled violence and includes messages surrounding responsible drinking and looking after your mates.
Tackling Violence The Hon. Linda Burney has again approached the Club to take part in this successful campaign promoting messages about tackling issues around Domestic Violence in our community.
Aboriginal Safe Gambling Program Ash Gordon has approached the Club to again promote responsible gambling within Aboriginal communities. His role as Manager of the Aboriginal Safe Gambling program for NSW involves raising awareness around gambling issues and working with communities and service providers in addressing these issues.
Charities and organisations Souths Cares has had involvement with throughout the 2010 season include:
The Sydney Children’s Hospital, Australian Cancer Research Foundation, Lymphoma Australia, Ovarian Cancer Foundation, McGrath Foundation, The Loyal Foundation, The Australian Childrens Music Foundation, Australian Technology Park, Randwick City Council, All Sorts Fitness Centre, One Community, Indigenous All Stars, Sydney Corporate Park, Snuff Out Sniffing Cherbourg, NSW Corrective Services, Coffs Harbour City Council, Enterprise Training Company, Aboriginal Connections Employment, Country Energy, Close the Gap Campaign, Oxfam, Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Foundation, NAIDOC week 2010, The Grace Roberts Awards Coffs Harbour, Rotary NSW, National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, Redfern Community Centre, South Sydney PCYC to name a few.
