Our Ambassadors

Operation Stitches Ambassador:
Lys Nguyen

Growing up in the housing estate was tough. Apart from the small confined space, there were times that you would feel unsafe and alone. Operation Stitches gave kids the opportunity to be able to have fun in the local community and feel safe. This was done through their events that were held in the local community areas, allowing kids to socialise with one another and ultimately give parents the opportunity build friendships and have a sense of companionship.

I attended Operation Stitches as an 8-year-old child, and 20 years down the track, I still consider myself a Stitches Kid. Operation Stitches helped me learn from a young age to make the right choices, not to give in to peer pressure and to always believe in myself. Operation Stitches allowed me, as well as my family, to feel like we belonged within a community that felt so strange and foreign, especially as immigrants trying to rebuild our lives in a strange new country. It allowed my parents to meet other people who resided in the housing estate buildings, to which they are still friends to this very day. 

Operation Stitches provides so much support to the kids, their families and to the community through numerous ways – tutoring, food vans/drop offs, donations, free events and most importantly, emotional support and guidance. Chris and Patrick always find a way to ensure that everyone’s needs are met. They are the heart and soul of Operation Stitches and they have bettered the community in countless ways.

As an original Stitches Kid, I will never forget how I felt the first time I heard the blasting music from the housing flats for one of many Stitches events. I remember peering through the windows of the flats and seeing a giant jumping castle, the iconic food van, and the numerous activities that were being set up by the amazing volunteers. I remember seeing Stitches Bear for the first time and hearing his story. He taught me to make the right choices and to always be true to myself. I can say without a doubt that these events were the best part of my childhood. 

Operation Stitches had such an incredible impact on my life that 20 years later, I am proud to say that I am not only a Stitches Kid, but I am also currently a Stitches Volunteer. I believe that every kid should be able to have an incredible and memorable childhood. They, too, should be able to experience the same joy I felt and be able to form amazing memories and friendships that will live on for years to come. And because of Operation Stitches, all of this is possible.

Operation Stitches brings people together, people from different walks of life, and unites them as one. Operation Stitches is the foundation of the community, and the community would be at a true disadvantage without them.

Operation Stitches holds such a dear place in my heart.

I had only ever known the high-rise flats as home but understood that as a young child, with my parent’s limited income and English, we didn’t have a lot of “luxurious” things. It was tough.

I think I was about 9 years old when Stitches started coming to the flats. I realised that they could come every 4 months and every time I would be eagerly waiting to hear the music from level 14 of my flat in Fitzroy. It was without a doubt, one of the things I looked forward to most during my childhood.

I remember so vividly hearing the blast of music coming from the van, running to the window and seeing the jumping castle get set up and then running down to the lift to meet my best friend Lys so we could go together, and lining up eagerly to receive my popcorn, fairy floss and snow cone from the food van. 

I remember sitting on the yellow tarp in front of the stage as a little girl eagerly waiting for Stitches Bear to come out and the stories of him making the right choices.

I remember seeing all the people in yellow shirts and thinking how cool they were, and how they always made me feel so welcomed with a smile on their faces (which now at 27 years old, I now know they were volunteers)

Stitches made my childhood really special and they ultimately achieved this through their events in the Fitzroy flats, which provided free food (great food that I can still taste to this day), games, face painting, train rides and jumping castle (which I swear was the size of an actual castle).

Growing up with minimal things, participating in Stitches events really made me feel safe and welcomed. It enabled me, to really grow my confidence and taught me how to socialise with other kids. Stitches has taught me to “always do the right thing”, they taught me respect and that everyone is the same no matter where you come from – purely because of the golden memories they have embedded in me through their events. 

18 years later, I have found Stitches again, and Chris and Patrick (who run Stitches) are still exactly how I remembered them, looks and all – they are still as welcoming, as kind and still have their “do-all” attitude. I am so happy to hear that Operation Stitches are still operating, even after some hardship.

I am so proud to say, I, as well as my best friend Lys, are now volunteers of Operation Stitches, as I wish for nothing more than to have the same impact on the children that live in the housing estates, just as Stitches has done for me all those 18 years ago. 

I believe that every child needs a world of miracle and magic, and to be able to enhance and encourage these to the children through Operation Stitches, they will carry these memories with them forever. 

Operation Stitches have really been attributed to the person I have grown up to be today 😊 Thank you.