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NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 23
June 2019 Joining the Community
Message from the Service Manager
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking the time to read Issue No. 23 of the Lifestyle Con-
nections Newsletter. I am once again pleased to share with you that
Lifestyle Connections is flourishing under the NDIS. The Scheme is still
having it’s teething problems and can be quite frustrating at times but
we are now experiencing first hand how people that are accessing our
service are achieving great things with their NDIS Plans.
For many Service Users of Lifestyle Connections , their NDIS Plans will
be coming up for review over the coming months. If you require any
assistance with this please let us know and we will see what we can do
to assist. Shortly after getting your new plan we will get in touch with you
and your nominees/advocates to have a conversation about how you
wish to breakdown your NDIS goals into outcomes and actionable tasks
so that your Support Staff can assist you to achieve your goals and
make the most of your funding.
We are very committed to developing and delivering a service that
meets your needs. If you have any feedback that you feel may assist us
in achieving this we want to know. If you have received a hard copy of
this Newsletter a feedback form is included for you to complete if you
wish. If received via email, you can access our feedback forms here:
https://www.lifestyleconnections.com.au/resources/service-
users-families/
Hope you are all enjoying this lovely winter weather.
Leo Brunker
Service Manager
In This Issue Message from the Service Manager P.1 Message from the President P.2 Our Newest Committee Members P.2 Service Users benefiting from their NDIS Plans P. 3 What’s On in Cairns Soon P.3 Thank You P.3 History Booklet P.3 Our Fundraisers P.4
UPDATES Now, approaching the end of the first
year of NDIS in Cairns, Lifestyle Con-
nections has almost doubled in size to
ensure our viability, and has more
office staff to assist you. The names,
positions and contacts of our hard-
working office staff are on P.4.
Also the number of users on our inter-
nal Portal is growing as it’s use for
communications, news, special inter-
est groups, internal training and feed-
back is proving invaluable. It is option-
al for SU’s/families/advocates to join
by registering at https://
my.lifestyleconnections.com.au/#/
For assistance with the
Portal please contact Leo
or Fiona.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR FUNDRAISING INITIATIVES (see Page 4)
Help from you and your network of family, friends and peers would
be greatly appreciated, and remember any donation
over $2 is tax deductible
Lifestyle Connections Association Inc. NEWSLETTER Page 2
Message from the President
It seems amazing we are heading into our Participants’ Review Meetings at the time of the 12 month mark since the NDIS was rolled out in Cairns. A roller coaster of experiences—smooth times for some, not so smooth for others. I would hope for everyone an increasingly settled and consistently favourable and helpful second year is ahead.
In particular I would like to thank Leo Brunker and our hard working Team of Staff at Lifestyle Connections for their efforts to cope with such a significant increase in the number of new participants, along with all the chang-es ( and changes to the changes!) that the introduction of the NDIS has brought our way. A sterling job on their part has resulted. New systems and procedures have been overly time consuming, and the volume of work re-quired, at times, brought added stress. Our need to employ more Staff has been very evident and yet this pro-cess requires a diversion from the day to day routines and tasks which continue to increase as well.
As you will see in this Newsletter we have been fortunate to welcome to the Management Committee two new members, and I add my personal welcome and appreciation to them, in writing, for their ready willingness to give of their time in this way. Welcome Margaret and Marsha!
Yours sincerely, Wendy O’Reilly (Hon President)
Our Management Committee is now the full complement of 10 dedicated people
PRESIDENT: Wendy O’Reilly VICE PRESIDENT: Sue Barclay TREASURER: Linda Gerekink SECRETARY: Megan Lilly GENERAL MEMBERS: Bill Butler, Jenni Brittain, Nancy Johns, Gerry Rigby, Margaret Jarvis, Marsha Murray
We extended warm welcomes to Margaret Jarvis at our 2018 AGM, and to Marsha Murray in May this year.
Interested in becoming a Committee Member? Please contact the Service Manager or President.
Our Newest Committee Members—Margaret and Marsha My name is Margaret Jarvis. I am a parent of two Service Users and have been involved with Lifestyle Connections since the very beginning (1993). I was a Foster Parent for 47 years. I am excited to be back on the Management Committee. To support our recent Containers for Change fundraiser I collect at home and have placed a collection bin at a supportive friend’s café. I encourage everyone to get on board with this initiative!
I’m Marsha Murray, born in the north island of NZ. My heritage is NZ Maori. I came to Aus-
tralia in April 1989, with my 14 year old daughter and my Airedale terrier dog. We arrived
in Brisbane, didn’t like it, after 6 months we moved to Mackay. I have many work skills so I
never had a problem with getting work, however I have a degree in Social Work which is
my specialty. After a year we moved to Townsville, worked with Endeavour Foundation, 4
years, then managed emergency accommodation for abused children, 2 years. Having a
chef qualification I then decided to go into my own business, hotel kitchen development
and bought two cafes, which kept me busy. I decided to go west and see what I could expe-
rience there, started a cafe in the small town of Hughenden, very interesting people. I final-
ly moved to Darwin for five years, worked for Alzheimer Australia, as a health facilitator for
the indigenous families living in small communities in NT region. I would stay in these com-
munities with the families of elderly suffering with Alzheimer’s up to 2weeks, then go back to Darwin. Then I
came to Cairns as my granddaughter needed assistance with her 3 children. I have retired 3 times, don’t like it,
so I keep myself busy in volunteering.
Lifestyle Connections Association Inc. NEWSLETTER Page 3
This Newsletter’s FNQ Big Green Frog Thank You is to Leo and his office team who have worked so hard this
year to make our transition to the NDIS as smooth as possible.
HISTORY BOOKLET
Read about the 25 year history of your Service -Lifestyle Connections in our eFlipbook at https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/62100668/lc-history-booklet-final-all-colour Or order a hardcopy at the Office.
SERVICE USERS BENEFITING FROM THEIR NDIS PLANS
WHAT’S ON IN CAIRNS SOON
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Fri 12 — Sun 14 July: Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal 3 (see www.ciaf.com.au)
Cairns Show, Wed 17 — Fri 19 July: Showgrounds cnr Severin & Mulgrave Rd (see www.cairnsshow.com.au)
Cairns Festival, 23 Aug — 1 Sept: Lots of events (see www.cairns.qld.gov.au/festival)
Grand Parade and Fireworks, 24 Aug: The Esplanade; 5pm Parade start
Tanks Sunday Markets: last Sunday of every month Apr to Nov; 9am—2pm, The Tanks Collins St.
Carnival On Collins, Sunday 1 Sept; a Father's Day tradition in Cairns, 9am—3pm
Andrew exercising during a stop on his Savan-
nahlander trip with Marc, whilst on Long Service
leave from his regular Coles employment
Matt celebrating his birthday with Leo and fellow
students during his regular martial arts class
Lynette enjoying working hard at ZOZO Café
Lifestyle Connections Association Inc. NEWSLETTER Page 4
113—115 Aumuller St Bungalow QLD 4870
PO BOX 676 Bungalow QLD 4870
OUR FUNDRAISING
Service Manager, Leo Brunker; Email: [email protected] Lifestyle Coordinator, Katie Britt; Email: [email protected] HR Coordinator, Matt Schyff; Email: [email protected] Supports Facilitator, Fiona Angus; Email: [email protected] Rostering Facilitator, Amanda Matthews; Email: [email protected] Casual Support Coordinator, Anthony Fisher; Email: [email protected] Administrative Assistant, Bonnie Dunbar; Email: [email protected] Reception/Office Assistant, Monique Chenier; [email protected] PHONE our main line 40356771 - your call will be directed to the appropriate person.
CONTAINERS FOR CHANGE GET ON BOARD – help us raise funds, recycle & help the environment
TAKE YOUR CONTAINERS TO REFUND POINTS AND DONATE THE
REFUND TO US BY EFT USING OUR SCHEME ID C10049638
OR DROP CONTAINERS OFF IN OUR BLUE BINS IN OFFICE OUTDOOR AREA
Lifestyle Connections will receive a 10c refund for any CLEAN, EMPTY eligible containers (soft drink cans, water bottles, beer bottles, sports drink bottles -between 150mL & 3L)
Funds raised will help pay our Electricity Bills – as we
rent our office we cannot go Solar, so this Recycling
Opportunity is our environmentally friendly way to
help pay for Power! Donations over $2 are tax deductible Scheme ID cards available at Office
To date, funds (see graph) have been raised by only 5 individuals . So imagine how much we could raise if more of you get involved!
GiveNow CROWD RAISERS
Please support our two GiveNow crowd raisers. 1. The innovative ‘Enable Activity’ Fund Appeal at www.givenow.com.au/lcaiactiv to raise money to enable our Service Users to participate in activities otherwise outside their financial reach. READ about the benefits of ‘Enable Activity’ for YOU ALL on the GiveNow site. 2. Our Service Appeal to support the operations of your Service at www.givenow.com.au/lcaiserv
PLEASE SHARE these crowd raising links with your network of family, friends and peers. Donations over $2 are tax deductible and receipted by GiveNow
