Single mother Renee Beard praises Sony Foundation camp for disabled children
She loves her boys but for a South Mackay mum and many like her, raising children with disabilities is hard. Now, she’s shared how a special camp is raising the spirits of the whole family.
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Single mother Renee Beard is raising two young boys with disabilities and speaks openly about her struggles as a carer.
“I’m not going to lie, it is hard,” she said.
“Simple things like jumping in the car and going to the beach with your children can be impossible for some of us.
“I need to plan that with support workers to make sure not only my children are safe, but I am safe and the general public as well.”
The South Mackay mum serves as a rock of love and care for Tyler, 13, who has autism spectrum disorder, down syndrome and an intellectual disability, and Cody, 10, who has autism spectrum disorder and speech delay.
“They are my boys, they are my sons first,” Renee said.
“And the fact that their pathway is different to everybody else’s, doesn’t mean it is any less.
“It just means we have a different life and have different goals from Harry and John next door.”
She said the mental and physical health challenges carers could face was a “taboo subject” but a program by the Sony Foundation gave parents like her some time to recharge and refresh.
The foundation runs weekend camps for families with disabled children, pairing the kids with high school students who act as companions, giving the kids an opportunity to build friendships and develop their sense of self all the while being watched over by health professionals.
The overnight respite care camps, which are running across Queensland, are free and Whitsunday Anglican School held the Mackay camp over the weekend.
Tyler has been to two camps and this year Cody is on his first.
For Renee, Sony’s camps offer disabled kids “the experience of a lifetime”.
“The standard of care is five-star and the experience the children get is five-star,” she said.
“So as parents taking that opportunity, there is no guilt factor because they are not simply being looked after for a weekend, they are being given the experience of a lifetime and there is no money that can pay for that.”
On Sunday morning, the children and their companions gathered at the school sporting field for a special presentation from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service and Queensland Police, with a fire truck and cop car on display.
Whitsunday Anglican School students Clancy Morgan and Ryan Chatteris said they were happy to help out with the camp.
“It is a great opportunity for us to be paired with a camper,” Clancy said.
“It is amazing for the family to trust us, have some relaxation, and get the campers to socialise with us and also other members and Sony campers as well.”
Ryan was paired with Conrad Borg.
“He is 15 years of age and has Down syndrome and so far it has been a very rewarding experience to be able to help him out and his mother is absolutely lovely, meeting her as well it has been awesome,” Ryan said.
Jay Gaunekar was paired with Cooper Wells and said it was “uplifting” to see smiles on the kids’ faces.
“They are together and happy and I think that is a really good thing,” he said.
Cooper said the thing he enjoyed most about the camp was the games.
“It is really fun,” he said, adding there were too many to choose a favourite.
Summer Bust, a camper from Moranbah, hopped in and out of the police car and said her favourite thing about the camp was the chance to go swimming.
“My favourite thing about camp would be the swimming,” she said.
“You get to play games and have fun, I like it.”
QFES firefighter Kyle McCormack said he felt lucky to get the chance to stop by this year after missing out on last year’s camp.
“It has just been really cool showing the kids around the truck and getting them involved in squirting a bit of water from the hose,” he said.
Camp co-ordinator Trisha McHugh said the weekend was “going beautifully”.
“The camp is going really well, the campers are making great friends with our companions and it is also giving those families a little bit of a rest.”
Campbell Donnelly and Mackenzie Wilkinson were past companions in 2017-2018 and came back this year to help keep the program going.
“It is such a rewarding experience, not only for the companions, but the campers as well,” Campbell said.
“It is all volunteer-based, at the end of the day.”
Mackenzie said the number of return campers was a source of inspiration to her.
“It really shows they love this camp,” she said.
Since 1999, more than 8000 special needs children and more than 14,000 student companions have participated in the program.
Viewers and readers can support the camps by donating at sonyfoundation.org.
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