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Vol. 18 No. 19
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Wednesday, November 4, 2015
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Centre fund launch Parents rally community to help childcare service after fire BY DEAN LAWSON
T
he mother of a child who attended a Horsham childcare centre gutted by fire on Sunday has launched a money-raising project to help meet costs to replace items lost in the blaze.
CALL FOR DONATIONS: James and Ema-Lee Rowe, pictured left with children Xavier and Thomas, have set up an appeal to raise $5000 to replace items lost in a fire that gutted the University Early Learning Centre on Sunday. Above right, the fire-damaged childcare centre. Pictures: KELLY LAIRD and DEAN LAWSON
tre two to three times a week. With her husband a full-time youth care worker and limited family support, Mrs Rowe now has little option but to postpone her teaching studies. “I speak for many parents when I say that it can be so hard to leave your child at childcare,” she said. “But when they finally feel comfortable and enjoy their time there, it is such a relief to know you have found a place that nurtures and takes care
IN THIS ISSUE
of your child as if they were their own. “Unfortunately, with the centre no longer in action, and other centres at capacity, it will be a long time before parents can find somewhere their children can go for childcare or after-school care.” The childcare centre had a capacity for 30 children.
Mystery cause
The Country Fire Authority has ruled out suspicious circumstances involving the fire.
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age that it has been difficult pulling it apart.” Fire-fighters took between 30 to 40 minutes to bring the blaze under control but crews remained at the scene until several hours later. No one was hurt in the incident. Federation University Australia and Wimmera Uniting Care will work together to maintain the childcare service. Wimmera Uniting Care acting chief executive Leeanne Thomson said agency staff and
volunteers were shocked after hearing the news. “At this stage we are doing everything we can to make sure this doesn’t impact our families too much,” she said. Wimmera Uniting Care is unable to accept donations of toys and equipment because of storage issues. The organisation has encouraged anyone keen to make a donation to go to website www. gofundme.com/helpUELC.
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Horsham acting operations manager Trevor Ebbels said the damage was extensive, which meant further investigation would reveal little. He said it was hard to draw 100 percent conclusions but a process of elimination suggested the fire might have started from a stove. “We worked through a process to get a cause and eliminated any deliberate action early in the investigation,” he said. “There’s been so much dam-
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Ema-Lee Rowe established a $5000 appeal on crowdfunding website Go Fund Me shortly after hearing on Sunday that fire had gutted the University Early Learning Centre in Baillie Street. Mrs Rowe, with husband James, has two sons, sixmonth-old Thomas at home and Xavier, 20 months, who attended the centre. She said there would be a need to replace items that insurance failed to cover. “Already this year the centre has had three fundraisers to buy play equipment,” she said. “I thought to myself: we don’t have much money for the centre and are going to have to raise some to pay for those extras such as toys, puzzles and books, paint, paintbrushes, teddies, beanbags, play equipment, and all of the other items our children played with daily. “We’re aiming for $5000 and hopefully we can get that in the next three months. “It is heart-breaking to know that it will be a long and slow process to get the centre rebuilt and opened.” The centre, at the Wimmera campus of Federation University and operated by Wimmera Uniting Care, had provided childcare for Mrs Rowe, allowing her to pursue tertiary studies. Xavier spent time at the cen-