Name: Natalie Bower
Organisation: KidsXpress

Children experiencing a traumatic time in life can find it extremely difficult to cope. Without the words to express hurt, anger or depression, children can feel isolated, scared and overwhelmed.

Registered Music Therapists like 29-year-old Natalie Bower believe music therapy can help children who are experiencing loss, challenge or hardship and can help identify and develop coping strategies for children, regardless of ability, culture or background.

Through a recently formed not-for-profit organisation, KidsXpress, Natalie will spend the next 12 months helping to empower children facing challenging times such as an illness or death of a family member, abuse or neglect, separation of parents, behavioural and self esteem issues.

As a Registered Music Therapist, Natalie has worked with a wide range of people using music as a therapeutic tool.

"I’ve worked with people at many different stages in their life from new born babies in a pediatric hospital to a 104-year-old woman in a nursing home," Natalie said. "Music is a universal language which transcends all barriers of age, culture or background."

Name: Sandy Fernée
Organisation: Wildlife Victoria Inc

Back in 2000, Sandy’s dog attacked and injured a bird in her Fitzroy garden, prompting her to reach for the phonebook to look for wildlife rescue services in her area.

"I was mortified when I saw what my dog had done and I tried so many numbers and organisations to enquire about how I could help the bird. It was only when I called Wildlife Victoria that I got useful advice," Sandy said.

The Wildlife Victoria rescue and information phone service, WildLine, operates 24/7 and depends on volunteers to operate and manage it. As well as offering practical advice to the community, Wildlife Victoria also operates rescue missions for sick or orphaned wildlife including possums, birds, kangaroos, swans and wombats.

One saved bird later Sandy thanked the organisation by volunteering her time to man the phone lines. Soon she became a coordinator, managing 50 other volunteers.

After six years of volunteer work, Sandy, who was also an office manager at the Victorian Doctors Health Program, will now become a full-time staff member of Wildlife Victoria with the support from The Vodafone Australia Founctaion.

"I’ve crammed so much into the past six years, it’s been exhausting. Not only working fulltime and trying to spend time with my husband, but every other waking moment has been dedicated to Wildlife Victoria," Sandy said.

"The World of Difference program will allow me to dedicate, full-time, the next 12 months to researching and initiating a campaign to save wombats with mange - a debilitating and deadly disease. I’ll also be able to focus my energies and have a much more hands-on role with the management of our volunteer service."

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