Very Special Kids

Margaret Noone ibvm established Very Special Kids in 1985 with
a small group of Melbourne families who had experienced the death of a child. It began as a support network for families with terminally ill children and in 1996 they opened Australia’s first hospice for children.

Very Special Kids provides a children’s hospice, bereavement support, counselling for parents and siblings, and family holidays free of charge to affected families.
 
In 1989 Margaret was awarded a Churchill Fellowship for a three-month study tour researching respite and hospice care for children
with life-threatening illnesses in the UK, Canada and the US.

In 1995, under the then Loreto Province Leader, Anne McPhee ibvm, Margaret undertook volunteer training in the US at the Centre for Attitudinal Healing (for adults with a life threatening illness).

She visited two children’s hospices in York and Oxford and brought back a wealth of practical knowledge.

Margaret was the first employee and director of Very Special Kids for 10 years, becoming patron when she retired in 2002. In her role as patron she contacts and thanks donors, offers support to children and families in the hospice and gives talks to raise awareness and raise funds.

In 2000 Margaret Noone was awarded an Order of Australia, recognising her outstanding commitment and service to children and their families.

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