The Karey and Kareful Foundation Limited is committed to its mission – to provide every Australian special needs student with free Karey and Kareful Storybooks.
To date, over 3,000 students across Sydney, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, and Hunter regions have received individual five-book sets through the Foundation’s Karey & Kareful Reading Program. The Foundation aims to reach 6,000 students by the end of 2025.
A registered charity, the Foundation published the first book in the series in 2021, and has not looked back since. The series features Karey Kangaroo and Kareful Koala – two friendly characters with disabilities – created to make learning fun and engaging for children. The stories in the series are designed to build improved reading and comprehension skills, while also supporting holistic development through the caring friendship and adventures of Karey and Kareful.
The Karey & Kareful Storybooks began as a poem written by author Christopher Williams nearly 20 years ago. Between 2006 and 2010, Chris and a team of volunteers pushed a wheelchair across NSW, raising money for bush communities hit by drought and bushfires. Inspired by that journey, he created the characters Karey and Kareful, who featured in a 2010 documentary about accessible tourism made for Tourism NSW.
Subsequently primary art school teacher and Christopher’s soulmate Ann Victoria collaborated with him to bring Karey and Kareful to life through her illustrations. And thus the special storybooks were born – created to help all children feel included.
Consolidating their effort, the Foundation launched Karey & Kareful Koncert4Kids at Cromehurst Special Needs School in Sydney on December 1, 2023.
Earlier this year, the first music video, ‘G’day G’day’, featuring Karey Kangaroo and Kareful Koala, was released. Later this year, the Karey & Kareful YouTube Channel will start operations, hosted by Special Ambassador Angus Hamill — a CoastFM presenter with autism — who will lead the Celebrity Readers Program, with guests reading storybooks live from the Foundation’s studio.
A Reader Appreciation Forum for families and supporters is also set to launch by the end of this year.
In just five years, the Karey & Kareful Foundation has grown rapidly – supported by the likes of IGA Supermarkets, Bendigo Community Banks, ClubsGRANTS NSW, MG, JEEP and the Bill Moss Foundation.
The Foundation plans to provide free Karey&Kareful Storybooks to 200,000 special needs children across Australia in phases. This includes the initial first five-book set and all future releases, along with free live or video Koncert4Kids performances featuring Karey, Kareful, and the ‘G’day G’day’ Band.
