tlc for kids history

Founder and CEO Tim Conolan, established the charity in 1998 and alongside his long-term partner, Ana Darras, has steered TLC through a rollercoaster ride that has seen the organisation claw its way back from a bank balance of just $93 to assist over 515,000 sick children and their families in times of crisis and hardship. Conolan and Darras are also responsible for the development of TLC’s national Distraction Box program which benefits over half a million children every year in Hospitals across Australia.

Conolan didn’t set out in life with a mission to help others, and his first foray into the business world (a joint venture with his brother) didn’t quite go as planned, leaving Conolan at the age of 21 facing the choice of declaring bankruptcy, or working to pay off debts accumulated by his business. Never shy of a challenge, and a man true to his convictions, Conolan decided the only answer was to pay back the money, and set about working round the clock spruiking the remains of his broken business during the day, and working as DJ by night. As Conolan says; “If you have two arms and legs that work you can always clean toilets. There was no reason at all for us to write off that debt”.

After three years Conolan and his brother had cleared their debt, and through his DJ work, Conolan had built strong ties with the Melbourne YMCA. Inspired by his mature approach to dealing with the collapse of his business and commitment to meeting his financial responsibilities, the YMCA invited Conolan to attend a Camp Leader Exchange program as a motivational speaker, drawing tangible parallels between financial and emotional loss. At just 21 years of age, this was Conolan’s first encounter with seriously ill children and where he formed a relationship that was to change the course of his life.

The pivotal moment

17 year old Francis Stockbridge was suffering from lung cancer, and was by Conolan’s admission the sickest kid at the camp. Conolan was drawn to determination not to give up and struck up a friendship. A few days later, Francis called Conolan for support after being told he had just one month left to live. Relying on life skills, Conolan was able to use motivational techniques to help Francis focus not on the far off future, but on the goodness of each day. Through meditation, Conolan was also able to help Francis take the deep breaths he longed for, as the cancer in his lungs forced him to fight for breath. “This was my ‘a-ha’ moment”, says Conolan. “It was the realisation that sick children don’t need sympathy, they need practical help and motivation to see what’s good about life”.

Keen to make a difference, Conolan and his brother set up ‘Team Life’, an organisation that aimed to make the wishes of terminally ill kids a reality. Conolan explains that Team Life was a forerunner to TLC for kids; “we wanted to make a difference for these kids by giving them something to focus on, something that would motivate them outside the confines of their hospital bed.” Team Life was set up originally to work with sick kids in Geelong.

The brothers raised funds by carrying out street stunts, organising concerts, and even selling charity chocolates. Every cent they made was poured into distracting kids from their daily hospital environment, taking them bowling, to the zoo and even on joy flights. However, despite some successful fundraising, there was never enough money to help all the kids who were in need, and people were hesitant to donate to Team Life as it was an unknown entity and unregistered as a charity. Conolan says; “it was frustrating because people assumed we had an ulterior motive. They were always asking ‘what’s in it for you?’.

Meeting Darras allowed Conolan take his concept of helping sick kids to the next level. Through Team Life Conolan had become a regular visitor to the Royal Children’s Hospital, where Darras was working in Public Affairs. On a guided tour of the Hospital, Darras showed Conolan the vast number of children admitted to the hospital that were ‘falling through the gaps’ and were missing out on additional support. Conolan was struck by the enormity of illnesses and health related issues faced by children; “Regardless of the situation relating to a health complication, be it a serious or chronic illness, car accident or terminal disease, most kids need some sort of distraction or support.”  Conolan felt there was a need for a support group to focus on helping the child and not focus on the illness.

The inception

15th June was inception of TLC (this is when we started the planning process and researching needs for kids). Darras was dealing on a daily basis with sick children and their families, so was able to give Conolan insights into what was really required to make a difference. Darras encouraged Conolan to register as a charity, and expand the services so that his efforts could be officially recognised by the hospital and corporate sponsors. As a result, on 28th of December 1998 TLC for kids was born and officially registered as a charity (or benevolent society / non profit organisation), complete with a board of directors, constitution and DGR (deductible gift recipient) status. Conolan said that setting up as a charity was straight forward, but complications came in establishing a board of directors. “We had to make sure we had the right people, who were qualified to make judgements on what was missing from hospitals, and that they shared the same vision as us. We were there for the kids, so egos had to be left at the door”, says Conolan.

After talking to social workers and medical staff at various hospitals, it became clear that granting children’s wishes was nice, but financial support, food vouchers and basic necessities were the real requirements of families enduring costly, yet necessary procedures. Even today, TLC only accepts requests for help from medical professionals and social workers, ensuring its funds are directed to those truly in need. “Our motto is that to observe is to disturb, so we rely on health professionals to pinpoint children and families that need our help and identify their needs”, says Darras.

Challenges

Between 1998 and 2000 TLC for kids took off, and started receiving charitable donations, including a substantial $30,000 donation from Tattersall’s, but most of the funds were still coming from Conolan’s nightly DJ income and it wasn’t enough. By 2000, Darras had also left her job at the Hospital to concentrate on TLC. “We call it the mincemeat and rice period of our lives”, jokes Darras, pouring every dollar back into the charity and paying for things for the kids personally to save TLC funding.

TLC for kids kept going, but in 2002 things were looking bleak. Funding was proving hard to come by because corporate dollars were being ploughed into long established charities with big advertising budgets, but Conolan and Darras had hope in a small $10,000 budget, which they had set aside for a fundraising campaign. However, the ethos of TLC for kids has always been to ‘never say no to a family in need’, so when a request came in to cover the cost of a holiday for a family with a terminally ill seven year old, the choice was clear cut. TLC for kids gave its precious fundraising budget to the family, leaving Conolan and Darras with just $93 in the bank.

At the same time Conolan was offered a full time DJ gig, and Darras was approached to take up her old position with the Royal Children’s Hospital. They had the option to turn their back on the TLC dream and pursue a comfortable life with a secure income. But neither could let go of their desire to make a real difference to sick kids and their families.

The turnaround

As fate would have it, Conolan had met 3AW’s Neil Mitchell during a hospital visit in 1999. At the time Mitchell was supportive of TLC’s work and told Conolan to contact him if he ever needed any help. With nowhere to turn to, Conolan thought it was worth a shot, and contacted Mitchell at 3AW. Without hesitation Mitchell and his producer Justin Smith organised an on-air appeal, dedicating an entire show to raising money for the charity. Families, board members and celebrities pulled together to take donation calls from the 3AW boardroom, and by the end of the three and a half hour show they had raised a grand total of $150,000.

With TLC for kids back on their feet, it was time to set about helping the kids again and in 2003, after a suggestion from one of their board members working in educational play therapy, Conolan and Darras started working on an exciting and innovative concept – Distraction Boxes. the boxes are filled with therapeutic toys, designed to distract children from the medical procedures they are undergoing, and make invasive hospital procedures less stressful for children and their families.

At $330 a pop, the boxes are not cheap and several attempts at corporate sponsorship had failed, leaving TLC with a fantastic idea, but no funds to implement. Once again Neil Mitchell came to the rescue, raising a further $86,000 through an on-air Distraction Box appeal. Clipsal and Toll-Ipec also came on board as a sponsor, and in 2004, 260 boxes were distributed across Victoria. Four years on, TLC’s Distraction Boxes are distributed Australia-wide to every major metro and many regional hospitals, Aboriginal Healthcare Centres, and the Royal Flying Doctors. Feedback from healthcare professionals indicates that each box is used on average 9 times per week and in some cases up to 25 times per week, benefiting over a quarter of a million children every year.

Prosperity

Twelve years on, TLC for kids continues to grow from strength to strength, with ambitious expansion plans for the period leading up to 2015. Process innovations remain TLC’s primary internal focus, with the goal of reaching as many children in need as possible. The TLC for kids scalable business model and open line of communication with its healthcare network, have been its greatest advantages in being able to effectively manage growth, recession and demand for services.

Conolan has also hung up his DJ bag for good (or so he says), after reaching the pinnacle of his career suspended above over 8,000 McDonalds crew members and a large group of TLC kids and families, in a DJ booth at Vodaphone Arena. “As far as DJ’ing goes, I didn’t think it was going to get any bigger,” laughs Conolan.

Find out what’s in store for the future.