Help us Save this Nature Program for our Children!

Jasmina Sehic is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Birdwings Forest School Guanaba.

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I'm Jasmina and my child, like many others, struggled to fit the mould of a "typical" child within traditional classrooms. She found it challenging to sit still for hours on end and faced social and emotional difficulties. I knew she needed something to support her specific needs.

Luckily, we discovered Birdwings Forest School - a nature program that has been life-changing for us as a family. Birdwings Forest School provide crucial support for children and adults by providing nature play, adventure play and wellbeing support. The very support many children require and benefit from, and yet cannot access readily in more traditional settings.

THE ISSUE:

The development application for the beautiful site is at a point that could make or break this business. The Gold Coast City Council has classified the business as a “childcare centre”, which is not an accurate reflection of the nature-connection programs, and whilst the work is with children the key differences are:

they do not operate as a childcare centre
have no buildings or infrastructure
have minimal environmental impact on our site, and;
contribute significantly to conservation and environmental education through core work with children and the community.

This classification will incur significant financial costs in administration fees and environmental reports, which are beyond the means of a small business. This expense will prevent them from offering essential nature connection programs.

They are seeking the reclassification as an Environmental Facility to more accurately describe the work as providers of therapeutic nature connection for children, families and community.

Changing the classification to list this site as an Environmental Facility will allow Birdwings Forest School to continue programs on the current site and promote the importance of nature connection programs for our children and set a precedent for such programs like ours, nationwide.

If the classification is not changed, Birdwings Forest School will lose their home base, a site they have been caring for and conducting environmental work on over a number of years. Without a home base, many of Birdwings core programs will not be able to be offered, and children and families will lose their access to nature.

How the funds will be used?

The funds will be used to assist with costs due to:

commissioning and submission of reports related to traffic impact, noise pollution, bushfire risk, flooding considerations, and potentially additional assessments

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