Community Challenge provides a structure and resources for young people to participate as active citizens in their community whilst promoting attitudes and principles of the Red Cross.          

Young people plan, implement and evaluate a short term project, usually 4 - 6 weeks duration. Each group is guided by a mentor (teacher, parent, community member over 18) and a comprehensive resource kit.        

Who Benefits from the program?
Red Cross Community Challenge has many benefits for all groups involved.        

Students develop:
• Project management skills
• An increased knowledge of the local community
• An understanding of the value of voluntary work
• Personal and work relationships with people in their community
• Increased communication, leadership, research and problem solving skills
• Task planning and completion skills
• A sense of belonging to the local community and are part of a worldwide organisation.  

Schools develop:
• Links with other schools, youth services, local government and the local community.
• An ongoing program which meets curriculum needs.
• A link with Australian Red Cross and support from Australian Red Cross staff. This can come in the form of resource kits, Red Cross publications, presentations to your students, email and phone contact with the organising teacher.   

 The community benefits from:
•  Positive youth role models for the community
• Increased participation of young people as volunteers
• Projects that improve the quality of life in the community   

What we provide
A Red Cross Community Challenge Resource Kit to assist groups to plan and implement their project
Support and assistance from Australian Red Cross Education staff.  

What does it cost?
There is an annual membership fee of $70. This fee includes the following:
• Community Challenge Resource Kit  (in the first year of membership)
• Red Cross publications throughout the year
• Access to Australian Red Cross Speakers
• Red Cross Community Challenge certificates for all participating students              

The students below decided to take up the challenge.

‘Step Outside’ A group of Year 10 students worked with the spouse of a resident of a local nursing home to plan, create and plant out a special garden bed for the residents of the home.

‘I.T. for the Elderly’ A group of Year 10 students conducted computer courses for residents of a local aged care village. The students had to plan, acquire computer equipment and implement the course consulting with staff and residents of the centre.

‘MIDI (Music In Detention Initiative) Project’ Australian Red Cross Victoria has created a music (CDs and tapes) and listening equipment (stereos and walkmans) library at the Maribyrnong Detention Facility as part of its MIDI program.

Students, collected walkmans that people no longer use and CDs or tapes (original) that are no longer being listened to, to send to ARCV. Students also raised money to buy new CDs and equipment.

‘Blankey’ Year 9 students from a local secondary college created a large tactile mat for the students of a Special Development School in their community. The planning process involved detailed research and consultation with students and teachers of the school.

YMCA Mural A group of year 9 students worked with the local YMCA. The YMCA felt that there was a need to paint a mural on one of their sheds. The students and the YMCA worked together to come up with the outback theme that the students painted themselves.

Christmas Party A group of students got together to organise a Christmas Party for residents of local nursing homes. There were over 70 people in attendance. Students organised invitations, catering, decorations, entertainment and even had a gift for each person attending the party.

Spotlight on a School - Billanook College

Billanook College has been successfully running the Community Challenge program for three years.
Billanook College is a member of the world wide community of Round Square schools which  has six pillars which underpin its educational program. One of those pillars is Service. The College  believes it is of vital importance that its young people understand the importance of their contribution to their local, wider and international communities.  All students have an opportunity to do some form of voluntary service in their local community. Billanook College uses the Community Challenge program as an avenue for the years 7 and 8 students to make a difference in their local community.
Read on to find out more about the Community Challenge program at Billanook College.

Teacher Profile Names: Evelyn Voshege & Robyn Green 'Our years 7 and 8 students participate in a number of Community Challenge projects at the end of the school year. The main project has been a Christmas Party for residents at local aged care facilities. Our year 8 students manage this project.

They work in teams to create invitations, plan a menu, entertainment, decorations and gifts for our visitors. We have a logistics team which is responsible for the smooth running of the day. There is a team which is responsible for the food preparation, management of the kitchen and waiting on our guests. The PR team greets the guests, assists them, sits at the table with them and chats with them. It is a massive operation for our students and involves around 80 guests. Our reputation has grown over the years and we now have aged care facilities requesting an invitation!

Year 7 students have a number of projects to choose from. Students studying Indonesian and German visit residents in aged care facilities where these languages are spoken. They prepare songs and conversation as well as gifts.

Other students have tirelessly made teddy bears for two days and then delivered them to children of asylum seekers and refugees as Christmas gifts; knitted baby bonnets for AIDS infected babies in South Africa, prepared gifts and a presentation for visits to the Royal Children’s Hospital Captain Starlight room. Another major community challenge is the gathering of food and packing of around 100 food hampers for the Salvation Army and Anglicare. These food parcels are distributed to needy families in our immediate community.

It is a moving and gratifying experience to witness our young people assisting severely disabled visitors and chatting comfortably to our senior citizens particularly those with quite advanced dementia. Each year there are stories of elderly citizens being moved to tears by their experiences. The genuine excitement and enthusiasm of our students as they return or debrief and chatter about their own personal experiences of their visit to the hospital or Aged care facility or other experience are highlights enough for us. It is exhilarating and leaves us with a wonderful warm and fuzzy feeling. 

The benefits of running the Community Challenge program are far reaching for all of us. It is a reminder to us adults that we live in a global community. In turn, we are able to give our young people the opportunity to appreciate there is a world outside their immediate front door and that they have the ability to make a positive difference to our world. 

The advice we would have for teachers running this program is dig deep. You may be tired and the thought of summoning the energy to be involved in community service projects could be off putting but have faith in your young people to drive it. Engage them and they will not let you down.  Our students accept and respect that service to others is a significant part of their life here at school. I also believe this sense of responsibility will remain with them and flow on into adulthood. In turn it will help grow a responsible, compassionate and caring generation of young people.

Our Round Square theme for 2006 is “There is more in you than you think” I think this is a brilliant message which also conveys the notion of the potential which is tapped when these projects are embraced and owned by our young people. Have a go!!'

Student Profile Names: Rowan & Sasha - Year: 8 (2005) 'Our Community Challenge was to throw a Christmas Party for residents from local aged care facilities at our school. There were over 80 students involved in this challenge. We divided into groups, each with a different task, and worked on our pieces until we’d finished. We were involved in preparing and performing the entertainment, catering and gifts.

The hardest part of this challenge was organising the amount of cutlery we needed for all the guests. Because we couldn’t get enough cutlery, we had to make and serve food that didn’t need knives and forks. The other hard bit was trying to find out exact numbers of residents coming to the party. We wanted everyone to take a gift (rum balls) home with them, we didn’t want anyone to miss out. To make sure we had the right numbers we spoke to staff at the aged care facilities to find out how many residents were coming to the party.

It was so much fun making the residents’ presents, organising all of the food, performing and holding the party! It was great to see how happy it made the residents and to be able to say “we helped run that!”The best things about being involved in the Community Challenge was the fact that we could do everything ourselves without the teachers making all of the decisions and the feeling we got from doing it. The feeling that we really did make someone’s day!
The advice we would give someone wanting to do a Community Challenge is work out what you want to do, and who you want to do it for and go for it. Persevere through the hard bits and you’ll get to the end. Have fun!'