Walcha boy Simon Wellings started Just 4 U Backpacks to help foster children settle into their new environments. Video from Youtube
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00:00 Hi, I'm Rachel and I'm Simon's mum and I'm just going to ask him a couple of questions.
00:10 Simon tell us a little bit about yourself.
00:12 I'm eight years old and I'm from Wolka and I've been a fostering family since I was four.
00:19 For my ninth birthday this year I've decided to, instead of getting presents, to pack backpacks
00:25 for kids and entering foster care.
00:28 That's a lovely idea Simon.
00:30 What made you think of this idea?
00:33 There were some kids coming to our house that only had the clothes that they were wearing
00:40 and one of them didn't even have shoes.
00:42 That would have been really sad to see that Simon.
00:45 They didn't have barely anything.
00:47 Do they leave really quickly do they?
00:49 Yeah.
00:50 And they had, I saw they had some backpacks and I asked my dad where they got them from.
00:56 So I decided to pack some for the kids that are entering foster care.
01:03 That's right, the agencies make their own up don't they, but they don't have many things
01:08 in them.
01:09 Did you think what was inside is what you'd like to put in yours?
01:12 Yeah.
01:13 Is that all you wanted to put in yours?
01:14 But I wanted to put a heap more stuff in there.
01:17 Yeah, what sort of stuff did you want to put in the backpacks?
01:20 Teddy bears.
01:21 Simon, we as a family have had many kids come into our house out of foster care because
01:26 you were four when we started.
01:29 Why is now a good time for you to pack these backpacks?
01:32 Because of COVID-19 and it's not been safe for them to be at home maybe.
01:40 And so they come into foster care.
01:43 Yep, so there's a lot of extra kids coming in at the moment, isn't there?
01:46 Yeah.
01:47 I love the idea "Just for you" backpacks.
01:51 What made you think of that idea?
01:55 I'm not really sure why it just came upon me that I should name it "Just for you" backpacks.
02:04 It's just for you.
02:05 Well, just for you, that's a great reason.
02:09 And what are some of the things you want to put inside the backpacks you're packing?
02:13 Teddy bear, toothbrush, mostly only the things that you need for overnight stay.
02:21 Yep, so teddy bears and toothbrushes.
02:23 Anything else?
02:24 Soft toys, face washers, hair bands, hair journals, activity books, just all of them
02:41 above.
02:42 Lots of things.
02:43 Well, that's really good, Simon.
02:45 I think that sounds like a great thing to do.
02:48 If people wanted to help out, where can they drop off the stuff that they'd like to donate?
02:55 They could drop it at our house, 206 Packington Street, or they could drop it off at the Walker
03:06 Local Library.
03:07 Yep, that's perfect.
03:08 And there's some boxes there, isn't there, for them to put them in.
03:12 And what happens if someone just wanted to donate one thing?
03:16 Is that okay?
03:17 Yeah.
03:18 And what if someone wanted to donate a few things?
03:21 Is that fine too?
03:22 Yeah.
03:23 Yeah, you'd be very happy with anything, wouldn't you?
03:24 Yeah.
03:25 Yeah.
03:26 And it'll make a big difference.
03:27 And when are you going to put these together?
03:31 On my birthday.
03:32 Yeah, and what are you going to do?
03:35 I'm going to pack with a couple of my friends and my cousins.
03:42 I'm going to try to pack 50 backpacks.
03:46 Awesome, and that'll be really fun.
03:47 And then what will you do when you've packed them all?
03:50 I'm going to give them to the local agencies across the town.
03:55 Yep, so in Armadale and Tamworth, you'll give them to the foster care agencies there.
03:59 Yeah, well, that's a great idea, Simon.
04:01 Thanks for being part of the interview.
04:03 You're welcome.
04:04 A couple of examples that I've got here.
04:07 I've got this nice, cuddly toy here for kids.
04:11 I've got a torch just to have in the night time.
04:15 I've got some short pyjamas, some undies there.
04:21 We have a journal pack for them to write in, a storybook.
04:26 We've got this toothpaste over here for them to go in the bathroom
04:31 with one of these little toys, a hairbrush to brush their hair, and a toothbrush.
04:39 And over here we've got some boy undies, a drink bottle, another journal pack with another torch,
04:50 and of course the little toy with some pencils.
04:54 There we have some long johnnies.
04:56 We can have short or long.
04:59 There's some socks to put on.
05:02 I've got a dinosaur dot to dot back here, a card game,
05:06 and a question book for them to answer and have fun answering questions.
05:14 So that's a couple of examples that we have here.