Telethon 2024: Families soak up the best of beloved charity’s street festival

The annual Telethon Family Festival transformed Wellington Street into a vibrant hub of activity on Sunday.

Rides, show bags, food trucks and roving entertainers drew thousands of attendees, with famous faces among the crowds.

Morley mum Jenny Le made a small donation and enjoyed various free activities with her son Tyson Ashwin, 2, daughter Aaliyah Ashwin, 5, and their grandmother Lan Tran.

“There’s so much great free activities to do as a family and of course, the opportunity to donate back to charity,” she said.

Durham Road School special needs teacher Lani Webber was among those enjoying the community fair, with her husband Craig and son Harvey, 2.

The school — which is dedicated to those with intellectual and physical disabilities, sensory impairments, and autistic spectrum disorders — raised $4000 for Telethon this year.

“We raised $4000 as a school. From colour runs to dress up days, we all rallied around to raise money this year,” Ms Webber said.

She said Harvey was eager to see former yellow Wiggle and crowd favourite Emma Memma, who now dons an orange frock.

After moving to WA from South Africa in March, Shaun and Megan Cramer were enjoying being part of their first Telethon with daughter Madison, 4, and were on the hunt to spot Fat Cat.

“Some friends invited us along, so we thought why not. It’s great,” Mr Cramer said.

From face paint and colourful costumes, community fair attendees dressed up for the occasion.

Eight-year-old Elliott Treasure was happy to show off his mohawk, which he had coloured for the occasion.

He, his sister Larah Walton, 11, and her friend Ruby Horsefield, 12, had their faces painted and said they were enjoying the street party.

Cahoots organisers Steph Jackson and Lilou Peaud held rock painting workshops for mindfulness and a rock-climbing wall for those more adventurous.

This is the fourth year Cahoots has been supported by Telethon, allowing them to host camps and adventure programs for neurodiverse children.

“A lot of our kids are on the spectrum or neurodiverse. We teach kids positive mental health skills,” Ms Jackson said.

“We call these gratitude rocks. So, it’s about mindfulness and teaching them how to breathe.”

They went through 100kg of rocks on Sunday.

Fitness dance group Club Fiesta brought energy to spectators on the community stage.

Group founder Hala Zygadlo said it was an honour to donate time to host the performance but also to raise money throughout the year.

Each year, Ms Zygadlo hosts a fundraising night at The Court Hotel. Packed with fellow fitness instructors and her followers, the high-energy night raised $1650 to the 2024 Telethon tally.

“We get the whole community involved. Telethon is so amazing, just to think about how it helps the sick children of WA and the world really. It’s really important for us to donate and just to give something back. Nothing compares to that feeling,” she said.

The program was started in Currambine five years ago and has grown across Perth and recently into the UK and US.

With paintbrushes in hand and tool kits at the ready, 150 volunteers built six cubby houses in just a few hours.

The mammoth effort was managed by the Build Now Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping WA families.

“The Build Now Foundation was actually inspired by Telethon. We’re all about helping people in need, that’s our ethos, that’s we’re all about,” managing director Stephen Mansfield said.

“We are builders by trade, and we’re creating so many different projects and building spaces. It’s great to give back.”