Our Goal is to build a new Aboriginal Preschool for the children of JARJUM PRESCHOOL in Bundjalung Country, Lismore NSW.

Jarjum (meaning: “all our children”) prioritises children that are most vulnerable in the community. Jarjum provides an environment that supports the children and their families in a culturally appropriate way.

The current location and building is not a safe place for our children. The current location and the building are not meeting the standards of a safe quality environment. As outlined by the Director Maurita Cavanough in the local newspaper the centre encounters severe issues including children finding used needles, difficulties with neighbours and visitors of the units next door (drug use, vandalism, domestic violence and aggression towards staff). Teachers and children have been in lockdown five times in the last year after domestic violence incidents and brawls spilled dangerously close to the preschool and outdoor furniture and bins were set alight and a shed ripped down.

The current ageing building doesn’t comply with the basic building code. Preschoolers have to bathe in a tiny laundry sink if they soil themselves. A change table folds out precariously over the children's hand basins.

Early intervention therapy sessions take place in a barely enclosed veranda with a 3-inch crack between the wall and roof. A major crack in the bricks on the building's facade flag profound structural problems.

Jarjum Centre have recently partnered with Indigenous Community Volunteers (ICV) and ICV Volunteer Architect Rogier has been working alongside staff, families and the community through a collaborative approach to design the new Preschool.

Maurita and her staff, along with families and community members are excited that their dream of a purpose-built centre is becoming a reality.  “It would provide a greater chance for the community to take ownership. Real change only takes place when it is community-led,” Maurita says

We now have a Concept Design that works for us and our community.

We need a New Aboriginal Preschool to keep our children safe. The Lismore City Council has been generous and is willing to allocate land for the Preschool.

We now need money to build the new school.

Our children have the right to be safe.