Archives



Our Children’s Home, Liverpool

Our Children’s Home, Liverpool was established by George Edward Ardill, of the Society for Providing Homes for Neglected Children, in 1887. It was a home for boys aged four to eight and girls aged four to fourteen. It held up to 40 children. In 1918 Ardill opened a new Our Children’s Home at Concord (Ardill…

Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers

Bethesda Home for Waiting Mothers was established by the Sydney Rescue Work Society in Camperdown. It was a lying-in hospital that had been part of the Home of Hope for Friendless and Fallen Women but became Bethesda when South Sydney Women’s Hospital opened. This home was not related to Bethesda Maternity Hospital at Marrickville. Bethesda…

Open All Night Refuge

The Open All Night Refuge was established in Darlinghurst by George Edward Ardill in 1883, via the Blue Ribbon Gospel Army, which later became the Sydney Rescue Work Society. It provided temporary accommodation for women and children, including those fleeing domestic violence. It also took in “friendless” women, including the homeless, those who had been…

Blue Ribbon Gospel Army

The Blue Ribbon Gospel Army was established by Sydney philanthropist and evangelist George Edward Ardill in 1882. It provided a range of services to the destitute of the city, including the Open All Night Refuge, the Jubilee Home for Domestic Servants and the Home of Hope for Friendless and Fallen Women. It seems that Ardill…

Home of Hope for Friendless and Fallen Women

The Home of Hope for Friendless and Fallen Women was a refuge and rescue home founded in Sydney in October 1883 by George Edward Ardill of the Sydney Rescue Work Society. From 1890 it was based in Gilpin Street (Stanley Street) Camperdown and was a lying-in home for unmarried pregnant women who were waiting to…

Communicare Sydney

Communicare Sydney, which began in 1982, was the new name for the Sydney Rescue Work Society. It was a Christian non-government service that was a provider of child care services, including long day care centres, pre-schools, family day care and OOSH centres. It ran many of its services in the same buildings used by former…

Drummoyne Lodge

Drummoyne Lodge was established at Drummoyne in the 1980s by Sydney City Mission as a family group home. Sydney City Mission changed to Mission Australia in 1996. In 2004 Drummoyne Lodge was managed by Mission Australia as a medium to long-term semi-permanent accommodation service for homeless and disadvantaged young people aged 18-24. It was still…

Sydney Rescue Work Society

The Sydney Rescue Work Society was formed in 1890 to ‘take over, continue and strengthen the Rescue Work for seven years usefully and beneficially carried on by Mr G.E. Ardill and his philanthropic co-workers’. It ran numerous refuges and homes for women and children in Sydney and surrounding suburbs. From 1911 until at least the…

Lemongrove Lodge

Lemongrove Lodge was established at Penrith by Sydney City Mission in the 1980s. It operated as a family group home. Sydney City Mission changed to Mission Australia in 1996, which in 2004 managed Lemongrove Lodge as Lemongrove Lodge Transitional Youth Services, a secure accommodation service for homeless youth aged 16 to 21. In 2013 Lemongrove…

Harold Lodge

Harold Lodge was established at Ingleburn around 1984 by Sydney City Mission as a family group home. Sydney City Mission changed to Mission Australia in 1996. In 2004 Harold Lodge provided mediation, long term accommodation and supportive intervention to homeless youth aged 14-18. In 2013 Mission Australia still managed Harold Lodge.