Members of Soroptimist International of Shepparton Inc. visited GV Pregnancy and Family Support after the Soroptimist International Victoria Foundation granted the service $20,000 to keep operations going for another year. They are pictured with the service's co-ordinator Debra Russell (far right).
Shepparton’s struggling GV Pregnancy and Family Support has just received a major boost, as support momentum grows for the 50-year-old service.
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“When you see an organisation trying to do those things for mums, particularly young mums, we need to be there.
“We know life’s hard, let us help you.”
Members of Soroptimist International of Shepparton Inc. visited GV Pregnancy and Family Support for a tour and presentation by the service’s co-ordinator, Debra Russell (far right).
GV Pregnancy and Family Support provides free clothing, nappies and other essentials for babies and children, and prams, cots and car seats, depending on availability.
It closed briefly at the end of 2024 before a fundraising campaign garnered enough support to reopen its material aid service and its landlord offered rent relief for 2025.
The organisation, which falls under the Caroline Chisholm Society umbrella, had previously provided further wraparound services, with two practitioners employed to deliver pregnancy and parenting support.
Those services were not reinstated in February 2025 alongside the material aid service; however, hope for their return is not lost.
“The main purpose of the grant is to keep operations going,” Caroline Chisholm Society, Pregnancy and Family Support Service chief executive Lolou Kini said.
“It will keep operations open until December, then there are other grants in the pipeline we’re hoping to get funding from and to bring our integrated family services program back.”
Ms Kini said after the community became more aware of both the services provided and the plight the organisation was facing via increased media coverage before and during its brief closure, there had been an upturn in people using the service and donating to it.
Some 530 families sought help from the service in the 2024-25 financial year.
“It just shows the need; a lot of families still need material aid support,” Ms Kini said.
“And we just want to thank everyone in the Goulburn Valley who’s supported us from the $20 to the $20,000, we acknowledge and appreciate even the smallest donations.”
GV Pregnancy and Family Support is open from 9am to noon, Monday to Wednesday, at 15A St Andrews Rd, Shepparton.
• Material goods can be donated during opening hours only, please do not leave at door.
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