Positive Memory Bank - Berry Street

Executive Summary
“I’ve dreamed of my 18th Birthday Party. It was on a boat and I had all the people that have made a
difference in my life. I have never had a real party so I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you my
dream so it might come true”
Female, 17yrs.
Berry Street believes that all children should have a good childhood. We also understand that, if
memories provide us with a context for who we are, positive memories can be understood to
play a significant role in building resilience in children and young people. They offer us a
positive image of ourselves, the people around us and the things we are capable of.
The Positive Memory Bank (PMB) was developed in response to a perceived need for an
independent source of funds to enable Berry Street to provide children and young people with
opportunities to build their own bank of positive memories.
“Some of the school parents and students are aware of the family’s current child protection involvement,
which has exacerbated [their] social isolation resulting in the children having few friendships and being
excluded from student’s parties due to parents telling their children not to play with [them]…”
Family Services worker
For many of the children and young people in our programs and services, Berry Street acts in
loco parentis and, as such, is responsible for ensuring that they are provided with the
experiences, the resources, the relationships and the opportunities to be the best they can be.
For others our role is to engage and support them in a variety of ways to overcome barriers, to
feel safe and nurtured and to have hope for the future.
The pilot of the PMB aimed to test a model of small-grant-making to individual children and
young people in all Berry Street programs and services. The intention was to ensure that
children and young people were empowered by the process, supported by Berry Street staff, and
ultimately enabled to access opportunities and resources they may otherwise have struggled to
access.
The development of the model was supported by a reference group including direct service staff
from a range of Berry Street program areas as well as staff from Berry Street’s central office. In
addition the reference group included the CEO of the Newsboys Foundation.
The Reference Group developed the concept to include a definition of positive memories, an
application process and application guidelines. This was subsequently launched, with the pilot
year offering three funding rounds to distribute a total of $41,000. Applications were invited
from all program and service areas of Berry Street for activities and opportunities that:
• Promote fun – opportunities to play, have adventures, be a child etc.
• Provide ‘normal’ experiences – opportunities to do things that other kids their age do,
things that connect them to their peers and community outside the welfare system, going
to restaurants, camping, having sleepovers etc.
• Enable a sense of achievement – Things that enable them to feel like they have
something to offer, skills that people value, the ability to succeed.
• Connect children and young people to their family – opportunities that facilitate and
support connection to family like enabling a family member to attend their Deb Ball, or
supplying a family movie pass or zoo pass so they can do activities together.
• Provide resources – equipment and financial resources that enable them to access
recreation and personal development opportunities such as musical instruments or the
money to pay for music lessons.
The key requirement in the application process was that, where possible, children and young
people had to be the ‘driver’ behind the application. The guidelines encouraged staff to
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