NEWSLETTER
APRIL 2015
Welcome
Date Claimers See group61.org/calendar for info
A warm welcome to our new Group61
Volunteers; Glaucia Barbosa, Tammy Barker,
Cerise Christiansen, Joydeep Daas, Janelle
Dixon, Ron Dutt, Briony Fawke, Jason Galavin,
Chandni Kundandas, Princess Lakshman,
Georgia McMahon, Raagini Poonan, Kristen
Powles, Lauren Sandstrom, Carmel Schneider,
Jayzer Wilson and Jenny Xu.
Area Coordinator Update
We are delighted to welcome two new Area
Coordinators for the Southside region; Robyn
McNeill and Sheena Cranwell. We will be
redistributing the Southside region into
smaller areas for it currently covers a large
geographical area experiencing growth in
membership. We also welcome Lauren
Sandstrom, our new Deputy AC for North
region. We need Coordinators for North West,
Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast regions.
10am Wednesdays 6 & 20 May @ Grinstead Park, Alderley contact Marie on 3353 4616
10am Wednesdays 29 April and 13 & 27 May @ Pine Rivers Park,
Strathpine - contact Lexie on 3353 5624
BBQ Sponsored by City North Baptist
Saturday 13 June @ Raven St Reserve, Chermside
Enter via Rode Rd entrance. Please bring your own meat, mug &
chair. All welcome including family & friends. Phone 3254 4000 if
transport is required. Please note BBQs are now held on the
second Saturday of the month.
Level 1 Mental Health Training Course for Volunteers
9am-3pm Saturday 20 June @ Chermside Kedron Community
Church, cnr Gympie & Rode Rds, Chermside. Morning tea and
lunch provided. Phone 3254 4000 or email [email protected] to
register.
April Volunteer Meeting
6.30pm Tuesday 28 April @ Chermside Library, 375 Hamilton
Road, Chermside. Topic will be ‘Mindfulness’. See page 3 for
details.
May Volunteer Meeting
6.30pm Tuesday 26 May @ Chermside Library, 375 Hamilton Road,
Chermside. Topic to be advised in May newsletter.
Fishing Trip to Bribie Island
New Group61 Location
Group61 has moved to New Farm
Neighbourhood Centre at 967 Brunswick St,
New Farm 4005. Please note our new office
phone number 3254 4000 and new postal
address PO Box 1602, New Farm 4005. Our
mobile number remains as 0422 456 475.
PO Box 1602 New Farm QLD 4005
New Farm Neighbourhood Centre
967 Brunswick St, New Farm QLD
t: 3254 4000
e: [email protected]
w: www.group61.org
Morning Tea Cluster Groups
Saturday 2 May 2015 For our second fishing trip we will be going
to Bribie Island. For Friends who use public transport we meet at
Wooloowin Station at 10am otherwise we can pick up Friends who
live on the Northside, close to the Bruce Highway. This is a popular
outing and will be limited to seven Friends only so please RSVP by
Wednesday 29 April. Phone 3254 4000 or email [email protected]
to register.
Printing courtesy of Teresa Gambaro MP
RBWH Pilot Community Connection Program Safelink Tenant Mentoring Project
March has been the month where the RBWH project has
really gained momentum and many new inpatients have
joined the program.
A volunteer/inpatient community connection focus has
evolved in the wards with up to 5-7 volunteers
participating in the popular Bingo activity or one-on-one
chat sessions five nights a week and daytime sessions on
Saturday and Sundays.
A steady flow of new volunteers have joined the program
and our existing volunteers have continued to give their
time generously, visiting in the wards and supporting the
patients in their transition to home.
The pilot program officially concludes at the end of April
however we are seeking further funding through the
2015/16 Partners in Recovery Innovative Fund to continue
the program. We should know early June if we are
successful with our submission. In the interim we hope to
continue the important voluntary support in the wards.
The Safelink program officially finished on 20 March
with a celebration breakfast BBQ at New Farm Park
with volunteers, tenants and staff of Group61 and
Churches of Christ Care (CoCC). Group61’s volunteers
will continue to provide friendship support to the 7
tenants as part of Group61’s mainstream community
program.
Group61 partnered with Churches of Christ Care
Housing Services to implement the ‘Safelink Tenant
Mentoring Project’ to assist residents with mental
health issues in two inner north unit complexes.
Photo: Safelink Volunteers with CoCC & Group61 staff at
Celebration Breakfast
Aftercare Northside
The Margate/Redcliffe Community Befriending Group,
organised by Aftercare Redcliffe, have identified a need to
expand volunteer numbers to better assist the growing
community need for friendship support in the Redcliffe
area. Many other community organisations are involved in
the program, including QLD Health, Moreton Bay Regional
Council and LNP member Kerri-Anne Dooley.
Partners in Recovery Aftercare have secured funds so
Group61 can recruit a ‘Project Support Coordinator’ to
oversee and further strengthen our existing Group61
service.
It is anticipated that we run a 3 month pilot scheme and
employ a Case Manager/Project Support Coordinator for 1
day a week to enhance and foster Group61’s presence in
the Redcliffe area. The Community Befriending Group
collectively have access to a pool of volunteers and wish to
harness this resource with the growing demand for friends
in the Redcliffe area.
Level One Volunteer Training
Our next training course will be held on Saturday 20
June from 9am to 3pm. Please mark this important
date in your diary as we would encourage all
volunteers to attend these informative sessions as it is
a mandatory requirement. The course assists new and
experienced Group61 volunteers to feel empowered to
share friendship through:
 Enhancing confidence and skills to demonstrate
empathy and to focus on the ‘friend’
 Increasing knowledge of Group61 and mental
health issues
 Reawakening knowledge of your own skills in
forming friendships and dealing with people and
their problems
 Outlining mandatory requirements of volunteers.
Dates scheduled for the remainder of the year are 15
August, 17 October and 5 December.
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Mental Health First Aid Training
Course in March
Group61 the Winner at Grill’d
Fortitude Valley!
Julie Hall kindly donated her time to facilitate the Mental
Health First Aid training for our RBWH volunteers held on
28 and 29 March. Of particular interest on the day was
Julie’s extensive and reflective experience and ongoing
learning/research in mental health.
Sincere thanks are extended to Amanda Morris for her
generosity in facilitating our first three trainings and cofacilitating the Feb 28/Mar 1 training with Julie. Group61
is extremely fortunate to have such high calibre and
committed volunteer facilitators to ensure quality Mental
Health First Aid training is provided to our RBWH
volunteers.
Group61 was the crowd favourite at Grill’d Fortitude
Valley for the month of March. We received the most
tokens hence we were honoured with the biggest
donation of $300! Big thanks to all Grill’d diners and our
members who voted for us.
Being part of the Grill’d Local Matters program was a
great opportunity to build awareness and support for
what we do in the local community.
Photo: RBWH volunteers at MHFA Training
Torbul Fishing Trip in March
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has offered our RBWH
volunteers two MHFA training opportunities; 14/15 April
or 18/19 April. This offer was timely as our March MHFA
training session was the last scheduled before the pilot
program concludes at the end of April.
Volunteer Meeting in April
Be sure to come along 6.30pm on Tuesday 28 April 2015
to Chermside Library, 375 Hamilton Road, Chermside.
Topic will be ‘Mindfulness’. Presenter Rosalinda Isorena
will discuss Mindfulness - the new way of being in your
everyday life. Mindfulness can help you cope with
managing stress, challenging emotions, and increasing
your general sense of wellbeing in a rich variety of
ways. Re-ignite your perception of life. Discover how to
live in the present moment in an enjoyable way rather
than worrying about the past or being concerned about
the future.
At 9.30am on a clear Saturday morning, Friends met for
the Torbul fishing trip at Wooloowin Station then drove
to Brian (the bus driver’s) house. From there we picked
up two other friends then made our way to Torbul. We
reached our destination at 11am and enjoyed the
morning tea provided by our very thoughtful Friend Julie.
The fishermen then went to work while the others stayed
in the covered BBQ area to chat. It was a pleasant
partnership with whoops of joy from the fishermen and
the occasional enquiry from the talkers. Most of us had
delicious fish and chips from the shop across the road for
lunch (see photo below). We made our way back to
Brisbane at about 2 pm. All agreed it was a most
enjoyable day and decided to have another fishing trip in
May at Bribie Island (see page 1 for details).
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A Weekend with Bill by Julie Richardson
Normally my reading matter is fairly heavy. I read a lot
about mental illness, the meaning of life and current
affairs. Just recently I was looking through the book
section at an op shop and spied Bill Bryson's "Down
Under". I'd often heard about Bill Bryson's books but had
never read any.
After breakfast on weekend mornings I like to read
while finishing my cup of tea. Last Saturday, however,
my tea cup had been standing empty for some time
because I was so engrossed in "Down Under". In the back
of my mind was my promise to myself of a good clean up
this weekend. My mop and broom had been leaning on
the back wall for some weeks and I believe they had
come to the conclusion that they had reached
retirement age.
As I read I kept telling myself that I would put the book
down at the end of the paragraph, at the end of the page
then at the end of the chapter but my self-discipline was
wanting. At one stage I made another cup of tea and
tidied up a bit while waiting for the kettle to boil then
retrieved my book and read on. Bill Bryson is honest,
forthright and extremely funny and, because I had visited
or lived in many of the places he was describing, the
book was much more interesting for me. I couldn't wait
for him to reach Brisbane and was disappointed when I
found out he didn't have enough time to visit our city.
My housework was done after a fashion but not to the
standard I had envisaged earlier in the week. A load of
washing was put on and hung out hurriedly so that I
could get back to my reading. The floors were swept and
mopped but not thoroughly, even by my standards.
When a friend visited on Saturday evening and when I
visited my family on Sunday, Bill Bryson formed a large
part of my conversation and I realised that I should
probably continue to broaden my reading matter. My
previous involvement in all things serious and heavy
amounted to navel gazing and I had forgotten that some
books can actually be fun.
Bill Bryson takes an honest look at our country and,
though he isn't always complementary, he is generally
light hearted and accepts Australia and Australians warts
and all. Perhaps because he is a man who can accept
himself as he is.
I would be the first to
admit that I'm a poor
housewife and I need to
discipline myself in that
area. I procrastinate. I
close the door on untidy
cupboards. I hang
clothes carefully so they
don't need ironing. I
leave my clean laundry draped over the sofa all week.
Reading Bryson's book however, made me realise that I
still have a sense of humour and the laughter I enjoyed
was probably better for me than a clean flat and extra
discipline.
At the Group61 office we have a small collection of
books on mental illness but I might just sneak Bill
Bryson's book into the pile in the hope that someone
else might have a nice lazy weekend in his delightful
company.
We would like to recommend to all our members the
http://www.abc.net.au/austory/ episode “The Fault in our
Stars”. This program charts the story of Christopher 'Cricket'
Newling and his younger brother Nic. It documents a
remarkable journey back from the brink and a life now
dedicated to helping others.
Volunteer, Maddalena Turner, posted “What Group61 is
all about” on facebook recently with this image....
…… appropriate wouldn’t you agree?
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