Please assist us to help people around Australia who are doing it tough.
The Quest for Life Foundation helps Australian communities and people living with the consequences of trauma, illness and natural disasters find hope, healing and peace.
We provide educational self-help programs in Bundanoon and community-based workshops around Australia that encourage, educate and empower people to improve their resilience and peace of mind during difficult times. People reach out to us for help during their most challenging times, whether it’s caused by physical or mental illness, domestic or family violence, financial strain, grief, trauma or natural disaster.
As a charity, we rely on income from donations to subsidise the cost of attendance at our residential programs and to facilitate our community outreach workshops in regional areas.
By donating to Quest, you’re helping other people grow through their biggest challenges. This, in turn, ripples out to create a more compassionate society that supports and encourages each of its members.
Your donation will help people on limited incomes, people who are doing it tough, or people in need of respite after a natural disaster by helping to cover the cost of their attendance at one of our programs. Donations will also be used to deliver more community workshops in regional areas for those who can’t travel to Bundanoon.
Our vision: To assist individuals, families, and communities to heal
Quest takes a holistic approach to physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing and we are committed to making a positive difference to help Australian communities.
Well over 125,000 people have used Quest’s services since 1989.
Our programs recognise that unexpected and unthinkable things can happen to all of us. Quest takes a whole-person and recovery-oriented approach to regaining wellbeing, utilising the latest scientific research into neuroscience and epigenetics, as well as evidence-based approaches to health, healing and post-traumatic growth.
Our highly trained health professionals and facilitators offer training in resilience and healing principles in rural, regional and metropolitan communities throughout Australia.
Meeting people where they are
One of my great joys is seeing the incredible difference our programs make to people living with mental, emotional or physical health challenges. I meet participants when they arrive at our Centre on a Monday, their faces often drawn with worry, anxiety and upset. Sometimes, they cannot make eye contact.
By the end of the week, they’re almost unrecognisable – their faces have relaxed, they’re smiling, full of hope and ready to face the world again feeling nurtured, educated and nourished. They return home with practical tools, strategies and skills to live each day well and create life-long healing, peace and resilience.
Your charitable gift will help Quest to provide services to thousands of people every year – people like John – a member of the Penrose Rural Fire Service, Pamela and Ian – forced to evacuate from their house in The Northern Rivers, and others living in the Northern Rivers communities, who share their stories.
Will you give someone a brighter future this season?
For many people the past three years have been an emotional roller-coaster, with seemingly endless natural disasters including droughts, floods and fires and terrible mouse plagues as well as economic downturn leaving many feeling less financially secure and unable to attend our programs when they need them most.
COVID-19 has further disrupted people’s work routines and family lives, with the result that many people are experiencing mental health difficulties for the first time in their lives. Some people are still without a home or sense of community after floods or fires tore their lives apart.
It’s been a time of broken connections, distancing from one another and closed borders. Sometimes we seem more connected to our technology than to one another, with our society becoming accustomed to hybrid working arrangements and seeing each other less in person and more on Zoom or FacetIme. Yet, we are human – which means we need human connection, kindness and acceptance – to heal and flourish.
This ‘New Normal’ has seen many people confront feelings of anxiety and despair, with more and more people reaching out to us for help.
Many people come to Quest to help regain a lost sense of community. Some people come to find themselves again, or to reinvent themselves, due to the trauma they’ve experienced.
Despair, fear, anxiety or hopelessness do not discriminate, and we find that it’s often those who can least afford our programs who need them the most. Quest has a commitment to making our services available for everyone in need, regardless of their financial circumstances.
As we prepare for this holiday season, will you help us provide comfort, support and education for people and communities in need of a helping hand?
Thank you for your donation and support, your help is deeply appreciated.
I wish you a gentle end to a somewhat turbulent year. May you be blessed with a joyous Christmas and a 2023 of harmony and peace.
Warmest regards,
Petrea King
CEO and Founder