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Elsie Cook Cottage

Elsie Cook Cottage was a hostel for girls who had previously resided at Bailey Cottage that was part of the Methodist Church’s Heighway House Project. It provided hostel-style accommodation for twelve working age girls and accepted girls who had previously resided at Bailey Cottage and also from Westwood at Bowral. Elsie Cook Cottage was named…

Westwood

Westwood, at Bowral, was a residential education centre for girls over sixteen years old with mild intellectual disabilities that opened in 1965. It was run by the Methodist Department of Christian Citizenship, and commenced operation in April 1965 with an initial intake of nine girls. By 1968 Westwood held up to 90 girls and women….

Heighway House Project

Heighway House was a Methodist Church project that provided hostels for adolescent girls. The first hostel was established in 1960 in Drummoyne and provided accommodation for seven girls aged 15 to 18. It then moved to Duffy Avenue, Thornleigh and became a hostel for 12 working age girls. In 1969 Bailey Cottage, in Coogee, was…

Bailey Cottage

Bailey Cottage, in Carr Street Coogee, was bought in 1969 by the Youth Welfare Association of Australia and given to the Methodist Church’s Heighway House Project. It housed some of the Hopewood ‘children’, who were nearing adulthood, as well as state wards and children in need of intensive counselling and support with life skills. It…

Tahmoor Children’s Home

The Tahmoor Children’s Home, at Tahmoor, was established by members of the Vaucluse Congregational Church in 1941. It began as a holiday home then was converted to permanent or temporary care for up to 20 boys and girls from 5 to 15 years who were unable to live with their families. Tahmoor Children’s Home appears…

St Andrew’s Home

St Andrew’s Home was a boys’ home set up by the Presbyterian Social Services Department around 1943. Originally located at Manly, it was transferred to a 400 acre farm property at Leppington, on the Hume Highway south of Liverpool in around 1962. It catered for twenty boys aged ten to fifteen years. St Andrew’s residents…

Uniting Church in Australia

The Uniting Church in Australia was inaugurated in 1977, following the union of members of the Methodist Church, the Congregational Church and some congregations of the Presbyterian Church from all states and territories. A number of welfare programmes linked with the member churches are now connected with the Uniting Church in Australia.

South Yarra Hostel

South Yarra Hostel was established in a vacant building on the Methodist Babies’ Home site. Run by Wesley Central Mission it was described as a ‘supportive hostel for young people’. The Mission closed down South Yarra Hostel in February 1982. The hostel’s residents were taken on as clients by the Richmond Fellowship of Victoria (a…

Uniting – Connections

Uniting – Connections came into being in July 2017. Previously the organisation was called Connections UnitingCare. It was a community service organisation that was part of Uniting (Victoria and Tasmania) Limited. Uniting – Connections had an adoptions and permanent care program, and provided a range of services for children, young people and families. Its predecessor…

Harrison Community Services

Harrison Community Services came into being in 1994. Previously it was known as Harrison House Youth Services. The name change reflected a broadening of services, to include families as well as young people. Run by the Uniting Church, it was based in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. In 2000, it became part of UnitingCare Victoria….