Sibling Support Program

Cooinda's Sibling Support Program was commenced in 1995 after a young sibling drew a picture, which she left at the Cooinda office. This picture was of a child being drawn up into the sky on helium balloons. The balloons were rising up towards a wonderful sun surrounded by clouds. The child was being drawn away from an empty wheelchair situated on the ground.

The impact of this picture was profound. The child being drawn up by the balloons was the sibling. Her brother was not in the empty wheelchair. (See more about this drawing in A history of Cooinda, part of The Capability Dialogues project.)

school term time sibling support program

Held in Wodonga and Albury. This program held after school between 3.30pm and 6.00pm four days a week caters for up to 50 children and includes youth group. The children share experiences and follow a program that they help to plan with the two staff members involved.

Program Aims:
Provide Support
Build Relationships
Develope Life Skills
Utilise Community Facilities
Have Fun!!!

bus trips and camps

These activities are held as respite, support and learning experiences for siblings. The age of participants depends on the nature of the activity e.g. for overnight trips away children are aged 8 years and up. Parents are encouraged to become Cooinda volunteers if they are finding it difficult to permit their child to go without them. This gives parents an opportunity to share extra time on a one to one basis with their child and to see how Cooinda operates.

A ratio of one carer to three children is maintained for these sibling activities. We find that siblings are often denied many basic experiences of life e.g, on one trip we found that only one child of 25 had seen a beach.

Our trips are planned to provide at least one new significant experience e.g. an opportunity to stay at Shalom College at NSW University and use the University activities, Surf Training at Melton Wave Pool, horse riding lessons.