Upgraded Endeavour Foundation service hub opens its doors in Warwick

Endeavour Warwick’s new learning and lifestyle hub features interactive education tools that have seen clients learn more than just essential lifestyle skills, impressing family, friends and staff. Full story here.

Palmerin St was a flurry with excitement Monday morning as staff, parents and clients gathered for the official opening of Endeavour Foundation’s learning and lifestyle hub.

The upgraded service hub is currently supporting 15 clients and features an impressive virtual reality interactive education room, activities room, and functional kitchen for clients to showcase their new-found culinary skills.

Humbly tasked with completing the most important and exciting event of the morning were clients Sam and Tim, who eagerly and carefully cut the hub’s official opening ribbon.

Endeavour Warwick clients Tim (L) and Sam (R) officially open the new and improved service hub on Palmerin Street.

Sam’s mum Christine expressed her profound gratitude to the inclusiveness of Endeavour Warwick and its staff who have stood by Sam’s side since he joined the service almost three years ago.

“The staff are just great, they go on outings which is great for Sam because he needs to know where he lives, and that was always really important (to our family) as we’re getting older,” she said.

“He’s always known how to go shopping, but it’s just not so cool with mum.”

Proud mum Christine (L) with her son Sam (R) and the opening of Endeavour Warwick's new service hub on Palmerin Street.

Christine said since their move to the Southern Downs and joining Endeavour Warwick, they’ve seen a massive improvement in Sam’s day-to-day life.

“He’ll come home now and tell you about what he’s done, where he’s been and because the staff spend so much time on that sort of thing, when he does go somewhere he knows where he’s been and where he’s going,” she said.

“Before whenever we would travel somewhere, I had to Google the location and take screenshots so that he had an idea (of where to go).”

Christine said Sam has become their ultimate Southern Downs travel guide and often will give his family and friends recommendations of places to visit in the region.

Inside the impressive VR room of Endeavour's improved service hub in Warwick.

Endeavour site manager for Warwick and Stanthorpe Penelope Mann said the new learning and lifestyle centre on Palmerin St would also be accessible to clients of the Stanthorpe service hub.

“In Warwick we do have a lot more younger clients involved in our programs, which is great for them to learn more skills,” she said.

“In saying that though in our Stanthorpe group we’ve got a lot more older clients and they’re still learning new skills.”

Ms Mann said one of the biggest changes she has seen across both Southern Downs hubs was the implementation of new and educational technologies which have worked to provide improved opportunities for clients.

Endeavour Warwick clients wasted no time in testing out the new and improved arts and craft space at the newly opened Palmerin Street service hub.

One of those new and educational technologies implemented at the Southern Downs service hubs is Endeavour’s Thrive program which hosts around 230 learning modules.

Thrive caters to both the client and the support staff in providing simple, short videos with accompanying workbooks and guides for staff on educating clients around lifestyle skills from cooking, cleaning to how to safely access and use different types of social media.

“I would say that’s been the best thing to come into Endeavour, the technology and programs,” Ms Mann said.

The upgraded Palmerin Street learning and lifestyle hub can support up to 30 clients and was eagerly awaiting new faces to pop through its doors.

Originally published as Upgraded Endeavour Foundation service hub opens its doors in Warwick