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. 2 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] 3 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. 4 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. 5 6 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. 7
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