Very Special Kids (VSK) is a well-known children’s charity that helps some 850 families across Victoria who have a child with a life-threatening condition. They provide ongoing support, from diagnosis all the way through to recovery or bereavement. Sadly, many of the children that VSK supports may not even reach adulthood. Their free-of-charge family support services include counselling, advocacy, sibling support, bereavement support and so on.
After many years of service, VSK realised it was time to revitalise and renew their Hospice, based in Malvern, so they could provide even better, more structured, first-rate, 21st century services to the children and families they care for. That led to the start of A Very Special Project, the most ambitious campaign so far by the organisation and a multi-million dollar project to redevelop the facility.
Thanks to a concerted effort, VSK secured significant funding from both Federal and State governments, with the remaining funds required raised from their philanthropic supporters, regular donors and the general public. The Gandel family provided one of the leading contributions towards VSK Hospice redevelopment project.
The old building was demolished in August 2021 and the construction of the new structure has commenced, with the planned completion of the development by the end of 2022 and the official opening scheduled for early 2023. We wish VSK great success with this initiative!