Newcastle and the Hunter
Your life.
Your crew.
Your way.
A young team doing disability support differently in Newcastle. Complex care for little kids, a proper crew for teenagers, 1:1 support at any age, and days out worth talking about.
Why we exist
We were named by the first person we ever supported.
Before there was a business, there was one young bloke on a 24 hour roster who liked being called Pal. That was the whole idea, and it stuck. Three years on he is still with us.
That is the bar. Not a service someone receives for a while. A crew that stays, that knows the difference between a bad day and a bad week, and that is still around years later.
“If your staff are all good, they are the ones driving, they are working the engine.”
What makes us different
Three things you notice in the first month.
We train before we turn up
Our complex care team is trained directly by registered nurses. High intensity training happens before a placement starts, not after it goes wrong.
A small team, not a roster
We build a team around each person so a sick day never means a stranger at the door. Consistency is the service.
We look after our staff first
Well looked after workers are the ones who stay, who notice things, and who keep showing up. Everything good downstream starts there.
What we do
Six ways we work with people.
Every one of these came from someone asking us for it. None came from a registration group.
Little Pals
Complex care for young children, delivered by a team trained by registered nurses.
Young children with high medical needs alongside their everyday care.
Community Access
Out in the world doing real things, not driving around to fill in a shift.
Any age, out in the community, week in week out.
The Teen Crew
A real group of mates, and a plan for what comes after school.
Pre-teens and teenagers building friendships, confidence and a next step.
School Holidays
Three days a holiday, and we invite other providers to bring their people too.
Pre-teens and teens through the school break.
1:1 support
One person, matched properly, who keeps turning up.
Any age, at home or out in the community.
Adventure
Jet skis, four wheel drives on the beach, kayaks and camping.
Anyone, at any age, who wants a story worth telling.
What good looks like
Two of the ones we think about.
Names and details are kept private. The people in them are real.
He is walking now, holding someone’s hand.
A young boy with cerebral palsy, and a therapy program with a standing frame at the centre of it. The difference was not the program. It was that the team ran it properly, every shift, for as long as it took, instead of turning up and hanging out.
His occupational therapy team emailed us directly about it. That email still gets read out.
It stopped mattering what was planned.
Our teen group is mostly boys with autism who had found it hard to make friends. They became a genuine friendship group. Now the activity is almost beside the point. One of them got home, could not remember what they had done, and told his mum they just have fun all the time.
Behaviours and triggers have dropped right back because everyone is comfortable. Parents are getting happier kids at home. The workers say the job got easier.
How we work
What we hold everyone to.
Show up
Reliable, consistent and present. Every time. The whole model rests on this one.
Build real connections
Between people and their crew, between families and our team, and between us and the community we live in.
Keep it real
No pretending, no going through the motions. Genuine support from genuine people.
Lead with energy
We bring the same enthusiasm to every shift, every person, every day.
Look after the crew first
Our workers are the ones driving. Training paid up front, super paid weekly, and social nights nobody has to come to. Looked after workers do better work, and the people we support feel that before anyone else does.
Always find a way
When a family tells us the last provider said no, that is usually where we start. We bought the water sport insurance so the answer could be yes.
Sleep at night
Super paid weekly, tax set aside weekly, certifications current and checked before anyone starts. We do it the right way because we want to sleep at night, not because someone is watching.
In the community
One of ours is running the length of Australia.
Griff has worked with us since day one. He and Manny have known each other since year one at school. On 1 August he set out from the tip of Cape York with Motion Four Justice, running 6,000km to Wilsons Promontory to raise money for Destiny Rescue and their work protecting children.
We are sponsoring the run so the crew have physios, food and the logistics they need to actually finish it.
Let's have a chat.
A phone call, a coffee, or a meet and greet at your place. No paperwork until you actually want to go ahead.