Speeches
Tuesday, 08 October 2024
Reception for Can:Do Group’s 150 Year Anniversary
I warmly welcome you all to Government House to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Can:Do 4Kids, part of the Can:Do Group.
That’s certainly a magnificent milestone, and one worth honouring.
In doing so we celebrate the rich history of South Australia’s oldest children’s charity.
It has been a long pathway from 1874 to today, but one that has been marked by an unwavering pursuit of providing opportunity, inclusion and empowerment to children with hearing or vision loss, evolving later to include developmental delays.
While the history of the organisation is known to many of you, on such an occasion it is worth setting out.
Can:Do 4Kids’ genesis lies with the original Townsend House founded by William Townsend, who, after two terms in office as Mayor of Adelaide, set about fulfilling his ambition to establish a charity to support children to develop farming and life skills.
This came at a time in the settlement’s development, and against the backdrop of social mores, when children living with disability were not usually supported in this way.
The charity opened its doors to five blind and two deaf students.
In 1876 Governor Sir Anthony Musgrove laid the foundation stone of Townsend House, known as the South Australian Institution for The Blind and Deaf and Dumb.
Fast forward to January 2019 and the Cora Barclay Centre merged with Townsend House, continuing the mission championed by Cora Barclay to provide the best possible education for deaf children.
Today Can:Do 4Kids continues to deliver a specialist listening and spoken language program, the oldest service of its kind in Australia.
And last year the umbrella Can:Do Group, Townsend House Incorporated - consisting of Can:Do 4Kids and Can:Do Hearing - opened its new Head Office, Therapy Hub and Audiology Clinic at Hindmarsh, bringing together previous centres at North Adelaide and Welland into a state-of-the art, purpose built facility.
Throughout its history, Can:Do 4Kids has unlocked the potential of young people through life-changing therapy and support, including assistive technologies, tailored to their needs.
In 2024, with more than 500 active clients, Can:Do 4Kids continues to change the lives of many South Australian children.
This evening, we pay tribute to these children who inspire us with their determination to succeed, and to their parents who are giving them the best opportunities in life to engage meaningfully with school, home and the community.
The work of Can:Do for Kids is best illustrated through the heartfelt words of a parent.
Can:Do client Tiana is mother to 7 month old Zebedee, who was diagnosed with severe hearing loss at the age of three weeks.
Shortly after his diagnosis, Zeb joined Can:Do 4Kids’ Listening and Spoken Language program.
“Since discovering Can:Do and hearing the stories of what can be, it has been hugely encouraging for us,” Tiana said.
“It doesn’t have to limit him”.
Friends,
I thank the board and staff for their vision and hard work, which wouldn’t be possible without the vital and generous contributions of supporters.
Thank you all for investing in these children’s future.
I wish the Can:Do 4Kids and the Can:Do Group well for the next 150 years and beyond as you continue to ensure that everyone ‘Can Do’.