For the past 13 years, the Lou’s Closet sale has been our biggest annual fundraiser. The sale of good-quality, new and second-hand clothing has, to date, raised over $750K to support vulnerable women at Lou's Place. We hope that 2024 will be an even bigger year for us as we move the event to The Tramsheds in Forest Lodge.
Read MoreOn 28 November last year, Lou’s Place held a vigil in Martin Place as part of the United Nations' 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The vigil aimed to remember and honour all of the women who had, to date, lost their lives to family and domestic violence in 2023.
Read MoreSeventeen mothers joined the first term of our Always Mum programme in February. This group of mothers, from diverse backgrounds, both reflects on and work towards individual goals for their children, who are in out-of-home care.
Read MoreVolunteers of OzHarvest's NEST programme have been teaching Lou’s women new cooking skills for better health. NEST (Nutrition Education Skills Training) is a six-week programme that teaches adults about healthy eating and easy, affordable cooking in a friendly and fun environment.
Read MoreNikki has recently joined our team of volunteers. She leads meditation and breathwork classes at Lou's Place, in which she brings women together to connect with the body. She uses a mix of yoga, Qigong, breathwork, meditation and dance.
Read MoreThe James N. Kirby Foundation has been supporting Lou's Place with generous grants for the past 5 years. They are committed to supporting organisations that provide opportunities to those in our community who need it most.
Read MoreFor just an hour a week, a small group of women come along to write and to share their thoughts with each other. Steaming cups of tea and baked treats in hand, pencils poised, students recently wrote about objects hidden in paper bags.
Read MoreOn 31 May, Lou’s opened its doors to welcome donors, allied services and friends to see its new, larger and more accessible premises in Redfern. The evening was designed to give everyone a glimpse of what life at Lou’s is now like. General Manager Mandy Greaney welcomed everyone to walk around the service and talk with the staff about the therapeutic programmes they lead. These include our drop-in service, our family and domestic violence programme 'Choice and Change,' as well as 'Always Mum,' a programme that helps mothers whose children have been taken into out-of-home care.
Read MoreMy name is Ting Ting. I have been receiving care and support at Lou's Place for a year now. I left a toxic, painful relationship and came to Sydney all alone. I struggled to pay $10 for a load of washing. While studying teaching at Sydney University, a classmate recommended Lou's Place. She said I could get all my washing done for free. It was such a big relief. Guess what?
Read MoreIn recent months, programmes at Lou's Place have been running at full throttle. From launching outreach groups to creating new content, and gaining increased recognition from local services, the growth and development of our programmes have been an exciting journey for the team.
Read MoreIn May, Connecting Through Change commenced a 4-week outreach programme in partnership with WHOS. WHOS is a local drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation centre that provides a range of evidence-based therapeutic treatment programmes. They contacted Lou’s Place on behalf of the women in their programme who have expressed interest in participating in Connecting Through Change. As these women are unable to leave the rehabilitation facility to access the group, Lou’s Place bridged this gap by delivering an onsite programme with core content from our 7-week programme.
Read MoreWe are very proud to announce that our Cooking Team at Lou’s Place was nominated for recognition in the 2023 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards. Regional award ceremonies were held across Sydney and included representatives of Lou’s Place in the City of Sydney/ Eastern Suburbs division, the Northshore division and the Northern Beaches area. Long held as the part of the soul of Lou’s, our nutritious and delicious lunches are integral to the well-being of all the women who visit Lou’s Place. It has been a very well-deserved spotlight on the work that our culinary volunteers do.
Read MoreWe are thrilled to have several new volunteer positions at Lou's:
The All Rounder overs our busiest period of the day, from 9 am to 1 pm. A volunteer greets women who drop into Lou's, as well as helping them access showers, emergency toiletries and clothing. It is great to have another pair of hands to manage donations and/or general house issues. It has been a huge success and we are excited to roster more volunteers into this vital position.
Read MoreLou's Place was grateful to receive a Community Building Partnership grant from the Department of Community and Justice, which enabled us to install solar panels on the roof of our Renwick Street building. Our electricity consumption is considerable, due to the commercial grade washing machines, dryers, fridges and freezers that are running throughout the day at Lou's. With the use of the solar panels, we look forward to reducing our electricity bills and cutting down on our environmental footprint.
Read MoreOur 2023 Closet sale was held in May, once again at the beautiful Manly Golf Club, resulting in another extraordinary year of selling both brand-new and second-hand designer wear. This year’s sale raised over $112K.
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They always say, "be careful what you wish for." At Lou’s Place we wished to help more women, and we are certainly reflecting that wish! For the first time in our 24-year history, we need to roster women in some of our busier classes.
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Always Mum is a unique 10-week programme supporting mothers with children who have been removed and are in out of home care. The programme helps them learn to be better mothers and to improve their relationships with their children.
Read MoreAlways Mum is offering two new workshops under its umbrella. The play workshop aims to teach mums the power of play time.
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Lou's now offers "Connecting Through Change," a 7-week face to face programme which investigates the drivers and impact of domestic and family violence.
Read MoreJoin us in welcoming Shazya Singh and Hannah Kelly to the Lou’s Place team.
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