When I Give A Buck first met Anna in 2010 she was 13 years old and suffered from quite severe autism.  As Anna was growing older she was becoming very strong and increasingly active but was unable to safely manage her need for physical activity at home.

Anna had participated in some private gymnastics lessons for a while but the financial burden on her single mum was becoming too much to manage and she was forced to go public – speaking to a reporter from her local newspaper and asking for public assistance in keeping Anna in some sort of program.

One of our long-time supporters, Caroline Whiteside, saw that article and contacted us about launching an Appeal to cover the cost of Anna’s next term of gymnastics. Anna was already seeing the benefits of the tuition that she’d already had and we were only to happy to launch an appeal to make sure that she could benefit further. $924 was needed for the next term’s tuition.

Just after we raised the funds Anna was referred to a fantastic course designed and run by Jeremy Samson from http://www.time2train.webs.com/  The course with Jeremy is specifically tailored to suit children with Autism, Aspergers and other learning difficulties.

Jeremy suffers from Aspergers himself and completely changed his life after including regular, structured exercise into his daily routine.  He now dedicated himself to helping as many other sufferers experience that same change.

Anna completed a 12 week course with Jeremy and the improvement she showed was amazing – and more improvement was expected if her lessons could be continued – so we launched another appeal to raise the funds for her next term, which began in February 2011.

After two terms Anna had lost weight, gained confidence and her paediatrician was thrilled with the range of improvements to Anna’s overall health and well-being.

The response to Anna’s Appeals has been terrific and we’ve been so pleased to be able to fund her sessions right through until May 2012.

Australian children’s charity I Give A Buck Foundation of Australia Ltd assists children from disadvantaged families who also suffer from a life-threatening or life-altering illness or condition – with particular focus on terminally ill children. 

Tara was born in 2005.  She seemed like the perfect baby who never cried until she was rushed to hospital at just 6 weeks old with what seemed like an ordinary case of bronchiolitis. During that evening she suffered a seizure that lasted for over 90 minutes and she has never had a seizure-free day since.

Tara’s underlying condition remained a mystery until she was diagnosed with Dysphagia and Floppy Baby Syndrome in 2006 and with Autism in 2007.  In 2009 Tara was also diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome – one of the most catastrophic forms of epilepsy. This is a very rare condition effecting only a few hundred children in Australia, and probably less that 1000 worldwide.  It is life threatening and there is a high chance that one day a seizure will take Tara from her family.  In order to do everything possible to prevent this from happening Tara has a seizure response assistance dog to be beside her particularly at night.

On an average day Tara has over 100 minor seizures and around 5 to 10 seizures that render her unconscious.

We first met Tara earlier in 2011 she was five and a half years old and still not fully toilet trained as, although she knew how to use the toilet, every major seizure resulted in an accident, meaning that the amount of nappies needed on a daily basis was similar to a new born baby.  Tara was on a costly, special thickened fluids diet and regular medication.  The costs associated with these day to day expenses added to the special equipment that she needs to support her and keep her safe during seizures have put a big strain on the family budget.

Tara’s mum is her full-time carer and her dad helps during the day after working night-shift as a baker in the country town in which they live.

Due to the severity of Tara’s seizures she often ends up unable to walk, on a good day she can walk but a bad day she cannot even support her head.

In February 2011 we were able to support the family by contributing $2,000 (via Tara’s Car Appeal) towards a full transmission rebuild on the family’s wheelchair modified Tarago which had stopped working in reverse. Without the van, Tara couldn’t access her Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and other medical appointments.

Tara’s Appeal raised a little extra than required and we were able to put that to good use in July by buying Tara a much needed new bed that could fit her mum in it too for those nights that Tara needed someone to sleep with her.
During the time that we’ve known Tara she has sadly deteriorated and needs additional supports.  She’s using a walking frame now and really needs a special seat that will give her support through her seizures, and the rest period after each seizure, as well as for use during feeding as she is losing the ability to feed herself.

These special seats, called Gravity Chairs, are $1,895 each.  Tara could access $1,200 of funding towards the chair via her Helping Children with Autism package and this appeal sought to raise the remaining $695 – and did so in just 7 days!

What a great community!
Australian children’s charity I Give A Buck Foundation of Australia Ltd assists children from disadvantaged families who also suffer from a life-threatening or life-altering illness or condition – with particular focus on terminally ill children.

Physical activity is vital for a healthy lifestyle for children with and without disabilities. But it can be particularly helpful for children with autism. The benefits of a regular, supervised program of specialised physical activity for children with autism include improved attention span and a decrease in many types of inappropriate behaviours associated with their autism.

When I Give A Buck first met Anna in 2010 she was 13 years old and suffered from quite severe autism.  As Anna was growing older she was becoming very strong and increasingly active but was unable to safely manage her need for physical activity at home.

Anna had participated in some private gymnastics lessons for a while but the financial burden on her single mum was becoming too much to manage and she was forced to go public – speaking to a reporter from her local newspaper and asking for public assistance in keeping Anna in some sort of program.

One of our long-time supporters, Caroline Whiteside, saw that article and contacted me about launching an Appeal to cover the cost of Anna’s next term of gymnastics. Anna was already seeing the benefits of the tuition that she’d already had and we were only to happy to launch an appeal to make sure that she could benefit further. $924 was needed for the next term’s tuition.

Just after we raised the funds Anna was referred to a fantastic course designed and run by Jeremy Samson from http://www.time2train.webs.com/  The course with Jeremy is specifically tailored to suit children with Autism, Aspergers and other learning difficulties. 

Jeremy suffers from Aspergers himself and completely changed his life after including regular, structured exercise into his daily routine.  He now dedicated himself to helping as many other sufferers experience that same change.

Anna completed a 12 week course with Jeremy and the improvement she showed was amazing – and more improvement was expected if her lessons could be continued – so we launched another appeal to raise the funds for her next term, which began in February 2011.

After two terms Anna had lost weight, gained confidence and her paediatrician was thrilled with the range of improvements to Anna’s overall health and well-being.

We’ve committed to funding Anna’s ongoing tuition with Jeremy into the future.  For the moment we’re able to use some grant funding received from the Grosvenor Foundation and, if needed in the future, we’ll launch another appeal for Anna to keep the funding rolling in.



Australian children’s charity I Give A Buck Foundation of Australia Ltd assists children from disadvantaged families who also suffer from a life-threatening or life-altering illness or condition – with particular focus on terminally ill children.



Today we were able to purchase some fantastic educational packs for Alannah thanks to some grant funding from the Grosvenor Foundation.

The items were from Pyramid Educational Consultants of Australia who provide a wide range of services and products for families and educators of individuals with autism and related disabilities.

We hope that Alannah has lots of fun with her new activity packs and that they help her to develop her communication skills.

To read Alannah’s story click here.

Australian children’s charity I Give A Buck Foundation of Australia Ltd assists children from disadvantaged families who also suffer from a life-threatening or life-altering illness or condition – with particular focus on terminally ill children.

Anna’s appeal is now fully funded from the excess donations from Rupert’s Appeal!  Well done everyone.  And even better news – when I rang to arrange payment with Balwyn Leisure Centre (where Anna’s lessons are) they told me that the Term 4 fees had already been paid by members of the community in response to the newspaper article – so our funding will fund Term 1 next year!  Anna now has access to her special lessons until Term 2 2011!

Photo credit Josie Hayden

Anna at her gymnastics class

Meet Anna.  Anna is 13 years old, suffers from autism and LOVES gymnastics.

For almost a year now Anna has been having gymnastics lessons twice a week at Balwyn Leisure Centre through its Open Doors program – a free program for eligible children.  But the free program has come to an end for Anna and she needs our help if she is to be able to continue to benefit from the classes.

Gymnastics has not only encouraged Anna to be active, but it has also increased her responsiveness.  It has made her happier and healthier and she feels as if she’s more like the other children because she’s found something that she’s good at.

Her instructor Blake Nolan says he has seen “lots of improvement in her behaviour and verbal comprehension” and would definitely encourage her to continue with gymnastics.

Anna’s lessons cost $42 each.  That’s $84 per week.  One wonderful member of the local community has already paid for Anna’s term 3 tuition and we’d like to raise the $924 needed to pay for term 4.

If you’d like to help Anna, please donate today.

Photo courtey of  Progress Leader.