The Carers Foundation Australia, in collaboration with Brendale businessman Mike Arieni and Solar Bollard Lighting, runs the Josh Arieni Legacy program to honour unpaid family and community carers by granting them an experience of their choice to rest, rejuvenate and feel genuinely appreciated for the work they do.
The program was established in 2023 in memory of Mike’s son Josh, who cared for his grandmother for several years before his death in a car accident in 2020. Josh Arieni was born in 1992 and was known for his kindness and compassion. Mike worked with The Carers Foundation to create a legacy that reflected those qualities, focusing on carers who give without recognition and rarely ask for help.
About The Carers Foundation Australia
The Carers Foundation Australia was established in 2015 under the leadership of founders Ronnie and Michael Benbow, delivering wellbeing programmes for unpaid family carers across Queensland and beyond. The organisation runs carer wellbeing retreats, wellness days and annual Christmas lunches across the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Moreton Bay, Brisbane and beyond, with each event attended by approximately 80 or more carers. All carers at Christmas lunches receive gift bags, recognising that many will not receive gifts on the day due to their caring responsibilities.
The Carers Foundation sits within a broader context of significant unpaid care across Australia. Hundreds of thousands of Australians provide full-time unpaid care for family members, saving the health system billions of dollars annually while receiving little to no government support. Young unpaid carers number in the hundreds of thousands, with some as young as eight caring for a sick parent or sibling.
What the Josh Arieni Legacy Program Does
Each year, Mike Arieni dedicates funding through Solar Bollard Lighting, alongside contributions from supporters, to grant a small number of carers an experience of their choice. Community members, family or support workers can nominate a carer they know, or carers can nominate themselves, through The Carers Foundation website. Recipients receive a fully funded experience tailored to what they most need.
Past recipients have included George, who cared for his ageing mother while managing his own health challenges and fulfilled a lifelong ambition to complete a camel trek through outback South Australia. Samantha, who cared for her mother and uncle around the clock and had reached a breaking point, attended a five-day writers retreat that allowed her to reconnect with a creative life she had set aside.
Louise, a sole carer for more than two decades for her son who lives with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, spent two nights at Hastings Street, Noosa, and enjoyed a pamper day at a day spa. Bob and Val, who have cared for their daughter for more than 55 years following her birth with significant disabilities, received a five-night stay at Golden Beach. Anne, the mother of two boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy both requiring 24-hour care seven days a week, fulfilled her dream of visiting Sea World and swimming with dolphins.
John and Anna, the couple referenced in the source article, are among those receiving a gift this year through the program — a weekend away to recharge, which John described as something the couple was unaccustomed to but deeply needed after years of balancing full-time work with full-time caring responsibilities.
How to Nominate or Support the Program
Nominations for the Josh Arieni Legacy program are open to the public. Community members wanting to nominate a carer can do so through the nomination form at thecarersfoundation.org/josh-arieni-legacy. Those wishing to contribute financially to the program can donate at the same address. Solar Bollard Lighting, Mike Arieni’s Brendale business and the program’s founding supporter, is at solarbollardlighting.com. Further information about The Carers Foundation Australia’s full range of carer wellbeing programmes is at thecarersfoundation.org.
Published 3-March-2026.
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