Bendigo Bank is proud to support McKellar Kids’ Rehab as major sponsor
Bendigo Bank is proud to support McKellar Kids’ Rehab in Geelong which officially opens today. The facility will be named Bendigo Bank House in recognition of its role as the major sponsor of Barwon Health Foundation’s $3.6 million fund raising drive.
Barwon Health’s state-of-the-art facility has been designed specifically to support young people who have sustained a traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, stroke, or who require treatment after cancer or for cerebral palsy.
Bendigo Bank CEO and Managing Director Marnie Baker said the facility’s light-filled and welcoming spaces would make a big difference for children in the region recovering from injury, or surgery or learning to live with a disability.
“This is a very exciting day for everyone that has been involved. It is a testament to what a community can do when it works together,” Ms Baker said.
“The role of our bank is to feed into prosperity of the community, not off it. And McKellar Kids’ Rehab at Bendigo Bank House is a great example of that.”
McKellar Kids’ Rehab co-ordinator Dr Therese Clark said the opening of the centre’s doors followed five years of planning, fundraising and consultation with young patients and their families.
“To make sure that this new centre was just right for kids, our team spent time asking young people what they wanted,” Dr Clark said.
“Children and young people are not ‘little adults’ so it was important to really understand what they thought this centre needed.”
Bendigo Bank Geelong regional manager David Tudor thanked Barwon Health Foundation for its vision and its persistence. He also highlighted support from the region’s Community Banks as vital to the success of the project.
“We recognise that without successful communities, there cannot be successful customers, or a successful bank,” Mr Tudor said.
Bendigo Bank’s unique Community Bank model has distributed over $272 million to communities around Australia over the last 23 years. Over $15 million has been returned to the communities in and around Geelong over the same period.
Among the donors instrumental to the fundraising effort were Lara Community Bank, Winchelsea, Anglesea & Lorne Community Banks, Portarlington & Drysdale Community Banks, Leopold Community Bank, Barwon Heads Community Bank and Apollo Bay Community Bank.
The opening of McKellar Kids’ Rehab in Geelong follows the opening of Bendigo Bank House in Bendigo in 2018 which offers carers and families short-term, affordable and subsidised accommodation when visiting Bendigo Hospital. The facility has provided accommodation for 5500 guests in the three years to June 2021.
