For over 50 years, Guide Dogs Victoria has helped people who are blind or vision impaired improve their quality of life by achieving their potential for independence.

Despite the name, Guide Dogs Victoria is more than just Guide Dogs! Guide Dogs Victoria is a premium provider of free mobility and support services to Victorians with vision impairment. These specialised services include Children’s Mobility, Acquired Brain Injury Mobility, Orientation & Mobility, Occupational Therapy and, of course, Guide Dogs.

It costs Guide Dogs Victoria $30,000 and up to two years to breed and train every Guide Dog. However, the impact they make on someone’s life is priceless.

For more information, see http://www.guidedogsvictoria.com.au/ or call 1800 GUIDE DOGS (1800 484 333)

Every hour of every day someone is diagnosed with leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma or a related blood disorder and blood cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in Australia.

The diseases often develop with little warning, requiring immediate, intensive and lengthy treatment. Families in regional areas often need to uproot their lives and relocate to capital cities virtually overnight. In reality it means leaving work, school, family commitments and friends while dealing with the emotional turmoil of diagnosis and immediate treatment.

The Leukaemia Foundation is the only national not-for-profit dedicated to the care and cure of patients and families living with blood cancer. The Foundation receives no ongoing government funding and relies on the generosity of our corporate supporters and the community.

Mission to Care: The Foundation provides personalised care and support to patients, families and carers living in all metropolitan, regional and rural areas across Australia. Support may be provided over the phone or face to face at home, hospital or at the Foundation’s accommodation centres depending on individual needs.

The Foundation’s free support services include:

• A ‘home-away-from-home’ accommodation close to hospital during treatment
• Transportation to and from treatment centres
• Information
• Resources
• Education and support programs
• Practical assistance
• Emotional support

Vision to Cure: The Leukaemia Foundation funds cutting-edge research into the causes, treatments and cure through its National Research Program. In 2010, the Foundation put $4 million into funding Australia’s brightest researchers in the hope that one day, there will be a cure.

For more information or to donate visit www.leukaemia.org.au or call 1800 620 420.

Why travel thousands of kilometres, when a taste of African adventure is available just 30 minutes from Melbourne’s city centre?  At Werribee Open Range Zoo, you'll find an amazing array of animals living on 225 hectares of wide, open savannah.

On the Pula Reserve Walking Trail, come face-to-face with a pride of lions, see cheetahs and monkeys at play and discover a family of hippos at the new Kubu River Hippos experience.

No trip to the Zoo is complete without heading out on safari across grassy plains where you’ll find rhinos, giraffes, zebras and antelopes grazing together on the savannah.

All of the above, including the 45-minute safari tour, is included in the Zoo admission price so take a walk on the wild side.

Werribee Open Range Zoo is part of Zoos Victoria, a leading Zoo-based conservation organisation.

Ovarian Cancer is the leading cause of death of all gynecological cancers affecting women.
It is an insidious disease that often strikes without warning.

Currently across Australia “one woman dies every ten hours” from this disease.

Unfortunately, no simple or effective early screening method currently exists and as a result, this disease is usually well advanced by the time it is detected, resulting in the high mortality rate. Still, over 50% of the population incorrectly think that a pap smear detects ovarian cancer.

The key to changing this statistic and giving women a better long-term outlook is early detection.

Together with the help of the Community and Corporate Australia the OCRF is committed to:

• Developing and Implementing an early detection program for ovarian cancer
• Improving the mortality rate, management and long-term survival of women with ovarian cancer
• Gaining a fundamental understanding of the causes of ovarian cancer

To help achieve the OCRF’s research goals and to save the lives of women, the Foundation need the ongoing financial support of the Community and Corporate Australia to change the statistics and give hope to those suffering from the insidious disease.

For more information please contact the Foundation on 1300 OVARIAN or visit their website http://www.ocrf.com.au/

Every day of the year, approximately 600 people from all over Melbourne who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or living in poverty, seek assistance from Sacred Heart Mission in St Kilda.

In a warm and welcoming community environment, the Mission offers a diverse range of services to help people get their lives back on track. Our meals program is the cornerstone of the organisation, providing free breakfasts and hot lunches to about 500 people every day of the year.

Other services including:
 
• housing assistance
• counselling
• emergency aid
• clinic and GP
• training programs
• drug and alcohol support
• mental health team
• women's services
• sports and recreation program.

The Mission also operates:
• crisis accommodation for women
• 64-bed rooming house
• three aged care hostels
• 6 Op shops.

Beyond helping people with their basic survival, the Mission is committed to turning people’s lives around by helping them overcome challenges and re-connecting them with the community. It may take years, but we are there each step of the way.

http://www.sacredheartmission.org/

Scienceworks
Serious Fun
 
With such a stunning range of themed exhibitions and interactive scientific displays, Scienceworks is sure to enthral and entertain the kids for hours.  Experience live demonstrations, informative tours and plenty of hands-on activities – all designed to unravel the mysteries of science. 
 
Take the sporting challenge at Sportsworks and learn all about the science behind moving your body. Race Cathy Freeman. Test your skill as an extreme snowboarder or a soccer goalkeeper. Measure your fitness and discover your personal sporting profile.
 
Create your own city in the Nitty Gritty Super City construction zone. Drive a digger, steer a ship or record a weather report. Designed especially for three to eight year olds, Nitty Gritty Super City is a kid’s own city to explore.
 
Uncover the science behind the everyday in the supersized House Secrets exhibition. Find out about our food, our appliances, our pets and the other creatures we live with!
 
Journey to the stars and beyond at the Melbourne Planetarium.  Planetarium shows are digitally created and simulate space using awesome special effects for an experience that immerses you in another world.  Sit beneath a 16 metre dome and experience the night sky in astonishing detail and stereo surround sound. 
 
Come and watch live high voltage demonstrations in The Lightning Room. Have a hair-raising experience and learn about electricity and
lightning through spectacular demonstrations in a live show. Highlights include a 2 million volt lightning demonstration.
 
Scienceworks
2 Booker Street
Spotswood  Vic  3015
Phone 03 9392 4800
http://museumvictoria.com.au/scienceworks/

Melbourne Zoo
 
Australia's first zoo is a natural oasis only 4km from the city centre, with a wide variety of wildlife native to Australia and from around the world in a superb garden setting.
 
The new Wild Sea (opening Dec 9th) will be home to Australian Fur Seals, Little Penguins, and other marine species native to Victorian coastal waters, such as Fiddler Rays.  The new exhibit will feature sensational underwater viewing!
 
Melbourne Zoo highlights include the amazing Butterfly House, where visitors are surrounded by brilliant tropical Australian species, and the rainforest habitats created for Western Lowland Gorillas, Pygmy Hippopotamus, Sumatran Tigers, Asian Elephants, and Sumatran Orang-utans. 
 
Frequent Keeper Talks share information about the many endangered species breeding programs underway, conservation projects that the Zoo supports in Papua New Guinea and South-east Asia, and how visitors can get involved in community conservation efforts designed to help protect surviving populations of gorillas and orang-utans.   For visitors who want to help, that can be as easy as donating an old mobile phone no longer in use or signing a petition on the Zoos Victoria website.  For more details: http://www.zoo.org.au/
 
The Zoo Twilights season begins on January 16th with a launch concert by Kate Ceberano, and the concert series continues until March 14th.  Tickets will go on sale on December 1st, in time for Christmas giving:
please call Zoo Sales on 9285 9406 or book online.

Healesville Sanctuary, in the heart of the Yarra Valley, is world-renowned as the best place to see Australian wildlife in their natural habitat. It is one of Australia’s most recognised attractions, showcasing more than 200 species of Australian wildlife, only one hour from Melbourne.

Get closer to Australia’s wildlife, featuring unique experiences with kangaroos, koalas and amazing birds of prey – and meet the keepers who look after these amazing animals. Check on the progress of injured wildlife being cared for at the Australian Wildlife Health Centre. This is Australian flora and fauna at its best!

Healesville Sanctuary provides an Australian wildlife experience that centres on local conservation and indigenous culture. Set in a beautiful natural environment, the Sanctuary offers a place for people and animals to reconnect with nature – from creek to canopy.  It’s also an ideal place to enjoy the best food and wine the Yarra Valley has to offer.

Healesville Sanctuary plays a critical role in saving some of the world’s most endangered animals. These programs aim to restore threatened species to the wild through captive breeding and release coupled with habitat management and restoration. Healesville Sanctuary is part of Zoos Victoria, a leading Zoo-based conservation organisation.

Healesville Sanctuary
Badger Creek Road
Healesville Victoria 3777
Phone 03 59572800
http://www.zoo.org.au/HealesvilleSanctuary

What can you do to make our roads safer?

Inspired by the life of Amy Gillett, the foundation’s goal is to help reduce injury and death between cyclists and motorists.

Since 2005, we’ve been educating drivers and cyclists on how we can all be safer together on the roads. We are running a wide range of education and awareness campaigns, aimed at decreasing the incidence of accidents between cyclists and motorists.

A Metre Matters: Educating motorists to give an extra metre of space when passing cyclists, achieved via an integrated campaign including Public Service Announcements, jerseys and signage.

AustCycle: Encouraging and teaching cycling skills for all Australians under a standardised training program presented by accredited cycling trainers.

Ride Right: Helping you keep your family safe by purchasing the correct fitting bike and helmet, plus the relevant safety accessories.

Road Right: Helping learner drivers understand how to safely share the road with cyclists by increasing their knowledge of the road rules in relation to cyclists.

Amy’s Ride: Fundraising rides conducted around Australia to spread the message about cycling safety. These rides help train correct behaviour in cyclists whilst they undertake exciting, challenging social rides.

Sporting Scholarship: Putting an up and coming female cyclist on the road to success.

Research Scholarship: A three year PHD study on the causal effects of bicycle/vehicle accidents.

More information http://www.amygillett.org.au/