Champions' Alumni Association
The Association was the brainchild of a group of former parents who could see the incredible value of connecting families who attended the Champion Centre to socialise, support and share knowledge.
If you wish to join the Champions' Alumni Association please email [email protected]
The Champion's Alumni Association has its own Facebook Page - check it out!
The alumni are always looking for new ideas for next possible events so if you have any ideas please email [email protected]
If you wish to join the Champions' Alumni Association please email [email protected]
The Champion's Alumni Association has its own Facebook Page - check it out!
The alumni are always looking for new ideas for next possible events so if you have any ideas please email [email protected]
Champions' Alumni Information Evening: Life After School - 22 September 2025
The Champion's Alumni presents a special information evening focusing on "Life After School" for children with additional needs. We invite you to join us for an informative evening of connection and a Q&A session at the end.
This event is a great opportunity to learn about the options available for your child after their school years. Kate Young, Coen Lammers, and other interesting speakers will discuss their personal experiences with living options, available activities, and legal guardianship.
Event Details:
This event is organized by the Champion's Alumni, which is an association connecting families beyond their Champion Centre years. Please note that the Champion's Alumni is not affiliated with the Champion Centre.
This event is a great opportunity to learn about the options available for your child after their school years. Kate Young, Coen Lammers, and other interesting speakers will discuss their personal experiences with living options, available activities, and legal guardianship.
Event Details:
- Date: Monday, 22 September 2025
- Time: 6:00pm
- Location: The Commodore Hotel, 449 Memorial Avenue, Burnside
- Parking: On-site or on Memorial Avenue
- Refreshments: Tea, coffee, and light refreshments will be provided.
This event is organized by the Champion's Alumni, which is an association connecting families beyond their Champion Centre years. Please note that the Champion's Alumni is not affiliated with the Champion Centre.
Family Fun Day - Sunday 3rd November 2024 - coming again in 2025!
On the 3rd November the Champion Foundation and Larcomb Estate hosted the Champions' Alumni for their inaugural Family and Friends Fun Day. The sun shone and Alumni enjoyed bouncy castles, face painting, hot chips, Mr Whippy and drinks as well as music from DJ Paul and the New Brighton Silver Band. One of the biggest hits was the music session put on by Kate and Georgia. The Association plans on holding this again next year and have already penciled in the 2nd November 2025.
Navigating the Funding Maze - Information Evening - 25th July 2024
Thank you to all the families who came along to our first event Navigating the Funding Maze.
We had four wonderful speakers, Coen Lammers, Laura Hall, Mariska Jordaan and Arnah Trealease talk to a full room about how best to access the right support and funding for your family especially within a changing political environment.
Navigating this area can been stressful and overwhelming and this experienced panel were able to share their tips on how to deal with funding agencies and get the support your family needs. Judging by the numbers and the engagement of the crowd, it was clear that this was a hot topic. It was also great to see how much knowledge there was in the room with parents sharing information and solving problems on the spot.
Here are some of the speakers_notes.pdf from the presentation.
This evening highlighted the value of the Alumni to support, educate and enjoy each other's company.
Based on our first night, our little committee will soon be discussing a similar evening focusing on particular areas and age-groups.
Please sign up to our Facebook page so we can keep you posted. https://www.facebook.com/ChampionsAlumni/
We had four wonderful speakers, Coen Lammers, Laura Hall, Mariska Jordaan and Arnah Trealease talk to a full room about how best to access the right support and funding for your family especially within a changing political environment.
Navigating this area can been stressful and overwhelming and this experienced panel were able to share their tips on how to deal with funding agencies and get the support your family needs. Judging by the numbers and the engagement of the crowd, it was clear that this was a hot topic. It was also great to see how much knowledge there was in the room with parents sharing information and solving problems on the spot.
Here are some of the speakers_notes.pdf from the presentation.
This evening highlighted the value of the Alumni to support, educate and enjoy each other's company.
Based on our first night, our little committee will soon be discussing a similar evening focusing on particular areas and age-groups.
Please sign up to our Facebook page so we can keep you posted. https://www.facebook.com/ChampionsAlumni/
Champion Centre alumni launch new group with a bang!
Nearly 80 former parents and staff of the Champion Centre gathered recently to formally launch the Champions’ Alumni Association
The launch event at Hotel Montreal was kindly sponsored by owners Michael and Michelle Patterson whose son George visited the Champion Centre two decades ago.
The evening was very informal with a brief welcome by former parents Georgia Heard and Coen Lammers, and a message from centre founder Patricia Champion.
Georgia spoke passionately about the value of the Champion Centre, and why that value could extend well beyond the moment the families say farewell to their therapists.
Coen outlined some ideas from the organising committee around future events, which includes social events for children and parents, information evenings and a support network for parents with particular needs, problems or questions.
He urged all the attendees to join the Facebook group as a platform to connect and encouraged them to share this Facebook page and provide feedback of what the members want the group to look like.
The launch event reunited many families and staff and the banter went well into the night, which underlined the value of similar future events.
The Alumni committee will soon reconvene to consider the next possible events and start marking any dates for follow up events.
All ideas are welcome so please get in touch with Emma Newman or through the FB page to let us know your suggestions.
The launch event at Hotel Montreal was kindly sponsored by owners Michael and Michelle Patterson whose son George visited the Champion Centre two decades ago.
The evening was very informal with a brief welcome by former parents Georgia Heard and Coen Lammers, and a message from centre founder Patricia Champion.
Georgia spoke passionately about the value of the Champion Centre, and why that value could extend well beyond the moment the families say farewell to their therapists.
Coen outlined some ideas from the organising committee around future events, which includes social events for children and parents, information evenings and a support network for parents with particular needs, problems or questions.
He urged all the attendees to join the Facebook group as a platform to connect and encouraged them to share this Facebook page and provide feedback of what the members want the group to look like.
The launch event reunited many families and staff and the banter went well into the night, which underlined the value of similar future events.
The Alumni committee will soon reconvene to consider the next possible events and start marking any dates for follow up events.
All ideas are welcome so please get in touch with Emma Newman or through the FB page to let us know your suggestions.
