NEWSLETTER
NOVEMBER 2014
Welcome
A warm welcome to our new Area Volunteers:
Lauren Porter, Jade Champion, Sarah Gooda,
Ann Ustrnul, Pat Young, Mandy Warwick,
Adam Kurpiel, Michelle, Bugler, Annette
Hodgen, Diane McMonagle, Alleshia Miller,
John Forbes and Ross Paterson.
Date Claimers See group61.org/calendar for more info
Morning Tea Cluster Groups
Wednesdays 5 & 19 November and 3 & 17 December @ 10am
Grinstead Park Alderley - contact Marie on 3353 4616
Wednesdays 12 & 26 November and 10 December @ 10am
Pine Rivers Park Strathpine - contact Lexie on 3353 5624
Level 1 Mental Health Training Course for Volunteers
Area Coordinator Update
We regret to advise our Southside Area
Coordinator, Ros Hart has resigned after
spending a number of years working tirelessly
to increase volunteer/friend relationships on
the Southside of the city. On behalf of
Group61, I wish Ros all the very best as she
spends more time with her family.
A warm welcome is extended to our new Area
Coordinators - Southside region Craig Cardinal,
Gold Coast region Kelly Berber, Logan region
Amanda Richardson, West Moreton region
Karley Graham and Sunshine Coast region,
Ben Horsington.
New Deputy Coordinator
I’m pleased to welcome Donna Reynolds as
our new volunteer Deputy Coordinator. Donna
is a Safelink and RBWH volunteer and has
many administration skills. Donna’s valuable
help will ease the workload of our increasingly
busy office and I am extremely grateful to have
her on board.
On behalf of Group61, I extend our heartfelt
thanks to North West Area Coordinator, David
Hunter for his great support as Deputy
Coordinator from Oct 2014 to April 2015
Sharon Munn, Coordinator
PO Box 3155 Newmarket QLD 4051
247b Simpsons Road, Bardon QLD
t: 3367 8674
e: [email protected]
w: www.group61.org
f Like us on facebook
9am - 2pm Saturday 22 November
Chermside Kedron Community Church, cnr Gympie & Rode Rds,
Chermside. Phone 3367 8674 or email [email protected] to
register. Morning tea and lunch provided.
Volunteers Christmas Dinner - Tuesday 2 December @ 7pm
Friends Christmas Lunch – Saturday 6 December @ 12noon
Please see page 5 for more information.
Volunteer Meetings “Clean up your Act”
Presenter, Ramiah Selwood will talk about the digestion and
elimination system and how what you eat, movement, purpose
and the toxins retained or expelled can have an impact on all parts
of the body, including the brain and cognitive function.
Tuesday 11 November @ 6.30pm
Carindale Library, Carindale Regional Shopping Centre, cnr Creek &
Old Cleveland Rds, Carindale. After-hours access to the Meeting
Room is via shopping centre carpark. Please phone 0422 456 475 if
you need directions on the night. Please RSVP by 7th Nov. Either
phone Julie on 3367 8674 or by email [email protected]
Tuesday 25 November @ 6.30pm
Chermside Library, 375 Hamilton Rd, Chermside. Please RSVP by
21st Nov. Either phone Julie on 3367 8674 or by email
[email protected]. RSVP
Bus Trip “Op Shop Hop” Sat 1 November 8.30am-3.30pm
Visiting local op shops with lunch at Sandgate. Meet at Chermside
Kedron Community Church, cnr Gympie & Rode Roads, Chermside.
Bus leaves 9am sharp. Cost $5. Open to Group61 members and
their family/carers. BYO or buy lunch.
Group61 Annual General Meeting - Mon 15 Dec @ 7pm
Bardon Hall, 247B Simpsons Road, Bardon
Please see page 7 for nomination form and information.
Printing courtesy of Teresa Gambaro MP
Peter Dunlop, 1959 - 2014
Group61 lost one of our dear
friends in September when
Peter passed away in hospital.
Peter was a well- known
member of Group61, with his
trademark floppy hat and
enthusiasm for life. He was a
keen sports enthusiast, swam
twice a day, and represented
Queensland playing soccer in
his youth. Peter was a regular on our bus trips, often to
be heard professing his appreciation for the music of
Sean Cassidy.
St George Bank - Community
Group of the Year Award
Group61 has won the $10k St George Community
Group of the Year Award! We joined other
community service organisations at the State
Awards function at Portside on 30 October. Thanks
to Michelle Hildebrand, Wesley Mission and The
Honourable Saxon Rice MP for providing testimonial
letters of support.
The bus trips will never be the same! He was a very
sociable character with a heart of gold and a big smile.
Peter’s wake was held Thursday 25 September at Moora
Park, Shorncliffe.
Coffee Break update
With only five more sleeps until you're reunited with
your favourite steaming mug of coffee, this is the
ideal time to hit a home run with fundraising as the
crowds cheer you over the finish line. After a long
and somewhat sleepy month of green teas and chai
lattes, we have already achieved so much, so let's
make this year's campaign one to remember!
Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust Fund
We are pleased to announce that Group61 has been
successful in receiving a $10k Grant for the Lord
Mayor’s Charitable Trust Fund Grant to assist in funding
much needed IT and office equipment. Many thanks to
Councillor Fiona King who provided a letter of support
for our application.
The fundraising tally has reached $8,800, but that’s
no reason to stop! With only 5 days of official
fundraising to go, there’s no better time to give a
last call to friends and family to help reach your
fundraising goals. Remember to share your
fundraising profile on social media to share your
progress and encourage donations. Coffee Breakers,
we thank you for your support and sacrifice
throughout October – every sip of tea has been
worth it and every donation helped to strengthen
our community.
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Pilot Community Connection Program with
the RBWH
We officially commenced visitation in the RBWH Mental
Health Wards on Thursday 16 October. Program Area
Coordinators Donna Reynolds, Julie Richardson, Alex
Butterworth-Boord, Amanda Morris and Sean Thompson
are meeting with inpatients and coordinating volunteer
visitation. Several new Friends have been signed up.
Mental Health Week 5-12 October 2014
Group61 participated at the recent Metro North Mental
Health Community Resources Expo at Chermside Library
on Friday 10 October.
Many thanks to Julie Richardson and Rossana Wullems
for assisting at the expo stall. Many thanks to
made4media for organising the Isolation Booth on the
day – it was a great success!
Our activities program began in the wards 22 October.
At present our volunteers are conducting activities twice
a week on each floor. Volunteer applications keep
coming in and, as more volunteers come on board, the
number and frequency of hospital visits will increase.
Activities running at present include bingo, guided
meditation, walks and a coffee and chat in the hospital
cafes. As the volunteers have more contact with the
inpatients, further suggestions for activities are being
recorded for discussion at the next meeting with the
Nurse Managers.
Rossana Wullems & Sharon Munn at Mental Health Expo
Group61 staff and volunteers are excited about this
program and keen to ensure that the inpatients are
supported in hospital, during the hospital-to-home
transition and their future integration into the
community.
Mental Health First Aid Training Course
Many thanks to Amanda Morris for generously
facilitating regular training courses throughout the 7
month pilot program. Next available training course will
be 6pm – 9.30pm on Monday 24, Tuesday 25 and
Wednesday 26 November, 2014
Julie Richardson at Mental Health Expo
Safelink Tenant Mentoring Project
Volunteers at the Sept Mental Health First Aid Training
This project is being conducted in collaboration with the
Churches of Christ, who are identifying tenants in their
two apartment buildings at Hamilton and Spring Hill.
These tenants need assistance to access services in the
community. At present three volunteers are assisting
with this project but one more volunteer is needed. If
you would like to volunteer for this project, please
contact Julie on 3367 8674 or at [email protected]
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The Grass is always greener…........By Julie Richardson
I was a rather jealous child and my jealous feelings were often directed to a girl called Rosemary.
Rosemary went to Sunday school with me. She went to a private school and her parents were
wealthy.
Rosemary and I were the same age and our birthdays were close together. We used to go to each
other’s birthday parties. Most of the girls at Rosemary’s birthday party were from her private school.
They wore fashionable clothes like kilts, coloured tights and store bought jumpers. I went to
Rosemary’s party in my nylon party dress and, as it was usually cold around our birthdays, I also wore
a hand knitted jumper.
Rosemary’s mother was obviously a keen and adventurous hostess. We did not sit down for afternoon
tea. Instead plates of dainty sandwiches cut into quarters without crusts, bite sized pastries and things
on sticks were handed around to the guests by Rosemary’s adoring relatives.
But the thing I was most envious of was an electric device Rosemary’s mother had for cooking
frankfurters. The frankfurters were jostled on this device until they were cooked. They were then
transferred to sticks and laid around a bowl of tomato sauce for distribution among the guests. To my
nine year old mind this was the height of sophistication! How I wished my mother had such a
machine.
Rosemary had it all as far as I was concerned. Once we reached our teens we started wearing
stockings. Unlike my cheap ones, Rosemary’s stockings were tightly patterned and didn’t seem to
ladder at all. Mine seemed to ladder as soon as I put them on. How I wished I could be like Rosemary
with her life of comfort, good quality and close family.
Much later, however, I learned from a mutual acquaintance that Rosemary was, in fact, envious of
me! She thought I was really clever and pretty (this was many years ago you understand!). I could
hardly believe that, surrounded by her bevy of sophisticated friends, she had noticed me much at all,
let alone compared herself unfavourably to me.
When I am envious of others now, I often think of my feelings of envy towards Rosemary. She and I
had very different lives but were either of us better off than the other? If I had accepted my life as it
was and counted my blessings I could probably have avoided much mental angst and developed more
generosity of spirit towards this girl.
Although my life is far from perfect, I have a lot to be thankful for so, when feeling that the grass is
greener on the other side of the fence, I try to remember these days that it may be better to examine
that grass. It may contain a number of prickles that I didn’t expect to find. In fact, my own patch of
grass may be quite good and perhaps I need to learn to accept it.
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COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD
WANTED!
Volunteer driver to help with
transportation at the cluster group at
Alderley every other Wednesday. Route is
picking up, taking to Grinstead Park and
dropping off.
Friends Christmas Lunch
6th December at 12 noon. Location is at the
City North Baptist Church, 52 Yiada St, Kedron.
For Group61 Friends and their carers as well as
Volunteers, family & friends.
Please RSVP by the 1st December. Email
[email protected] or phone the office on 3367
8674. Please advise if you have any special
dietary needs.
.
Volunteers Christmas
Dinner
Tuesday 2nd December, 7.00pm at Kedron
Wavell RSL, Restaurant 3. Buffet is $25
per head. Spouse / partner welcome!
Please RSVP by the 28th November. Email
[email protected] or phone the office on
3367 8674. Please advise if you have any
special dietary needs.
Volunteer Meeting “Clean up
your Act”
by Ramiah Selwood
Tue 11 November @ 6.30pm
Not to be missed....
See 'Date Claimers' on Page 1 for more details
Carindale Library,
Carindale Regional Shopping Centre,
cnr Creek & Old Cleveland Roads,
Carindale.
Please RSVP by 7th November.
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PO Box 3155 Newmarket QLD 4051
247b Simpsons Road, Bardon QLD
T: 3367 8674
E: [email protected]
W: www.group61.org
f Like us on facebook
ABN 27 088 945 247
CH 1790
Notice of Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting for the year ended July, 2014 will be held at 7pm on Monday 15 December, 2014 at
Bardon Hall, 247b Simpsons Road, Bardon.
Agenda
Opening Prayer
Welcome
Apologies
Minutes of the previous AGM
President’s Annual Report
Auditor’s Financial Report
Election of Office Bearers
Appointment of Auditor
Closing Prayer
Nomination Form
I
of
nominate
of
As President / Vice President / Secretary / Treasurer / Committee Member of Group61 (please circle)
Seconded
by
Signature of
Nominator
Signature of Seconder
of
Date
Date
Nomination accepted
by
Date
Nomination form to be sent to the Secretary, Amanda Goddard, PO Box 3155, Newmarket, 4051 by
Wednesday 10th December, 2014. Nominations will be received at the meeting if there are vacancies.
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