A story of care - 65 years in the making
Baptist Community Services – NSW & ACT has been caring for the aged and people living with disadvantage for the past 65 years.
The organisation, originally known as the NSW Baptist Homes Trust, was formed in 1944; the result of a vision of a group of Baptist men and women who wanted to express the love of Christ in practical ways to people in need, particularly the aged and children.
For the first eight years of its existence, the Trust was run by a faithful team of volunteers, who worked tirelessly to see their dreams become a reality.
In January 1953, our first aged-care home – Yallambi, in Carlingford, was officially opened.
BCS Karingal
In 1956, the organisation’s first children’s home Karingal opened its doors in Mosman.
Over the next two decades the organisation experienced significant growth with the opening of new facilities and services in Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle, Parkes and the Central Coast.
This growth continued in the 1980s, with two key focus areas developing – aged care and family and community services, including the development of BCS LifeCare Counselling and Family Services.
In 1986, the name NSW Baptist Homes Trust was changed to Baptist Community Services to capture the organisation’s expanding ministry.
Over the past decade BCS has moved through a period of rapid growth, with the organisation’s staff numbers tripling, along with a huge expansion in services and our operating budget. The organisation has become one of the State’s largest residential and in-home aged-care providers.
In 2008 as part of rebranding of the organisation, our two operating divisions were renamed BCS AgeCare and BCS LifeCare.
In 2009 BCS will celebrate its 65th anniversary. This will be a time of looking back and giving thanks to God for his faithfulness and goodness to us as an organisation. It will also be a time to recommit to our vision as we seek to express Christ’s love to people with unmet physical, emotional and spiritual needs across NSW and the ACT.
For a detailed record of BCS’ history please see the excellent publication Striving For Excellence by G.B. Ball and J.W. Mallice
For more information on BCS’ history contact our Honorary Historian Mr Jim Mallice at JMallice@bcs.org.au.