Charity home creating opportunities for children

A LUXURY charity home is under construction at Point Lonsdale with the proceeds set to benefit disadvantaged children.

While raising money for local not-for-profit Cottage by the Sea, Victorian developer Moremac and local builder Boutique Homes will deliver a four-bedroom, luxury home at the award-winning Point Lonsdale estate.

The 32-square metre charity home will be located at a prime position within The Point Estate, with both water and park facing views.

Built by Boutique Homes, the project will require hundreds of hours of labour and over half a million dollars donated in land, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going directly to the charity.

Cottage by the Sea’s mission is to give often disadvantaged children a seaside holiday delivering tailored camp programs in four coastal locations around Geelong and the Bellarine.

Charity CEO Adam Wake said the funds raised from the sale will support the expansion of Cottage by the Sea’s ‘Riptide’ building in Queenscliff.

“Through funds raised from its sale we’ll be able to continue to provide positive, long-lasting benefits to children and families at Riptide for school camps and family respite holidays,” Mr Wake said.

“We already have 51 camps booked for 2021 and an additional 25 respite holidays at Riptide for families in need.”

Cottage by the Sea has recently been awarded Community Organisation of the Year for delivering more than 15,000 meals from the Riptide kitchen to struggling households in the community.

Managing director of Boutique Homes Victoria, Aidan Hooper, said the company was extremely proud to be supporting the not-for-profit charity.

“Every couple of years we select a worthy cause to support and get behind,” Mr Hooper said.

“In 2020, we became aware of the incredible work Cottage by the Sea has been doing within the community for over 130 years and the long-lasting impact their programs have had on local children and their families.

“We build hundreds of homes each year in the Geelong and Bellarine area, so building a charity home for auction seemed the most logical way for us to give back to that community.”

Moremac director Duncan McLellan said he was proud to be able to deliver the land for the initiative.

“Many of the children who go through the Cottage by the Sea programs have had difficult circumstances fall upon them – many of them are from rural areas and have never seen the ocean or been on a holiday,” he said.

“It’s our hope to raise a notable contribution through this prime piece of real estate, to support the Cottage by the Sea mission, enrich the lives of its attendees and put a smile on the faces of kids who have done it tough.”

The charity home is expected to be completed later this year with the auction to take place in January 2022.