As part of our Community Partner Spotlight Series, we're shining a light on the organisations creating meaningful change across our community. First up, we spoke with Hannah Andrevski, the CEO of Roundabout Canberra, about the growing need for support, the impact of community generosity, and how Roundabout is helping ensure every child has a safe start in life.
What does your organisation do, and who does it support?
Roundabout Canberra aims to give every child a safe start in life by providing high-quality, essential baby and children’s items. We ensure families receive what they need with dignity, care and connection. We accept donations of new and preloved goods from the Canberra community, from cots and prams to clothing and toys. Our volunteers clean, sort, and safety-check every item before it’s carefully packed for a family in need and passed on through trusted local services.
Roundabout Canberra’s services help children and families to feel safe, warm and included through addressing material deprivation. By providing essential goods, it reduces financial pressures faced by families, allowing them to feel more connected to their community.
Can you share a story or moment that truly captures the impact of your work?
A few years ago, we helped a young mum who was unexpectedly pregnant with her first baby. Facing having a baby while continuing with her schooling, the situation was quite overwhelming. Her parents weren’t in a financial position to support their daughter with all of the new items she would need to give her baby a safe start. Feeling overwhelmed, her dad reached out for help. A social service placed an order for him on a Friday – Roundabout Canberra worked to complete the order by the afternoon, ready for collection before the weekend of baby’s due date.
A few years later, a cot had generously been donated by a man who asked if he could speak to a Roundabout staff member. One of our warehouse staff greeted the man. He became very emotional, explaining that this very cot was the one Roundabout had passed onto him for his new grandchild. He was donating it back to us for another family to experience the same sense of safety, comfort and calm that Roundabout's support had provided for his family. The Roundabout staff member told him that she was one of the staff who packed his order that day, three years before. It was truly a beautiful moment that captures the relief and gratitude experienced by families, and the profound impact of providing material support.
What does your organisation need most right now to continue making an impact?
When it comes to the advocacy, what keeps you up at night — and what keeps you going?
At Roundabout Canberra, we believe no child should go without. Providing essential items to a family might seem simple, but for many, it can be the difference between having food in the fridge, fuel in the car or keeping a roof over their heads. It can also remove shame, uphold
dignity and help children and their parents feel safe, included and connected within their community.
What keeps us up at night is seeing demand continue to grow. So far this year, we’ve seen around a 25% increase in families reaching out for help, with more parents being forced to make impossible choices between paying rent and buying basic essentials for their children. We’re also seeing families who never imagined they would need assistance now struggling to keep up with the cost of living.
What keeps us going is the immediate difference practical support makes. A cot means a baby can sleep safely. A warm coat means a child can go to school with confidence during a freezing Canberra winter. A pack of nappies or toiletries can relieve pressure at a critical moment.
We also keeps us going is the extraordinary generosity of the Canberra community. Every day, we see people choosing to care for children and families they may never meet by donating goods, volunteering their time or backing our work financially. That sense of community is powerful. It reminds us that people genuinely want to help when they understand the need.
What role do partnerships and community support play in helping your organisation fulfil its mission?
There is no cost for agencies or families who use our services. Everything we do is built on the generosity of our volunteers, partners and community. Roundabout Canberra exists because thousands of people across our region choose to contribute in different ways, whether that’s donating pre-loved goods, volunteering their time, providing funding, running community drives or partnering with us through their workplace or business.
Partnerships are critical because they allow us to respond at scale and meet growing demand. Our social service partners identify families in need and ensure support reaches them quickly and with dignity. Corporate and philanthropic partners help fund essential items, operational costs and new initiatives, while community support ensures we have a constant flow of quality donations to pass on to families.
What makes Roundabout special is that it truly is a community effort. Families are supported not just by one organisation, but by an entire community coming together around the belief that every child deserves to feel safe, included and cared for. Partners like Parbery play an important role in helping make that possible.
How can people learn more or get involved and support what you do?
There are many ways people can support Roundabout Canberra and help ensure local children and families have access to the essentials they need to feel safe, warm and included in their community.
The demand for support continues to grow, community support is more important than ever. We’re seeing more families struggling to afford basics like warm clothing, bedding, toiletries and nappies, while also trying to keep up with rising rents, grocery bills and other everyday costs.
Parbery: thank you for your continued support. We value our partnership and we too are proud to work alongside you.
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