MPs check a champion cause

VULNERABLE children’s welfare was high on the agenda during the visit of two MPs to the Casey-Cardinia region last week.
Andrea Coote, deputy leader of the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council, joined Liberal MP Edward O’Donohue and officials from children and family support group Windermere to talk about the issues surrounding children and family wellbeing.
Windermere CEO Cheryl De Zilwa spoke glowingly of the group’s Kids becoming Champions (KbC) program and the successful outcomes it has achieved so far.
Windermere, with its headquarters in Narre Warren, has a strong involvement throughout the City of Casey, Shire of Cardinia and City of Greater Dandenong.
Ms De Zilwa said the KbC program was unfunded by any government department and relied solely on donations and other fundraising efforts.
“We have 51 children in the KbC program at the moment who we are seeing great results with,” Ms De Zilwa said.
She said this number could be doubled if more funding was made available for the program.
“The demand for the service is very high,” she said.
Ms Coote said it would be ideal for many more children to have access to the KbC initiative.
Mr O’Donohue, the member for Eastern Victoria Region, also talked about the issues facing families in the area.
The Windermere stop was one of many visits the two MPs made to various community groups throughout the day.
Other issues discussed during the productive meeting were the lack of housing for at-risk families in the Casey-Cardinia area along with the limited places available for respite care.