| RecLink - Providing Recreational Opportunities
RecLink Australia (previously known as Recreation Link) began in Melbourne in 1990. RecLink was established to assist people experiencing social and economic disadvantage access sporting and recreational opportunities as a form of social therapy.
RecLink is a not-for-profit charitable organisation dedicated to advocating for and improving access to sporting and recreational opportunities for disadvantaged people and the benefits which flow from this, such as community connectedness and improved health and well being.
RecLink involves a network of agencies who work with a range of disadvantaged people including services for people experiencing homelessness, drug & alcohol issues, disability, mental health issues, juvenile justice and social & economic isolation. The aim of RecLink is to help people find their way back into the mainstream community through access to sporting and recreational opportunities. RecLink activities include: Football Competition, Swimming, Squash, Badminton, Cultural Activities, Yearly Camp, Horse Riding and Come-And-Try events. See the 'Whats On' page for more details.
In Victoria there are currently about 130 member agencies (initially in 1990 there were four). The RecLink Modules Our work revolves around the following modules; | | Sport and Recreation Programs | Regional and National Development | Integration | Mentor Program 'LifeLink' | Transformational Link | Fundraising | RecLink Youth | | | | Testamonials from our participants “The best experience I have ever had in St Kilda was when the Hearts won the grand final. Everybody in the street knew about it; it went through the neighbourhood like a hurricane. For people who are constantly abusing themselves winning is a very big thing”. “When I started playing football, it was like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It may not be the big time but you believe it is. I remember as clear as a bell the time I got a chocolate as a trophy. We won, and we had a lot of supporters. I was so happy that day; it was one of the happiest days of my life. I had tears in my eyes; I felt like I was someone.” A story from founder Peter Cullen A Man, one of 17 children, and who had a light intellectual disability drifted into the Mission. He spent most of his time whiling away the hours at McDonalds in the city. He was involved in a little bit of petty crime and he used to do glue sniffing. He said it rips your brains out. He eventually walked into the Sacred Heart Mission one day and got involved in the Indoor Cricket Team. He then got involved in a lot of different sport. He grew to love the RecLink run / walk which was 3.8km around the track at Botanical Gardens. The first time he did it he did it in 24:56. Every six weeks we held the event and each time he would reduce his time. He eventually got down to a little over 17 minutes. At this stage I had lunch with him and suggested to him that he could win the race, but he would have to pay the price, and give up drinking and smoking. I didn’t believe for one minute that he would actually do this. He did embrace these things and we trained together. This man was a perfect example of somebody who would run with positive encouragement as much as he would run with negative encourage from people. A fortnight before the RecLink Gala run/walk, we had the Sacred Heart Mission championship over the same track. He ran the time of 15:46. When the official told me the time I couldn’t believe it. He said ‘Peter, not only did he do that time but seemed to be hardly affected or gasping for air’. He had really got himself fit. Over the next two weeks I said to him that you need to reduce your time by another 20 seconds or so. We had him totally geared and primed for the big day, with encouragement coming from all around the Mission. On the day of the big event he went straight to the lead and was leading all the way. As he came into the home straight a police car came up beside him but didn’t pass him as he crossed the line. When he got up to receive his gold medal he said ‘The police came but they couldn’t catch me’. The ‘Quit’ people came out and he spoke about how he gave up smoking. He was walking around like a peacock, he had a whole new persona. Not long after this, other things started to open up in his life. He started selling ‘The Big Issue’, which is like a little business for a homeless person, selling this magazine. To view the 2004-05 Annual Report Click Here
To view the 2005-06 Annual Report Click Here
What is RecLink? (165kb) | RecLink Constitution (33kb) | 
