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HIPPY Fitzroy would like to take this opportunity to thank Readings and their valued customers for their generous donations to HIPPY. With the donations received in 2007 we purchased books for each of the HIPPY children and presented them in recognition of completing the first 15 weeks of HIPPY. With the donations received over the Christmas period we plan to set up a Readings Reading corner for the children who visit HIPPY. Thank you again; your donations are greatly appreciated.

About HIPPY

HIPPY (Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters) is an early childhood development program run by The Brotherhood of St Laurence and supported by Readings. The program works with Vietnamese, Somali and English speaking families, who are financially and educationally disadvantaged. Its aim is to develop reading, numeracy and problem-solving skills so that children from these families can start school as well prepared as any other child.

Parents spend regular time each day with their child doing fun, educational activities. A home tutor, also a parent and in the same community, provides weekly activity packets for the parents to use. Not only do children thrive, but parents gain the confidence and skills necessary to be part of their child's education, development and overall wellbeing.

HIPPY tutors in the classroom with a young student.

For many years Readings has been a proud supporter of the Brotherhood of St Laurence's Literacy Program: HIPPY. In fact Readings and the Brotherhood were 2006 State Winners of the Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships.

HIPPY is a unique literacy program working with disadvantaged families; initially developed in Israel the program not only works with the children but also their parents. Parents play an active role in the program which in turn helps strengthen their literacy skills and, especially for migrant and refugee families, helps them make connections with the outside community.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence undertook a lobbying campaign promoting HIPPY prior to the recent federal election, working along with people from communities around Australia who either have HIPPY sites running now and need help with funding, or who have been trying to start one up.

"Part of that campaign involved the Brotherhood letting both potential governments know that HIPPY has strong community and business partners such as Readings (a shining example for us of a local business teamed with a local program, ie. HIPPY Fitzroy)," said Susan Davies, National Manager of HIPPY Australia.

The campaign was successful in gaining a substantial commitment from the federal Labor Party, of $32.5m over five years, to roll the program into around fifty communities across the country. And with the election of the new federal government, the enactment of that pledge is now being negotiated. HIPPY Australia has helped the number of sites grow from five to nine in the last two years, but they are now looking at a very significant further expansion ahead.

Once negotiations are concluded, it is hoped the federal funding will help contribute further to HIPPY Fitzroy's growth and to a greater security of operation. But ongoing support from our community and business partners will remain a key aspect of the program over the long term.

HIPPY has also attracted some other wonderful supporters. The insurance company, AXA, and their CEO, Andy Penn, have been big supporters of HIPPY and have just renewed a three-year support program. The new Member for Bennelong, Maxine McKew, is a big supporter and recently dropped in to meet some of the Tutors and children.

Although the Federal Funding is great, it's not enough to meet demand on it's own. You can make a donation to HIPPY through any Readings shop

And for more information about HIPPY contact:

Susan Davies
National Manager
HIPPY Australia
67 Brunswick St
Fitzroy VIC 3065
Tel: (03) 9483 1325
Mob: 0406 421 967
Email: sdavies@bsl.org.au

or visit the HIPPY website.