Fight4Balance is actively engaged in building wellbeing programs and services for young Australians with learning and intellectual disabilities.

Grant recipient: Fight4Balance
Grant Amount: $10,000
Endorsed by: Mark Everingham CFP^® LRS^® AEPS^®
FPA Chapter: Brisbane

Beginning life in Brisbane in 2019, Fight4Balance (F4B) is a grassroots charity that was established by the husband and wife team of Stephen and Amy Illidge, to fill a gap in wellbeing services for adolescent youth with learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities associated with conditions such as: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down syndrome, Acquired Brian Injury, Fragile X syndrome and other undiagnosed functional and intellectual disabilities.

According to Stephen Illidge – the CEO and Director of F4B – the charitable organisation was born from his own family’s journey with his eldest son, Jacob (age 15), who is diagnosed with intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, and autism.

With Stephen holding down a day job as a Federal Police Officer and Amy as a Queensland Health Doctor, the duo started this charity with the aim of building a supportive community for kids with learning and intellectual disabilities, who are often forgotten by society.

“The ‘fight’ in our charity’s name symbolises the continual physical, psychological and emotional toll experienced by boys and girls with functional and intellectual disabilities during adolescence in regulating their behaviours and (extreme) mood swings.

“The ‘fight’ also symbolises the daily fight faced by parents and siblings of youth with functional and intellectual disabilities in balancing individual-family wellbeing and emotional prosperity. All F4B programs are centred on a family-wellbeing strategy to support these affected families stay together and engaged in the ‘fight’.”

A point of difference

F4B is redefining adaptive fitness and community inclusion programs to improve the functional independence, life-skills and social wellbeing of these ‘invisible youth’, as well as strengthen the bonds between families living with and without disabilities. F4B does this by delivering a suite of adaptive and inclusive fitness programs that have been designed and implemented in consultation with its volunteers of qualified medical and allied health clinicians, elite trainers and qualified fitness practitioners.

“Integral to our programs’ success is our ‘Inclusive-Youth Leadership Buddy Program’, where we recruit volunteer training buddies from mainstream schools to support our various community service programs,” says Stephen. “Age and gender matched ‘buddies’ train alongside F4B ‘All-Stars’ and play a key role in modelling and reinforcing acceptable standards of language, online/offline social trends, personal safety and hygiene, and contemporary pop-culture.”

F4B currently has a number of students and families from 16 secondary schools across Brisbane supporting the charity’s work.

mySwimClub

The charity is also close to the heart of Mark Everingham CFP^® LRS^® AEPS^® – Managing Director of Personal Risk Professionals – as well as his wife, Rebecca. That’s because Jacob is Rebecca’s cousin, so they have seen first-hand the struggle the Illidge family and others like them go through raising children with learning and perceptual disabilities.

Mark was delighted that his endorsement of F4B’s application for a Future2 grant was successful, with the not-for-profit receiving $10,000 for its mySwimClub Program.

“F4B’s mySwimClub is a water-based program designed specifically for adolescents with mild to moderate functional and intellectual disabilities, and their families. The program includes three phases aimed to improve confidence and safety in the water, progressing towards independent swimming,” Mark says.

Phase 1 of the program is a water-comfort program that utilises adaptive and inclusive techniques to reduce hypersensitivity and aversion to water, thereby increasing time and acceptance by participants in this environment. Subsequent phases will build upon these skills by teaching water safety and survival swimming skills.

“Hypersensitivity to water or sand, loud noises, or bright lighting can prevent young people with these types of disability from participating in mainstream sporting programs or going on active family outings,” says Stephen. “This can limit the quality of interaction these young people and their families have with the wider community. In addition, mainstream programs may not be able to provide the type of sensitivity and support these young people and their caregivers may require in order to build confidence and participate fully in activities.”

Following the receipt the Future2 grant in January 2022, a skills trial program was conducted testing the effectiveness of the program protocols and deliverables. This testing was extended in April 2002 to include a pool-based Community Immersion Day, which brought together families living with and without disabilities. New training buddies were also recruited and immersed with the program’s youth with disabilities in structured pool-based activities as part of a live focus group.

Program ambassadors

By being able to establish the mySwimClub Program through the contributions of the Future2 grant and other funding sources, F4B has also been able to promote the program to the broader community and Australia’s swimming elite. This has resulted in F4B recruiting high profile Olympians and World/National swimming champions as Ambassadors for the mySwimClub Program.

These ambassadors include 2020 Paralympic multi gold and silver medallist and current multi-class world champion, Rowan Crothers OAM, and 2016-2020 multiple Paralympic medallist and the world’s current fastest multi-class female swimmer over 100 metres, Katja Dedekind.

“These high-profile athletes and role models have enabled our program’s outreach to extend across disability and mainstream communities, helping F4B to normalise disability for the next generation of youth,” says Stephen.

Planning and marketing is currently underway to deliver F4B’s first mySwimClub Program in December 2022, with the Future2 grant providing the additional funds for qualified trainers, as well as purchase necessary sensory and safety equipment. This delivery date, says Stephen, is partly due to the time of year needed for the program’s participants to overcome any sensory aversion to cold weather, and also for the COVID and influenza viruses to have minimal impact.

Making a difference

Stephen believes programs that incorporate physical activity, self-regulatory exercises and techniques, can greatly help young people with disabilities develop social skills that contribute to their ability to participate more meaningfully in school, group activities, and in the wider community. Participants in the mySwimClub Program not only gain in confidence by setting and working towards fitness goals, they also benefit from learning important pool safety and swimming techniques.

“By participating in adaptive fitness programs, like mySwimClub, youth with functional and intellectual disabilities improve their physical fitness, co-ordination, muscle strength, balance, and gross motor skills. Additionally, exposure to unfamiliar stimuli will help these participants lower their adverse reactions and help them improve their ability to self-regulate.”

He adds that participants also develop confidence and important social skills to improve their interactions with peers and adults in the community, and in the classroom setting. These improvements encourage affected youth, their families and caregivers to participate more frequently in social and physical activities – reducing isolation and social exclusion – and helping to build these affected youth into independent adults with a sense of belonging.

“Our charity’s vision is to provide opportunities for affected youth and their families to connect with mainstream community sport, recreational and social programs – to foster a sense of belonging – and strengthen the bonds between disabled and non-disabled communities. The Future2 grant is critical to this vision and being able to make a real impact in the lives of our program’s participants and the wider community,” says Stephen.

Ongoing support

Mark is committed to supporting F4B. Along with his wife’s involvement as Treasurer of the not-for-profit, his advice practice is a corporate partner assisting to raise funds for the charitable organisation. In addition, his eldest daughter, Charlotte, has been an F4B program buddy since the charity began and Mark’s second daughter, Harriet, is also starting as a buddy this year.

“Personal Risk Professionals continues its support of F4B by choosing it as our fundraising charity at our annual Melbourne Cup Networking Charity Event,” says Mark. “So far, we have assisted raising over $30,000 for F4B, but more is required to enable the charity to roll out its modified sports programs to assist these kids.

“Being an active member of the FPA, the Future2 grant process aligned perfectly with our vision to support a local charity with its aim at helping disadvantaged young Australians, their families, and the wider community. However, the impact of COVID has hit F4B quite hard, so more support is needed. I cannot endorse this charity enough. It’s a worthy recipient of a Future2 Foundation Grant.”