THE VISION
William (Bill) Campbell was born one of three children. He and his two sisters spent the majority of their childhood in children's homes, institutions and foster care. For the majority of that time Bill was separated from his sisters and, although they came back together in their teenage years, the shame, deep scarring, and hurt resulting from their childhood experiences of abuse and neglect in various placements within in the welfare system and the emotional damage caused by the rejection of them by their parents has remained with them all their adult years.
As an adult who had made it through the foster, children’s homes and institutional system, Bill dreamed of a place where children who were experiencing the pain and loss associated with abuse, neglect and abandonment could find hope. A rural environment where the children could find healing and fulfillment across their full range of developmental needs i.e. physical, emotional, cognitive, cultural, social and spiritual.
A fundamental belief that each human being is created in the image of God provides the strong spiritual underpinning for the mission of William Campbell College, to serve children in crisis and provide the healing they desperately need.
The greatest gift you can afford children is love and care and, most importantly, the stability achieved in the knowledge they have a home. This is their best safeguard and our most constructive means in providing a solid foundation to the child's future stability, growth and achievement. Socially and academically disadvantaged children, regardless of their religion, race, culture or gender are extended the opportunity to live in a rural farming environment. Care and nurture is enacted to provide spiritual, academic and practical skills in order to grow the children to wholeness.
The phrase typically used to describe the children we serve is “dysfunctional children and young people displaying unacceptable behaviours” which of course, is not of their own making.
In the College family environment, our children and young people live in rural family cottages with permanent live-in foster carers who are investing in the lives of the children. The atmosphere within each home is one of love and encouragement where each child can know the security of boundaries and the acceptance of unconditional love.
Our objective is to provide all children and young people in our care stability and permanency, allowing independence in their growth and development, and a feeling of strength and soundness in their character. This reinforces all dimensions of their lives, i.e. emotional, physical, spiritual, cultural, intellectual and social, enabling them to become healthy, confident citizens of the future.
In our banner and our Shield are the three words "Stability", "Growth" and "Achievement". These words, underpinned by Christian love and caring, summarise the foundation of our College.