	{"id":142399,"date":"2024-08-16T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=142399"},"modified":"2024-08-15T17:20:56","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T07:20:56","slug":"child-protection-program-visits-geelong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/child-protection-program-visits-geelong\/","title":{"rendered":"Child protection program visits Geelong"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CHILD protection organisation Bravehearts visited a childcare centre in Geelong West earlier this week to arm kindergarten students with a raft of safety skills aimed at protecting them against child sexual abuse.<\/p>\n<p>Students at Geelong West Busy Bees were given the opportunity to participate in the organisation&#8217;s national personal safety education program, Ditto&#8217;s Keep Safe Adventure, learning &#8220;It&#8217;s okay to say no&#8221; and &#8220;Nothing is so yucky that you can&#8217;t tell someone about it&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>While dancing and participating in sing-alongs and short games, the kindergarteners were taught about the body&#8217;s warning signs, such as wobbly legs and a fast heartbeat, e-safety, and who to speak to when they feel unsafe.<\/p>\n<p>Busy Bees has an ongoing relationship with Bravehearts, and Victorian operations director Shaun Nicholls said the education program was a great way to give children a voice and teach them about safety.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Child safety is such a big component of everyday living now especially with\u2026the safety concerns around online and I think it&#8217;s great to have the kids feel that they are in power.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Little programs like this, I think, it&#8217;s got so much traction to [support] them to talk to their families and their loved ones.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve got a child who&#8217;s two\u2026 and I think it&#8217;s a really good framework that Bravehearts have built and working with Busy Bees to make sure that we provide that to [the] just under 10,000 kids we&#8217;ve got [in our childcare centres] across Australia.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He said Bravehearts had helped Busy Bees build its own framework to safeguard children, helping to ensure &#8220;they&#8217;ve got the best start in life&#8221; and have everything they need to feel safe and protected.<\/p>\n<p>Bravehearts&#8217; visit to Geelong comes as registrations open for the organisation&#8217;s largest annual fundraiser, Bravehearts Day, which will take place on September 6.<\/p>\n<p>Bravehearts chief executive Alison Geale urged the community to support the event and take collective action against child sexual abuse, a crime experienced by one in four Australian children.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re calling on Australians to band together to help making uncomfortable conversations more comfortable,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;By donating, hosting a fundraising event or taking on the #BraveChallenge, we are one step closer to reversing these devastating statistics in a bid to help protect society&#8217;s most vulnerable \u2013 our children.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This year marks the first time the #BraveChallenge has been introduced to the fundraiser, with the community invited to, either as an individual or group, take on a simple challenge, from fitness to baking, or participate in &#8220;brave&#8221; conversations,<\/p>\n<p>All funds raised will support the delivery of Bravehearts&#8217; personal safety program to children across the country, as well as its counselling services.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Since 2016, more than 1.4 million children have participated in our national personal safety education program, Ditto&#8217;s Keep Safe Adventure, and our work doesn&#8217;t stop there.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This Bravehearts Day, we raise to aim $250,000 to empower kids through education programs and provide support programs for victims, survivors and families.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For more information, or to get involved in Bravehearts Day, head to <a href=\"http:\/\/braveheartsday.com.au\">braveheartsday.com.au<\/a> or phone 1800 272 831.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHILD protection organisation Bravehearts visited a childcare centre in Geelong West earlier this week to arm kindergarten students with a raft of safety skills aimed at protecting them against child sexual abuse. Students at Geelong West Busy Bees were given the opportunity to participate in the organisation&#8217;s national personal safety education program, Ditto&#8217;s Keep Safe [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/child-protection-program-visits-geelong\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":142661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Child protection program visits Geelong - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bravehearts empowers Geelong children with safety skills at Busy Bees childcare. 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