CAPS off the ground

By Emma Sun
A NEWLY established support group for carers and parents of the disabled is seeking the help of locals to get the ball rolling.
The group, called Carers and Parents Support (CAPS) will be holding a launch and fundraiser at Balla Balla Hall.
One of the group organisers, Mary Hubeek, hopes the launch will get them off the ground and get people involved.
“We’re hoping it’ll be a big success so people will get to know about it,” she said.
“We’ll hopefully be able to have a lot of people in the group. Then we can make the road of being someone who’s caring for someone with a disability a little smoother.”
The group was started by four mums, who are all carers or parents of adolescents who have a disability and were no longer assisted by support networks due to the age of their children.
“We found that as our children progressed along the line, the support and networks that we worked so hard to get into weren’t available,” Ms Hubeek said.
“The challenge of having someone who’s disabled doesn’t change, so we decided that we would start up our own support group.
“We don’t have discrimination of age – anyone’s welcome. Hopefully with the younger ones we can help and support them so they won’t fall into the pitfalls we fell into.”
The launch will feature a sausage sizzle and a mixture of stalls selling a range of things including baby goods, kid’s clothes, soaps and Tupperware.
There will be a kid’s corner, fairy wand making, games, and face painting for the little ones.
Ms Hubeek said they would be happy with any amount of money they raise.
“The more (money) we raise the better we can be,” she said.
“We hope lots of people come along and support us – if anybody is caring for someone with a disability they’re welcome to contact us and come along.”
The launch of CAPS will be held at Balla Balla Community Hall in Cranbourne East on Saturday 13 August from 10am.
For more information, call Mary Hubeek on 0412 890 136.