Presenting your 2022 Westfield Local Hero

We are excited to announce your 2022 successful Westfield Local Hero for North Lakes.

The successful Westfield Local Heroes organisation, will receive a grant of $20,000 to help them continue to grow their impact in the local community. Westfield will award 126 grants across Australia and New Zealand – totalling $1.26 million.

In early 2023, we will open nominations for the 2023 Westfield Local Heroes program, so start thinking about those people in your communities who make a difference.

Your 2022 Westfield North Lakes Local Hero is:

Helen Bambling

The Breakfast Club (Redcliffe)
Tenacious. Generous. Caring

Caring Helen Bambling spends many hours connecting with homeless locals and others in need of meals, a chat or advice.

Helen is the heart and soul of The Breakfast Club, which cooks up 250 free community meals a week, provides food parcels and shares information about support services. The charity also gives people a place to do their laundry, have a shower, charge their phone, sit and chat or access the internet.

Helen grew up with a cleft palate and has lived experience of homelessness, bullying and disadvantage. To her, the Breakfast Club community is family, and she ensures no family member falls through the cracks.

With her warm and approachable, “G’day mate! How ya’ going?”, Helen meets people where they are, without judgment. She listens to their stories and has their back. In response to her kindness, people on the streets respectfully refer to her as Mum.

She is seen as a leader and wears her heart on her sleeve, celebrating people’s successes, mourning their losses and offering heartfelt advice when needed.

“The Breakfast Club is my family. We care, give hope and listen to our community people,” Helen says. “They know they have someone to talk to, someone to listen and someone to help them.”

The Breakfast Club will put the grand towards ensuring the sustainability of its service, by covering the cost of food for a year.

We also congratulate our finalists who will receive a $5,000 grant for the organisation they represent, and we thank them for their incredible contribution to the local community.

Bill Heraghty from Give A Child A Chance
Generous Bill Heraghty is dedicating his retirement to ensuring that hundreds of local children have uniforms and other school essentials. Bill leads the Give a Child a Chance Foundation run by Margate Vinnies and has helped provide more than 600 children with $120,000 of support over the past four and a half years.

Sophie-Jane Adler-Magee from A Brave Life
Selfless Sophie-Jane Adler-Magee spends countless hours supporting vulnerable young mothers through the charity A Brave Life. At 21 years old, Sophie-Jane is a volunteer board member of the charity, which teaches parenting skills and connects mums to local businesses and educational services to pursue their dreams of work or further education.

If you need support, please phone Lifeline: 13 11 14