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Connecting creativity, human dignity, leadership
SWARA Sunshine Welfare & Remedial Association
101 Park Road Woolloongabba QLD 4102
Website: www.swara.com.au Email: admin@swara.com.au
Phone: 07 3391 4119 Fax:3391 0922
April - June 2017 LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!!!
https://www.facebook.com/swara.brisbane/
FROM THE MANAGER
It is with a heavy heart that I advise that Moyia O’Brien passed away in the early hours of Thursday 4th May 2017. As she would like me to describe it, her soul is liberated. She was in the arms of her niece, Katina, when she left us all. Both her hands rested in Ranji’s, a practice they have enjoyed together for decades. Cuddled into the next life. So appropriate for she who only knew love. She journeys forward now, with a strange and beautiful flower in hand
What if you slept?
and what if, in your sleep
you dreamed?
And what if, in your dream,
you went to heaven and there plucked
a strange and beautiful flower?
And what if, when you awoke,
you had the flower in your hand?
Love and warm wishes. And thank you
TP O’Brien
Funeral for the late
Moyia O’Brien
Date: Thursday 11th May 2017 Time: 11am Church: St John Vianney Catholic Church Cnr Kooralgin and Ernest Streets, Manly Qld If you require further information please don’t hesitate to contact SWARA on 3391 4119
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Hello everyone, I’m finding it hard to believe that we are in the month of May. Where have the first five months of the year gone.
Life at SWARA has been extremely busy with a number of key projects already completed.
In February, we welcomed our external auditors from IHC for our three-yearly recertification audit. I’m pleased to advise that we were successful in maintaining our certification against the Human Services Quality framework and would like to thank the clients, families and staff who were willing to be interviewed by the auditors. Hearing first hand from clients who use our services assists the auditors in determining if we are meeting the required standards.
Now that we have completed our audit and received a copy of our audit report we can continue with our NDIS registration. The NDIS commenced in the Toowoomba region on the 1st January and will commence in the Ipswich and Scenic Rim areas from the 1st July 2017. SWARA currently has clients who live in the Ipswich area and will be ready to welcome NDIS participants from July.
If you or your family member are contacted by the National Disability Insurance Agency and would like some assistance please don’t hesitate to contact me.
An NDIS information session is being held at SWARA on Thursday 4th May. This session will provide an overview of the NDIS and discuss some key points in relation to preparation and planning.
SWARA is continuing their preparation for NDIS and the many changes that will come with this. We are working closely with Disability Services Queensland to ensure that clients who receive support through our block funding are receiving the correct number of support hours allocated to them. SWARA will be in contact with all clients/families/advocates in the near future to discuss their current funded support hours.
For many years SWARA has provided morning tea and lunch to clients, staff, visitors, and volunteers. With the increase in the cost of
grocery items and fresh fruit and vegetables the cost to SWARA is increasing significantly.
Unfortunately, SWARA will be unable to continue to fund the entire cost of morning tea and lunch and therefore would like to introduce, from the 1st July 2017 a small fee to contribute to the costs. This will allow us to improve the quality of the food provided.
• Morning tea - $2.00
• Lunch - $3.00
These prices will be reviewed in the coming months with further increases possible.
Clients are welcome to bring their own morning tea and lunch and fridges will be made available for clients to store their food.
I understand this a significant change for clients and families and seek your support in making these necessary changes.
At the beginning of the year I started having conversations with Career Keys, Wesley Mission Queensland in relation to our clients having the opportunity to complete an accredited Certificate 1 in Vocational Skills. I am pleased to advise that we had an incredible amount of interest in this program and now have three groups of clients participating in the six-month course. At the end of the course a graduation ceremony will be held for the presentation of certificates and a celebratory morning tea. Family and friends will be invited to attend.
During February, we identified the need to increase our volunteer workforce. I was overwhelmed with the response received through our listing with Volunteering Queensland. This resulted in three volunteer information sessions being held over the course of a week and the commencement of seven new volunteers and several others still waiting on approval of their yellow card positive notices.
The development and delivery of our first volunteer induction workshop occurred on the 17th February. This workshop has been developed to provide new volunteers with an overview of the history of SWARA, the human services quality framework, disability awareness, organisational information and
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policies and procedures. Volunteers are then buddied with a support worker to continue their learning and build confidence to appropriately support our clients.
In March, we hosted a group of Inclusive Education Specialist from Indonesia who were on a study tour with QUT. We started the morning with a tour of SWARA and an overview of the range of programs and activities on offer. The group spent some time chatting with staff and clients and many a story and laugh was shared. During a formal presentation light refreshments were served by the hospitality team. The morning was completed with a very moving performance from the choir with our visitors joining in to universal songs such as ‘Imagine’. A very humbling and moving experience to see how music and song can unite two very different cultures.
As you can see we have had a busy start to the year. I will be taking a couple of weeks annual leave from the 14th May. Deb Kilvington will be the acting manager during my absence. If I can be
of assistance to you in any way please don’t hesitate to contact me on 3391 4119 or email manager@swara.com.au
Best Wishes
Kerrie Grice
Manager
KEY LEARNING AREAS
SUNSHINE CAFÉ
In 2016 SWARA saw the beginning of what’s known as the Hospitality Team which was started by the lovely volunteer Maureen Davison. Towards the end of the year, the Hospitality Team was very busy with some catering orders.
Now in 2017, the Hospitality Team is looking to build on the foundation set in 2016. We have already had two more members join the crew. In one of our sessions we had clients Adrian, Jeff and Kate teach other clients how to make Hummus. In this way, everyone is learning a new skill or learning how to teach and communicate effectively. The most important life skills learned in the kitchen with the Hospitality Team is teamwork! Which all the “Chefs” are doing fantastically! We are looking forward to a fantastic 2017!
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SUNSHINE BAKERY
The Bakery team is delighted to announce that
we have reopened our popular bakery stall at
SWARA on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please come
and visit if you are passing by and our very
efficient sales team John R, John P and Jamie M
will help you to choose from the popular cakes
and biscuits.
Tour to Statpack in Rocklea
On Monday 27th March Baz drove the bakery
clients to Rocklea to a store named STATPACK to
see about new bags and containers for our
biscuits and other produce. SWARA always tries
to get containers that are environmentally
friendly. The clients included Debbie D, Ruth G,
Sally M, Anne S, and myself.
STATPAC is across the road from the Rocklea
Markets. We bought lunch at a subway store
(Anne had her own) and enjoyed it before going
back to STATPAC to see what they had. I go to the
markets each Saturday morning with my mother
and sisters.
When we went through the store, Baz showed us
numerous containers that she was interested in
buying and among these were bags with
windows.
These windows are sheet of plastic across a hole
in the bag that allows you to see what is in the
bag. Unfortunately, the window bags we were
interested in, size number 6601 were not in stock
at the time but the lady behind the counter,
Fiona, promised to get in contact with us when
they become available.
We also bought some plastic containers similar to
our present biscuit containers and some bags for
our customers at our stall.
Fiona and the other ladies there were keen to
hear about what we make at SWARA and Anne
eagerly piped up about all our different produce.
Thanks to her, Fiona has become a customer
asking for a fruit cake next time we come over.
We are comparing STATPAC with our current
supplier, hoping for a better bargain. Gaining new
customers like Fiona and her friends will also be
beneficial.
So, yes it was a good and interesting trip all
round. We dropped Anne off at the train station
before returning to SWARA.
Tim H
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COMMUNITY INCLUSION
Our Community Inclusion outings really took off last
year and in the closing months of 2016, we extended
our outings to twice a week! This year we are looking
to maintain the two outings per week. We really got
involved in some great outings last year which were
also educational or physical. We visited the science
centre, the ANZAC Experience, beach days, hiking,
bowling, and we even caught a flick towards the end
of the year. If you would like to join us on any outings
please feel free to contact us. The following dates are
scheduled for upcoming Community Inclusion outings:
Date D Location Bus Money Facilitator
3.5.17 W Mt Nebo hike Yes No Matt
5.5.17 F Victoria Barracks Museum
No No Matt/ Mary
8.5.17 M Sailing @ Manly
No $15 Matt
12.5.17 F GOMA No No Matt/ Mary
15.5.17 M City hall Clock Tower
No No Matt/ Richard
19.5.17 F Willowbank Raceway Practice Viewing
Yes $10 Matt
22.5.17 W Movie Day “A Dog’s Purpose”
No $15 Matt
26.5.17 F Lunch in the City
No Yes Matt
29.5.17 M Maroons Festival Southbank
No No Matt
31.5.17 W Ten Pin Bowling
Yes $20 Matt/ Richard
5.6.17 M Art Exhibition 266 George St – “Memes”
No No Matt
9.6.17 F 1 Million Stars Project – 22 Fulcher Rd Red Hill 10:30am
Yes No Matt
12.6.17 M New Farm Park Trip
No No Matt
14.6.17 W Brisbane City Farmer’s Market
No Maybe Matt/ Richard
19.6.17 M Ten Pin Bowling
Yes $20 Matt/ Richard
23.6.17 F AUSTRALIA ZOO
Yes $100 Everyone
CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS
Creative Arts
We have an exciting program of Art Workshops
planned for 2017, where clients will have the
opportunity to enhance their existing skills or learn
new ones. Some of the workshops we will be running
include: colour mixing, watercolours, printmaking, and
felting. Also, weather permitting, we plan to do some
‘plein air’ (outdoor) drawing and painting at the
Botanical Gardens or Southbank Parklands.
2017 Brisbane Festival Exhibition
Art from the Margins are holding their annual
exhibition in September at City Hall this year and we
have 33 enthusiastic participants so far.
This year’s theme of “Celebration” is producing lots of
vibrant and lively interpretations, which our clients
should be very proud to exhibit at the festival.
SWARA 2017 “Love Token” Art Exhibition
“Call for Artists!”
The exhibition is open to Clients, Carers, Volunteers,
Support Workers, and Health Care Professionals to
enter. If you would like to be a part of our exhibition
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and make a love token yourself, please see the entry
details at the end of this newsletter.
Community and Culture
One of this year’s new programs, Community and
Culture is now well underway. So far, we have
explored Australia, digging a little deeper into our
own culture, food, and history. We also investigated
the Polish culture. One of our clients kindly brought in
some beautiful traditional dolls and clothing for us to
look at. We are currently looking at the Solomon
Islands and are making drums in the style of the
Solomon Island artists. Our catering team have been
making tasty treats from each of the countries for us
to enjoy during presentations. We have tried a potato
dish called Pierogi and a dessert made of chocolate
and dates named Sliwkaw.
Women’s Club
Another new program for SWARA this year is our
Women’s Club and clients have already identified
several topics of interest. We begin each of our
sessions with mindfulness. Inviting professional
speakers to give talks about fall prevention, podiatry,
nutrition, diabetes, and eye care. Our ladies are also
keen to have a little pampering and want to practice
manicures on one another as well as learn how to
create new hairstyles and apply make-up for special
occasions. We will also be having the occasional
outing to local cafes for a cuppa and chat!
RECYCLING ENTERPRISE
Last year we had a record number of 2987 metres
delivered to Swara. A big thankyou goes out to
Formway meters for their contribution and even
delivering them to us. We are fortunate enough to
have raised enough money out of these meters to buy
our brand new 7’3’ slate pool table plus new
accessories to come in the next few weeks. As many
of our clients play pool, they are all excited and
looking forward to it.
HORTICULTURE
Welcome everyone to 2017 we are hoping to really
take off horticulture this year by starting a few new
projects such as learning about different plants and
what they need to really flourish. A big thank you to
Cliff Still and John Gwizadalla for mowing our lawns
twice this month as well as Adrian Lang, Wayne Bauer
and David Monghan for consistently watering our
gardens will have plenty of news to come in the
coming months so stay tuned.
LEARNING SKILLS FOR INDEPENDENCE
This year our clients are once again excited about
developing their learning skills. At present, we
are using Literacy Planet to enhance clients’
ability to improve their reading, spelling, and
comprehension skills. We are also encouraging
them to complete written tasks. Thanks to the
volunteers and student from QUT and TAFE for
their continued support in this area.
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Sandra’s area has been relocated and she is now
teaching Numeracy in the Learning Centre. The
clients enjoy working with Sandra on Thursdays
and Fridays. They are using Mathletics and
Mathseeds programs.
A big that you to Nirmala Deo, Latchmi Reddy,
Lakshmi Singh, Maya Reddy Dunn, Kala Kumar,
Mantra Dunn, Shainiel Deo for providing us a lovely
curry lunch in April. We are so lucky to have them
donating lunches for past many years.
General
NEW PICK UP ZONE
We have now moved the pick up zone to the little
gate close to the bakery to make a safe
surrounding for our clients to enter. There will be
a staff member at the gate from 2:30pm onwards
to supervise clients to get into the taxis and cars.
Once the car/taxi is stopped for pick up, the client
should enter to the left of the car.
CLIENTS ATTENDANCE
Clients are to attend on the days they have
booked in for the week. We expect that block
funded clients will not be exceeding the hours
they have funded for in a week. If you are not
sure of the hours you have funded for, please talk
to Kerrie.
ABSENCE OF CLIENTS
If a client is absent from SWARA, please email the
office – admin@swara.com.au or call on 3391 4119.
EVENTS
Call for Artists!
SWARA 2017 Exhibition
“Love Tokens”
Following the success of SWARA’s art exhibition held
during our 40th Anniversary celebration in 2015, we
have decided to host another exhibition for 2017.
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Exhibition Title: The theme of our exhibition is
“Love Tokens”.
So, what are Love Tokens and why are they
special?
Historically love tokens come in many shapes and
forms. From convict love tokens, smoothed down
pennies engraved with images and messages for a
sweetheart or family member. They were given
before transportation to foreign lands with the full
knowledge that they may never return to their
homeland again. Australia has the largest collection
of love tokens in the world. To pin cushions made by
sailors whilst away on long and often perilous
journeys, they would send them to loved ones as a
keepsake until their return. Other tokens of love
include love spoons from Wales and rings, broaches,
pins, and bracelets from the Victorian era.
The idea of a love token has universal appeal,
providing the giver a way to show their love for
someone special, as well as being remembered by
them. For the recipient of the keepsake, they are in
no doubt that they are loved and cherished.
What kind of love token would you create for your
loved one?
Who can participate in the exhibition?
The exhibition is open to all community organisations’
clients, support workers, health worker professionals
and carers (must be over 18 years old), to either
participate in SWARA’s exhibition or to hold your own
exhibition and join us on Facebook to show off your
creations.
We would love to see video footage of works to
stream on the opening night so that everyone
attending the exhibition at SWARA can see works by
other organisations.
Key Information/Dates:
• Organisations wishing to participate in SWARA’s
Love Token Exhibition should RSVP by Friday 26th
May.
• Completed Entry Forms should be returned to
SWARA by Wednesday 25th August. See entry
form attachment.
• ‘Bump In’ (Exhibition set up) Tuesday 17th and
Wednesday 18th October from 8:00am-4:00pm
each day.
• Each organisations’ representative will be
responsible for hanging participating artists’
artworks on these days.
• Hanging materials e.g. D-rings, small nails, Velcro
dots or gel dots to be provided by participating
organisation.
• Red dots for sold items to be provided by
participating organisations.
• Artwork labels will be typed up by SWARA using
the information provided on the Entry Forms.
• All artworks should arrive with the following
information on the back of each work:
o The organisation name
o The artists’ name
o The title of the artwork
o The sale price or NFS if not for sale
• ‘Bump Out’ (dismantling exhibition) Friday 27th
October from 8:00am-3:00pm.
• Works not collected by Friday 10th November will
be disposed of by SWARA.
• Sales: Organisations who choose to participate in
SWARA’s exhibition must have a representative
on-site to organise their own clients’ sales.
• Artists selling their works who do not have an
ABN are required to fill out a ‘Statement by a
Supplier’ form and provide this along with an
invoice to purchasers. This form can be printed
from the ATO website:
https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Content/
MEI/downloads/Statement%20by%20a%20suppli
er.pdf
• While every effort will be made to take care of
artworks before, during and after the exhibition,
SWARA does not accept responsibility for any
damage caused to the artworks.
• Photography and Promotion: By entering the
exhibition artists are agreeing to have their
names and photographs of themselves, and their
work appear on SWARA’s and participating
organisations’ websites, as well as on social
media e.g. Facebook.
• Participating artists guarantee that their entries
are the original artworks of the artist and as such
indemnifies SWARA and its participating
organisations in case of any breach of copyright.
Art Works:
• Should be disk shaped and no more than 12cm
in diameter. They can be made from clay, wire
and beading, textiles – handmade felt, crocheted,
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• material, knitted and embellished with sewing,
embroidery, ribbons etc.
• Number of entries: No more than 3 per artist.
Awards:
There will be four categories:
• Overall 1st, 2nd and 3rd
• 1st, 2nd and 3rd for each participating organisation
– decided by each organisation taking part.
• A Participation Award for all entrants
• Carers, Volunteers, Support Staff, and Health
Care Professionals
Awards will be presented on Opening Night
Exhibition Dates
• Opening night: Friday 20th October 2017 at
5.30pm (by invitation only).
• Exhibition open to all on:
o Monday 23rd October - 11:30am-2.30pm
o Tuesday 24th October - 11:30am-2.30pm and
4:00pm – 8:00pm
o Wednesday 25th October -11:30am-
2:30pm.
Location: SWARA, 101 Park Road, Woolloongabba,
4102
Benefits for participating clients, SWARA and
outside organisations:
• Provides opportunities for clients to expand their
social circle by meeting people from outside
organisations.
• Social Role Valorisation – client as artist, event
organiser, host.
• Social Inclusion, Community Access.
• Partnering with like-minded organisations,
locally, nationally, and internationally.
• Creates a strong social media presence on
Facebook.
• Making connections with important local
dignitaries, councillors, galleries etc.
• Potential for increased donations/philanthropy.
Contact: If you require further information about the
exhibition, please email admin@swara.com.au or call
(07) 3391 4119
UPCOMING EVENTS NDIS Forum for Families and Advocates
Thursday, 4th May 2017 5:00 – 6:00pm. Please RSVP
asap.
___________________________________________
Australia Zoo Excursion
Tuesday, 23rd June
___________________________________________
Community Inclusion
03.5.17 Mt Nebo hike
05.5.17 Victoria Barracks Museum
08.5.17 Sailing @ Manly
12.5.17 GOMA
15.5.17 City hall Clock Tower
19.5.17 Willowbank Raceway Practice Viewing
22.5.17 Movie Day “A Dog’s Purpose”
26.5.17 Lunch in the City
29.5.17 Maroons Festival Southbank
31.5.17 Ten Pin Bowling
05.6.17 Art Exhibition 266 George St – “Memes”
09.6.17 1 Million Stars Project
12.6.17 New Farm Park Trip
14.6.17 Brisbane City Farmer’s Market
19.6.17 Ten Pin Bowling
23.6.17 AUSTRALIA ZOO
___________________________________________
June break
Monday 26 - Friday 30 June SWARA will be closed
for one week returning Mon 3rd June
___________________________________________
SWARA 2017 Exhibition “Love Tokens”
Opening night: Friday 20th October 2017 at 5.30pm
(by invitation only).
Exhibition open to all on:
Monday 23rd October 11:30am-2.30pm
Tuesday 24th October 11:30am-2.30pm and 4:00 –
8:00pm and
Wednesday 25th October 11:30am- 2:30pm.
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