Friday October 13th, 2-4pm
Red Frogs Vision
As a result of safeguarding a generation of young people, Red Frogs Support Network will empower young people to make positive life choices and become a voice of change within their culture.
Red Frogs Mission
Red Frogs is a support program for young people from the ages of 15 – 25. Red Frogs recognize that the culture of young people is dominated by alcohol and that excessive consumption of alcohol and other substances can lead to dangerous and life altering behaviours. Therefore Red Frogs make it their mission to provide a positive peer presence in alcohol-fuelled environments where young people gather, educate young people on safe partying behaviours, and promote and provide non-alcoholic and/or diversionary activities that engage young people in these environments.
Red Frogs Core Values
SERVING
As a result of being practical, available and consistent in serving, we are placed in a position of trust with young people, thereby enabling us to disciple them through some of the most challenging times of their lives.
We take every opportunity to engage in acts of generosity that foster relationship and display genuine care and concern for the lives of others.
INTEGRITY
Through expecting our actions to meet a standard of excellence we cultivate a culture of responsibility and accountability that promotes transparency.
We believe that to display professionalism in our approach, our programs and activities, we equip staff and volunteers by mentoring, training and resourcing to effectively engage in their work with young people.
RELATIONSHIP
We recognize that each young person has an innate need for belonging and relationship. Therefore it is our heart to create healthy pathways for young people to have these needs fulfilled.
We understand the importance of open communication and collaboratation between staff, volunteers and Red Frog networks, including ‘Friends of the Red Frog’, sponsors and partners. Therefore we highly promote and engage in team work and relationship building activities that enable these processes to happen.
The History of the Frog
“Best Friends Since 1997”
HISTORY
It all started in 1997 when Red Frogs Support Network founder Andy Gourley (a youth pastor at Citipointe Church) hit Schoolies Week on the Gold Coast with his skateboarding mates and realised the need for a designated sober person at the massive drinking parties. After approaching the hotel manager to see if they needed volunteers during Schoolies week, the manager jumped at the opportunity and recruited Andy and many of his friends to help. And so Red Frogs Australia Chaplaincy Network was born.
Since this time, the program has become renowned for the support it provides not only to school leavers, but also to uni students, party and festival goers, event managers, sporting groups, and musicians in Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada, South Africa and Poland.
WHY RED FROGS
After a few nights of meeting schoolies, Andy went down to the local corner store and randomly chose a bag of ‘Allen’s Frogs Alive Red Frogs’ to use as “icebreakers” when first arriving at parties. It didn’t take long to realise that party goers loved the red frogs. In its first year, the crew handed out 80kg of the confectionary, and now more than 16 tonnes of Red Frogs are distributed each year. Volunteers were originally called ‘hotel chaplains’, however after a few years of handing out ‘red frog’ lollies they became affectionately known by schoolies and others as the ‘Red Frog Crew’. So it was an obvious move to name the schoolies support network and the programs that have been birthed from it ‘Red Frogs Support Network'.