THE
BIRTH OF “SAFETY HOUSE”
The
Safety House program began in Victoria in 1979.
At that time, parents of children attending the Woorana
Park Primary School in North Dandenong were worried about
reports of strangers accosting youngsters on their way home
from school.
In a period of three months, there were twelve such
incidents reported.
Mr
Max Williamson, whose child attended Woorana Park Primary
School, felt something should be done before there was a
tragedy.
He had heard about a scheme in Canada called “Block
Parents”, where parents from local schools formed groups
to keep an eye on the welfare of youngsters living in housing
blocks in the city.
Mr Williamson talked to the school and to his neighbours
about setting up a similar program.
There was an enthusiastic response, and he went on
to form the Safety House Committee of Victoria.
Mr Williamson was the founding president.
Five
years later, there were more than 500 Safety House areas
in Melbourne and more than 32,000 Safety Houses in Victoria.
All had the distinctive yellow and black sign on
their letterboxes indicating they were a “safe house”
where a child who was lost, worried or frightened could
run for refuge and help.
The
Safety House program is now active in every state and territory
across Australia.
(except South Australia where they have a similar program).
In New South Wales and the Northern Territory, the
program is run by the Police Service.
In all other states and the ACT, the program is run
by very busy ordinary everyday people who feel there is
very little, if anything, more important than the safety
of their community.
These caring people give up some of their time each
month to ensure the program continues to be active and effective
in their communities.
In
Queensland, it all began in 1983 when the Leichhardt State
School P&C Association, received a request from a parent
of the school, Mrs Yvonne Davidson, that they investigate
starting a Safety House program.
Mrs Davidson had just come from Victoria, where she
had seen the program in operation.
She was concerned for the safety of her children,
walking to and from school, as there had been a couple of
incidents of children being approached around the school.
The committee decided that this was a job for the
Secretary …. so, Mrs Linda Hellewell took up the challenge.
Thanks to Mrs Hellewell's tireless efforts and her
refusal to give up at every new hurdle, the Safety House
program made it to Queensland.
That
is all it took
-
an incident (or possible incident), a parent’s
concerned request, and a school community wanting to make
a difference! … a dash of naivete … and the commitment
and dedication of a group of caring parents and community
members to carry on regardless.
Every
child and community member has the right to travel safely
throughout their community but it is a sad fact of life
that there is a great need for a preventative program such
as “Safety House”.
While a broken arm will mend, a child or person can
never be replaced.
The
program offers much more than just a well maintained network
of Safety Houses throughout a community, it also provides
personal safety strategies education to every student attending
a school which is affiliated with the Safety House Association.
In addition to this our committees can also conduct personal
safety strategies education to Senior Groups and other organisations.
With
the education sessions, the network of Safety Houses, and
the Safety House signage, the program can act as a deterrent
for undesirable people coming into an area and approaching
children teenagers, adults and the elderly.
The
Safety House Association of Queensland has set itself the
mission of promoting the safety of children teenagers, adults
and the elderly and increasing awareness of Safety House
throughout Australia.
Our vision for the future is one of people working
together to assist in creating a feeling of safety within
our communities.
What
Max Williamson started over twenty years ago, many thousands
of people across this country are continuing
BECAUSE
WE CARE !!!
