29 November 2025
Christmas Message from Robyn Lamb, Project Lead, SCH WESTMEAD
“Thank you for asking me to say a few words on this special occasion. Firstly I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands we are on today, the Gadigal people, who are part of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and to any Aboriginal people here today I really enjoy coming to this function as it signals for me the start of the festive season which I hope will be a joyous time for you with family and friends. But as we know, for some families it is a time of additional stress, isolation and pain. Sadly, these are the families we will see over this Christmas period.
Christmas is a time for both giving and receiving and it is through your generosity in attending these events that you give to the lives of children and families who have experienced a range of neglect and abuse issues. In return I would like you to receive our sincere thanks for your support that allows us to provide additional services, understand trends and needs and support out staff learning which we otherwise could not fund.
I would also like to applaud Maureen and the Committee for a wonderful year of events and one I hear has been an overwhelming success. It has been wonderful to see such vibrancy and spirit at the events, to have them so well attended and see some new faces. The Committee are an amazing group who just keep on keeping on and like a good bottle of wine you just keep getting better.
Congratulations, thank you and well done to all.
For those at the Fashion Parade you heard Bernadette speak of the little boy she had seen who had experienced a recent sexual abuse and the supports they were able to offer in this crisis.
Today I wanted to share with you the stories of two people who contacted the Unit this year who had been seen about 25 years ago as babies. Both of them had experienced non accidental head injury through shaking in the first few months of life and had sustained brain injuries which have significantly impacted on their lives. Both had received services SCHN during their growing up.
They wanted access to their files as they were trying to process the events which had left them with significant life challenges including learning, behaviour and social skills. I applaud both of these young people for how they have got on with life despite their adversities and done the best they could and for their bravery in anting to understand more, in order to move forward. Whilst this was a privilege to sit with them going through the files, it was also heartbreaking as they read of the injuries hey sustained, the assessments and investigations they had endured and the responses of their parents. Parents who were absent for them or struggling with being a parent. To read about your parent’s description of an incident of shaking and the response of you going quiet and floppy was particularly sad. They were bewildered and hurt that someone who is supposed to protect and love could be so violent to a baby. Questions like why someone didn’t see it, why would someone do such a thing and why me were asked. Although there were no real answers, being able to read the file put some context around what happened and allowed them to feel the pain, to be angry and sad in a safe context.
I share these stories to show how early pain and trauma lives on. A trauma often needs to be revisited and processed at different developmental stages and these young people show the importance of Units like ours where they feel safe to recontact and put another piece of the jigsaw puzzle of their life together.
I want to recognise the Committee and supporters who have travelled the journey with these young people. You were there 25 years ago and are here today and have helped to build our services, support quality improvement projects and build our clinical excellence. Without your support we would not have been able to provide such holistic and long term care for those young people.
Thank you to everyone for your generosity and support to the Cornucopia Committee and in giving to lives of these vulnerable children. We are deeply grateful for your commitment and vision t helping children and families heal from the wounds of abuse and neglect.
I wish you all a Happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you in 2026.”
