Initiatives

The Magic Heart for Ukraine

When foundation director, Tom Emery returned to Germany to support some of the Ukrainian refugees’ cross borders to escape the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he saw first-hand the distress of Ukrainian children. Tom reached out to founder of the Magic Coat, Di Wilcox, to write a book that would specifically support the needs of the refugee children. Overnight, $23,000 was raised and the Foundation was able to print and distribute the first 10, 000 books to Poland and Germany.

Psychologists and teachers in Germany and Poland are now using the Magic Coat for Ukraine Book as a tool to support the children’s psychological wellbeing. The Magic Coat Foundation aims to raise enough money to have a million books sent to Europe to support the 7.5 million displaced children from Ukraine.
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Breast Cancer Care WA

Breast Cancer WA do an incredible job supporting WA women going through breast cancer. They employ five specialist breast care nurses, four counsellors and a support service coordinator and manager. However, there was little support for children whose families were going through breast cancer.

The Magic Coat Foundation offer three, free Magic Coat one-on-one sessions to children referred to us by Breast Cancer WA. These sessions will give children coping strategies to manage this difficult time in their lives.

Di Wilcox has also run focus groups with patients, nurses and counsellors to better understand what patients and families go through so that she can write a book specific to the needs of young children needing to understand and cope with breast cancer in their family. We hope to print and release this book late 2022.

Perth Children’s Hospital

The Foundation is working with the Perth Children’s Hospital to provide a Magic Coat themed “welcome pack” in the form of an online storybook, to help children understand what to expect when they are admitted to the hospital.

This will involve Magic Coat themed videos and information that are specific for each area of treatment. i.e. Tate the Turtle demonstrates what it is like to get a blood test. In addition, staff will have Magic Coat themed uniforms and some bedding such as pillow slips will be Magic Coat themed and gifted to the children upon release from hospital.

Community Program

In 2021, the Magic Coat Foundation was lucky enough to be donated an exciting new space in Claremont, The Pocket, by JJ Leach Group. In conjunction with JJ Leach Group and the generosity of a few local businesses and individuals, The Pocket has evolved into a beautiful, calming, and fun environment for young children to come and learn.

Since its launch, The Magic Coat Foundation has been running regular community workshops for both parents and children to attend. The Foundation also utilized the space to conduct one-on-one coaching for children between the ages of 5-11 years, as well as host a number of different workshops such as drama classes, yoga, and art classes.

Regional Program

The Magic Coat Foundation has worked with Aboriginal elders and community leaders to run The program in many remote areas around Western Australia, including Carnarvon, Broome, Meekatharra, Mt Magnet and Cue.

This year, Di enlisted the help of Indigenous General Manager of BOAB (Building Opportunities for Aboriginal Business), Michelle McAullay to write a version of The Magic Coat book that incorporates Aboriginal culture and artwork. Michelle reached out to aboriginal artist, Kevin Bynnders to illustrate the book and the team of three have created Magic Coats first ever aboriginal book.

Di and Michelle will travel to remote aboriginal communities meeting children, families, and leaders within their community to deliver the books and to help aboriginal children understand the Magic Coat.

The Foundation hopes to further develop this project further by finding companies willing to sponsor a young aboriginal leader to train in The Magic Coat Program and be responsible for the ongoing delivery to the children in their own community.

Magic Coat Allstars

There are many children in our community who are suffering from terminal illness, severe trauma, poverty or extreme disadvantage, who deserve an experience to remember. This is why the Magic Coat Foundation created The Magic Coat all Stars Program.

Children are nominated by members of the community and a small group of children are chosen for each experience. The experiences are organized by two of our very dedicated volunteers, Adelene Aveling and Kendall De Sousa. Experiences can range from attending a sporting match in a corporate suite, meeting their favourite celebrity, dinner with their family at a five-star restaurant, or going to a theatre show and meeting the stars backstage.

School Breakfast Program

The Magic Coat Foundation provides a small number of low socioeconomic schools with a holistic breakfast program. The breakfast program relies on parent volunteers to run the day-to-day operation of the project while the Foundation financially supports the provision of meals.