We're all in this together!

In 2008 The Salvation Army will provide assistance to over one million Australians - but caring for Australians in need isn't just the responsibility of a select few. If we ever want to live in a country that is free from poverty, addiction and abuse, we will all have to do our part.

This year, we'd once again like to invite you to help us make a difference by supporting our Red Shield Appeal. Let's work together to make Australia a better place.

The Red Shield Appeal is The Salvation Army's major annual fundraising drive to help finance our vast network of social and community services. The national fundraising target for 2008 is $68 million.

Officially commencing in April and concluding at the end of June, the Appeal involves three main components:

• Direct mail campaign - Around half of all Red Shield Appeal funds raised are given in response to The Salvation Army's direct mail campaign.
• Business appeal - The Salvation Army has always had outstanding support from generous business leaders right across Australia.
• National Doorknock Appeal - Involving around 100,000 volunteer collectors, the Red Shield Appeal Doorknock provides opportunity for people to give at the door in support of The Salvation Army's good work. The 2008 doorknock takes place on 24-25 May.

The first Red Shield Appeal Doorknock was held in 1965 in response to concern about the need for funds to meet the ever-increasing demand on Salvation Army social services.

While the appeal has been expanded and refined enormously since that time, demand upon Salvation Army services continues to increase. Funds raised through the Red Shield Appeal each year are needed more than ever if the Salvos are to maintain their services in the local community.

Because we're well aware that our valued donors work hard for their money, we ensure that we work just as hard to make sure that every donation is used effectively. The Salvation Army's administration costs are kept to a minimum, with one of the most efficient rates of any charity.

Credit card donations can be made using our secure online donation form or by calling 13 SALVOS (13 72 58). For information on other ways to donate, please click here.

This year The Salvation Army is asking for 100,000 volunteers to assist in our Doorknock Appeal on 24-25 May.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of The Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal doorknock. When you volunteer, you help raise vital funds for the running of The Salvation Army’s vast network of social services. It may mean a roof to someone without a home, or education support for a child at risk of dropping out of school.

Doorknocking only takes a couple of hours and can be great fun. Check out our doorknock training presentation to get an idea of what to expect on the day.

If you'd like to volunteer, please fill out our registration form below. A Salvation Army representative will then contact you with information about what's happening in your local area.

We'd love to have you onboard!

This year's Red Shield Appeal advertising features Australian recording artist Ben Lee's hit song We're all in this together. You can view some of the ads by clicking on the images below.

Appeals Director Major Neil Dickson says, "The theme and song celebrate the sense of unity, generosity and support that Australians are famous for. We never cease to be amazed at the way hundreds of thousands of Australians each year give generously of their time and their money to help others in our community who are suffering."

Journalists and other interested parties should visit our Media Centre to view the latest Red Shield Appeal media releases.

TV Ads

iPod Vodcast

• View our 3 minute Red Shield Appeal video on iTunes

Ella's story

Twenty-year-old Ella is one of the many young people helped through The Salvation Army Oasis Youth Support Network to find their potential. Told to leave home when she was just 16, Ella lived on the streets and slept on trains before she came to Oasis with a crystal methamphetamine addiction.

Ella was helped into rehabilitation and stable accommodation, and because she has a passion for music and skating, she became involved in Oasis's Streetradio.net, which allows disadvantaged young people to gain skills in radio production.

Ella now hosts a weekly Oasis skateboarding and music program, has completed a Foxtel media course and a three-month paid stint at a commercial radio station in Sydney, and was recently offered a full-time job in commercial broadcasting.

Neill's story

Neill was first taken into care aged 10, already – incredibly – with a substantial alcohol problem and the accompanying negative behaviours. “I was considered a pest to society,” he says.

As a broken young teenager at a boys home in WA, Neill was made to polish shoes in the hundreds as punishment for bad behaviour. “I did shoe shining as a punishment, 360 pairs every Sunday. I hated it,” says Neill.

The system soon helped ensure Neill became more than a young ‘pest’. Not only was he exposed in boys homes to children with far more serious problems than he, but Neill became the victim of repeated, horrific sexual abuse.

On one occasion Neill lashed out and seriously attacked the perpetrator. He was moved to a maximum security juvenile detention centre, the judge telling him he was “a waste of a person” who would “never amount to anything.” A school report supported this verdict with the words: “This kid won’t make it to (the age of) 40.” His life as a young adult was a messy mixture of drugs, violence, trouble with the law and broken relationships.

When Neill arrived at The Salvation Army Flagstaff crisis centre in Melbourne, he looked like a wild man. With hair well below his waist, and a beard to his stomach, he hadn’t showered in months. He had been drinking methylated spirits, sleeping on the streets or in a paddock surrounded by cows, and had reached the point where even his own children were scared of him.   

At Flagstaff, Neill was given food, clean clothes, a bed and, most importantly, access to a network of support services that would help him on the road to change. “Monday morning I found myself at an AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] meeting held at a Salvation Army church,” says Neill. “That’s where my life turned around.”

Today, cheerful and clean-shaven, Neill is seeing a dream fulfilled running his own shoe shine business at the “Paris end” of Melbourne’s Collins Street, named “Shiny Shoes Shoe Shine” after his childhood nickname “Shiny Shoes”.

He says, “I never thought, when I walked into The Salvation Army that day, that four years later this is where I’d be.

“Now, because I’m sober, I’m able to spend every weekend with my children, and my ex-wife is on good terms too. I run AA meetings to help others.

“Today I have hope because the Salvos helped and said things could be better.”