You’ve got a friend in me

People often ask me, where, when and how I came up with the idea for Friend in Me, and I instantly think back to the day it was created. I remember it as if it was yesterday. One morning whilst driving to work I heard the voice of a broken mum who had called into the radio station to say her little boy Logan had never been invited to a party before. As a mum this instantly pulled on my heart strings. How could a child never have been invited to a party before? Who was this boy and why on earth was he being excluded? From that instant, I knew I had to make a change, and quickly.

I wanted to make a difference, not just for Logan, or my daughter and her friends, but for every child who felt left out, alone or friendless. Friend In Me was born in an instant, and three years into this journey, has helped thousands of children feel included, loved and appreciated.

The main focus, when I created Friend in Me, was to create wonderful events for children who had never had the opportunity to have their own party. We created special parties for exceptional children, to make them feel cherished. It was a joy to see their faces light up and experience a real party just for them. Friend in Me has evolved so much since our first beautiful community event three years ago, and has now grown beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Who knew that so many children felt left behind?

I have now left the corporate world and my full time job to focus on making inclusion a priority. I can’t begin to tell you how big this mission has become; to make sure no child is left behind.

Friend in Me are proud to be hosting the country’s largest inclusion focussed community events for children, however, we don’t want to stop there. Behind the scenes we are busy working on developing a program that will encourage inclusion and educate children on the importance of acceptance. This programme will go a long way to help decrease the mental health concerns that come from children being ostracised from society. It is going to make a huge difference to parents and children in our communities.

Face to face events were halted during the Covid-19 pandemic which was heartbreaking, however we made sure that we diversified like other businesses, and carried on making a

YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME

difference in the lives of so many children. We were privileged to be able to create a range of awesome digital celebrations to send out to the world and have begun hosting so many magical ‘virtual’ birthday parties globally.

One party that really stands out for me and is a recent virtual celebration. One of our messages reached all the way across the ocean to the United Kingdom. Beautiful Alice who suffers from a rare chromosome disorder, epilepsy, cyclical vomiting syndrome and global developmental delay was turning 15 and we got to share the celebration. Friend in Me were on the case straight away! We organised all of her favourite characters for a LIVE ZOOM call.

We invited Supergirl, Elsa and Anna and Captain America. We sung to her, we danced and we read her favourite book by Dr Seuss. She was smiling from ear to ear.

We knew at that moment we had changed this little girl’s world and for that we are so proud. These are the moments that fill my heart and drive me to go even further, reach even more children and families, and to grow Friend in Me to be the biggest and the furthest reaching inclusion focussed charity. We’re celebrating our 3rd birthday in a few weeks and I cannot believe how many lives we’ve touched in that time. I truly had no idea where we were heading when I had a little idea all those years ago to put on a small community event for children who felt left out. I am committed, more than ever, to making it my priority to be the voice for these little people. I am determined to be the social change maker that they need and make a very big difference to their little world.

How does the future look for Friend in Me? We are excited to be working on some really wonderful collaborations with some very inspirational young humans and we cannot wait to see what is around the corner. Watch this space!

By Lousie Larkin, Founder of Friend in Me.

www.friendinme.org.au

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