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The inner west’s magic yellow bus that takes toys and joy to families and children began decades ago in a heritage church on Dickson Street, Newtown, described as a “powerhouse for good” for 110 years.
Now the property, valued at $3.8 million, has been transferred at no cost to the non-profit Sydney Community Foundation by its previous owners, the Dickson Street Space charity.
Dickson Street Space board member Elaena Gardner and Sydney Community Foundation chief executive Loredana Fyffe at the property in Newtown. Credit: Sam Mooy
The Dickson Street charity also donated $100,000 to help the $7 million foundation with running costs.
The gift of the 113-year-old, 439-square-metre heritage property came at the right time, as the foundation wanted to expand its work.
In response to the Bondi Beach tragedy, the foundation has launched an appeal to support victims and families with emergency financial and crisis support.
Foundation chief executive Loredana Fyffe said the appeal would help the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS). Established to support refugees and others who had experienced conflict overseas, the STARTTS hotline was busy receiving calls from Sydneysiders after Sunday’s mass shootings at Bondi Beach. “They are calling because STARTTS has a multilingual team that speaks Hebrew, Arabic, Ukrainian, for example,” she said.
Loredana Fyffe and Elaena Gardner outside the 113-year-old church on Dickson Street, Newtown. Credit: Sam Mooy
The foundation aims to raise $50,000, which would also fund Jewish House to provide financial and practical support to women who haven’t been able to work, or pay rent, medical bills or groceries, since the shootings.
Giving away the old property, which includes a church, a former yoga studio big enough to house the foundation’s 10 staff, and a kitchen and dining area, was harder than most people may think.
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Elaena Gardner, a board member with Dickson Street Space, said that after COVID the use of the space had fallen.
“It started out as a church, and it has always been a powerhouse for good,” Gardner said.
“But we realised, as a very small group of volunteers, that we couldn’t really deliver what we wanted. We weren’t making the most of the space. The building needed a new lease of life. We wanted to give the entire title over to another not-for-profit.
“We love this building, and it has been part of the Newtown community for a really long time. And it has a very special place in our hearts. We really did want to make sure we gave it to the right group.”
Finding a non-profit that wanted to accept such a large gift, along with the associated running costs, was tricky. Under Dickson’s constitution, it had to find one that worked for the community and was robust enough to maintain the building into the future.
It sought advice on who it could approach from the Sydney Community Foundation, not expecting the foundation itself to be interested. But it was expanding rapidly and promised to help if it couldn’t take the property.
History of the Dickson Street property over the years. Its former owners said it had been a powerhouse for good.Credit: Sam Mooy
For Fyffe, the call “couldn’t come at a better time. We were in the middle of hosting a series of events to raise money for our Sydney Women’s Fund’s domestic and sexual violence appeal. And we were outgrowing our existing premises.”
The deed was handed over last week after a nine-month due diligence and handover process.
Sydney Community Foundation also received funds from two other charities that had closed, and Fyffe forecast that others would follow because running a non-profit had become more difficult and expensive.
It has also benefited from donations and bequests to the Sydney Women’s Fund, where older women, often widowed, didn’t know “what to do with their money”.
Fyffe said: “They talk about having bought their house when they were 21 for $49,000 in Coogee, and now it is worth $6 million.”
As the number of older Australians has increased, the foundation has been receiving calls from couples who evaluate their property portfolios or retirement income and realise they could do good for their children and the community too.
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