"Like every parent, I’ve always wanted the best for my child."

By Kath Coory

My daughter Lara is a sociable, music-loving, thirteen year old but until recently, she’d never been to a weekend sleepover.

Lara lives with disability and needs support to do many things – including making a sandwich, getting dressed, playing and communicating.  So something as simple as Saturday night sleepovers with friends simply weren’t an option, and that sat badly with me.

Like every parent, I’ve always wanted the best for my child. It’s important she has friends, and is part of a community. I want her to learn, contribute and have fun. I want her to live as independently and happily as she can.

I wondered, ‘How does a child living with a disability enjoy something as ordinary as a sleepover? And how do their families ever get a break?’

This gave my friend Tina (whose son Tom also has special needs) and I the seed of an idea. We wanted to create a supported weekend sleepover program for children like ours. We wanted to offer them a chance to create social networks and build friendships in a safe environment, while providing parents with a much-needed break.

Everyone loved the idea but to do it properly we needed resources – money and know-how. Enter Wesley Mission Brisbane.

Sometimes the stars align. Our timing, it turns out, was perfect.  While Tina and I were formulating what would become BestLife Sleepovers, Wesley Mission Brisbane were launching Campaign for Change, a competition offering Brisbane people a $30,000 kick start to get their idea for improving their local community off the ground. We applied and won!

The money and support Wesley Mission provided meant we were able to turn our idea into a reality, launching BestLife Sleepovers in 2013 with a 12-week pilot program.

The results have far exceeded our expectations. Kids are loving the program and parents are describing it as a ‘godsend’. One mum said, ‘One sleepover a month seems like such a small thing, but it lifts our whole family.’

Previously non-communicative children are excitedly sharing stories about their sleepover, the friends they’ve made and how much they’re looking forward to going back. Bestlife isn’t respite or babysitting – it’s a tailored program a hundred percent focused on the needs of the child and the family. Kids are carefully matched, their interests, anxieties and abilities are taken into consideration and our team leaders do everything possible to involve families – sending texts and pictures to reassure them their child is happy and safe.

Parents are thanking us for helping to give their child independence and the chance to experience the ‘normal’ pleasures of time away from home and school and the opportunity to make new friends.

For these families, Bestlife has helped provide guilt-free down time: a chance to sleep in, go out for dinner or  spend time with other children.

From my point of view, it’s been fantastic to turn the dream of seeing my daughter experience an everyday sleepover into a reality. I can’t thank Wesley Mission Brisbane enough for helping us make that happen.

The sleepovers are just the beginning. Our dream is to expand the program so every child and every family will have the chance to live not just a good life, but their best life.

Do you have a great idea that could help your community? Campaign for Change 2014 is now open until 13^th June. Apply now.

For more information, head to the Wesley Mission’s YouTube channel.

Kath is a marketing consultant and President of Bestlife. Together with Lara and husband Derek they live in Brisbane and are dedicated to helping families like theirs. Find out more or donate to Bestlife visit www.bestlifefoundation.com.au