Hi. My name is Vanessa and I am the Customer Service and Support team leader at Drummond House and the Centre for Country Kids.

Describe what you do

I support our country families when they arrive at Drummond House. They often feel very stressed and overwhelmed when they arrive, and it’s vital to help them settle into their ‘home-away-from-home’ as soon as we can, so they can gain the best possible outcome from their family visit to our ‘home’.

I also spend time with our friendly volunteers, who join us each week with a cuppa and a smile as we chat and get to know our families. We work really hard to assist in the overall wellbeing of our visiting parents/carers and children.

My role also includes welcoming corporate guests and visitors in our Centre for Country Kids.

By making sure our clients and our guests feel welcome and valued, we aim to make each visit to Royal Far West positive and memorable. 

What’s your background?

I worked in Human Services for the past 15 years, in roles such as a School Chaplain and Group Facilitator, facilitating social and emotional wellbeing programs. This experience led me to working for Holyoake Institute with the award-winning DRUMBEAT program, which looks at building resilience through rhythm (discovering relationships using music, beliefs, emotions, attitudes and thoughts). As a Senior Group Facilitator, I worked in the capacity of train the trainer, delivering the DRUMBEAT training to professionals in the health and education sectors around Australia.

As well as national training, I continued to deliver the program with at-risk and disengaged youth in Perth. I was then involved in several research projects with the DRUMBEAT program in WA in different settings such as men and women’s prisons, DCP, OHC and with FACS. Other research projects were looking at mental health with refugee youth in low social economic high schools, and Out of Home Care for the Department of Child Protection in its 14 residential homes in Perth.

How did you find your way to RFW?

I relocated to Sydney with my family, and Royal Far West impressed me with the multidisciplinary clinical approach to children’s health and life outcomes. I knew I wanted to be a part of the team from my first impression, and I enjoy assisting in the overall work of the organisation.

COVID-19 impact?

As a lover of people, I am missing the interaction I have with the children, families and our staff and I’m really looking forward to once again meeting and greeting our wonderful client families in Manly.

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