Home sweet home: Bunnings staff fit kitchen for homeless kids

Homeless children on the northern beaches will benefit from the DIY skills of staff from Bunnings Warehouse after they donate and fit new kitchen.

Bunnings team at house installing new kitchen for house with homeless kids

A team of experts from Bunnings have put their DIY skills to good use to help homeless kids on the northern beaches.

As well as donating a $1500 kitchen, Bunnings provided seven volunteers who work at stores across the beaches, to install new flooring and a new kitchen at the property in Manly.

The house, which has been made available by a private benefactor for a vastly reduced rent, will be a sanctuary to homeless children aged from 12 to 18.

Related: Future uncertain for northern beaches youth homelessness service the Burdekin Association

Related: Funding success for youth homelessness services provider the Burdekin Association

Warren Welsh, property manager for the Burdekin Association, which has been providing property and support for local homeless youths for the last 30 years, said they lost government funding last year to another provider.

After an outcry the association was successful in receiving a grant from the Department of Family and Community Services to cover 18 months of operation, while they looked at how they could complement the services offered by the successful tenderer Taldumande Youth Services and build on the accommodation and support streams to young people.

Mr Welsh said they were relying on the goodwill of the community to help them and that they would not have been able to renovate the property without the generosity of Bunnings and the Property Industry Foundation, which donated $90,000 to upgrade the roof.

Mr Welsh added that other volunteers from the community have also offered their help, pulling up old carpets and painting.

“We were reliant on government money and so when we lost it we had to start appealing for help from the community,” said Mr Welsh.

“The response has been wonderful and has really invigorated us and reminded us that what we do is valuable and appreciated.”

He said while the northern beaches was a lovely affluent area, there were still pockets of impoverished families, with multi-generational families living in small accommodation.

It is hoped the Manly property will be ready to receive its new residents by early February.

Meanwhile, Taldumande Youth Services, which won the government contract last year, recently opened an office in Brookvale where caseworkers and a part-time counsellor are now based and have also increased the number of crisis beds accommodation in Neutral Bay from five to seven.