Address: 100 Queen Street, Bendigo VIC 3550

Phone:(03)54412666 email: admin@amicus.org.au web: www.amicus.org

March 2015

Hi Everyone! It is hard to believe that some of us will be enjoying the first leave break of the year from next week as many people in HACC and Adult Services will be having a break over Easter and the following week. For those in Out Of School and Vacation Care though it will be a very busy time with lots of activities and excursions planned with the Bendigo Regional YMCA during the school holidays.

We underwent our audit against the DHHS on 5 and 6 March and while we have not yet received our audit report we received preliminary feedback from the Assessor conducting the maintenance assessment. His feedback was fantastic and acknowledged all of the hard work we have put in in the past 12 months with implementation of GEMBA and MERP, our policy reviews and internal audits, archiving projects.

I would like to thank our Quality Committee, all staff, the COM, participants and families who have been involved in this work and the audit itself to bring about such a great result. The assessor was glowing in terms of the focus of our work in the active participation of people in their community which he identifies as one of our organisational strengths.

Since the audit has finished I have spent a lot of time preparing for the next stages of our Cecil St Redevelopment. I have been in contact with agents regarding a clearing sale which we hope to hold mid May.

This has also involved obtaining building permits and demolition consent from COGB for the relocation of portables and shedding from the site. We hope to have the clearing sale and sale of all buildings finalised over the next few months so the site can be cleared and then we can move on to the next stage of identifying potential models and development partners. While it might take some time from then for housing options to be developed, we are extremely excited at the opportunity to start addressing one of the most significant concerns for most participants and families who choose our support—availability of accessible and affordable accommodation.

We have been making some great progress on our IPad fundraiser. In addition to what has been raised by AFS we have had a private donation and a donation from the Rotary Club of Bendigo Strathdale. We expect to be purchasing our fir round of tablets next week and trialling on our return from Easter leave. This technology will make a big difference for staff working in the community and their access to timely information.

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook if you have a facebook account—it is a great way to keep up to date with what is happening at Amicus in the Bendigo Community and with the roll out of the NDIS! Have a safe and Happy Easter Holiday.

Cheers! Ann-Maree

From the EO

Ann-Maree Davis

Inside this issue

From the EO............................. 1 Key Dates ................................ 1

Amicus News and Events ........ 2 Coordinators Reports ............. 3 Volunteering .......................... 4 BBQ with Collingwood............ 4 HACC News ............................ 5 Ageing Well Project ................ 6 More HACC News ................... 7 Community Inclusion Report .. 8

Amicus News and Events

We will be using our facebook page to inform you of upcoming changes to the NDIS and oth-er important information and to tell you about

Local Community Events.

Have you Liked our Amicus Facebook page yet?

Baby Stella & Uncle Gary

Castlemaine Fitness Centre 23A Lyttleton St, Castlemaine

http://castlemainefitness.com.au/

Phone : 5472 3695

Easter is almost upon us, so it is a timely to remind everyone that Amicus will be closed from Good Friday 3rd April through to Friday 10th April. Adult support services will resume on Monday 13th April.

Please make contact with Amicus if you were planning to receive some individualised supports over the Easter break. A number of individuals are looking forward to their ar-ranged Easter Holiday supports to enable them to partici-pate in a range of holiday activities.

We are very proud of the new opportunities that some people have undertaken this month, with one person com-mencing weekly work at Hardcopy Entertainment, another commencing administration duties with Planning and De-velopment Victoria, and a third person about to commence work at Rodelisa Nursery. Amicus has also supported an individual to become a social member of the North Bendigo Bowling club and now regularly attends the club inde-pendently.

Bit by Bit Amicus strive to continue to source opportunities

for real inclusion and participation for individuals seeking to

undertake valued roles.

Photo: We would like to thank Harriet for

providing a caricature of Shayne. The resem-

blance is remarkable!

Coordinators Reports

Hello All, As we are all looking forward to Easter and our Adult Services holiday break, our Vacation Care Program is again running in partnership with the YMCA. As with the January Vacation Care Period, we have a record num-ber of participants who have enrolled in the program. Amicus will provide support to children at Mundy St, Eaglehawk and Kangaroo Flat. We look forward to hearing about the fantastic activities they participate in!

Amicus will again be providing Day and Overnight Respite to a number of children through our Home and Community Care Program. Brittany and Tara are looking forward to their stay at the Park Lane Tourist Park for 2 nights.

The Planned Activity for Teens Groups have had a successful term with a range of fun activities in each. Term 2 calendars will be sent home soon. In Term 2, we will be welcoming a new participant to each of the groups. As part of our reviewing of services delivered to participants, we have recently been reviewing how our Planned Activity Groups from the Supported Residential Services.

In the coming months we will be arranging times to meet with the SRS proprietors to discuss changes to funding to Residents and Planned Activities into the NDIS future. I will be in contact with the proprietors shortly. I hope all have a happy and safe Easter and Annual Leave break. Look forward to Greet things in Term 2!

Cheers Caralyn Caralyn Collins Service Coordinator

Shayne Scott Disability Service

Disability Report

Coordinators Reports

HACC Report

Children’s Services – Vacation Care and Outside School Hours

Lake Weeroona Rowing Club Gym

During the previous month, Dylan has been contributing to the community

and becoming a valued member to 2 community organisations by volunteer-

ing in an activity he really loves – vacuuming.

Volunteering

Depending on your footy team preferences, Tuesday was either a

fantastic or a terrible day for Bendigo. Collingwood were in town and

doing the rounds for the community. Pat and Jarrod, two of the Col-

lingwood young guns, visited the Eaglehawk Community House

where they were warmly met by many eager fans. Among those lin-

ing up to shake hands and get an autograph were Aaran Baddack,

Leon Wilcox, Raelene Wilson, Kathleen Lyons, Sally Lanchester and

Charmaine Scowne. Sally put some tough questions to the boys

about their pre-season performance with plenty of sound advice for

improvement. Charmaine made a lovely speech to Jude and Joan,

thanking them for their hard work in the kitchen and at the BBQ.

Go the Pies!!

Providence Crt

BBQ at Eaglehawk Community House with the Collingwood Players

Participants in the SRS HACC program have continued to have a choice of a range of activities this term. We have been on some bus trips, done lots of art and craft and jigsaws, played lots of games, been out for coffee and explored some family trees. One of the highlights has been reuniting two old friends now living in Kyneton Lodge and Karinya

(Lancefield) and seeing others making new friends in the SRSs. Next week we will be celebrating the birth-

days of two of our Homebush participants.

The Homebush residents would like to say a big thankyou to Haven for our new games and art supplies.

HACC News

Koalas made by Homebush residents as part of our Australia day craft. The Homebush residents would like to say

a big thankyou to Haven for our new games

and art supplies.

Participants from Kyneton Lodge enjoy help-

ing cook the BBQ lunch. Here are Donald,

Leah, Alan, Peter Mc and Peter H.

Gay and Maree enjoy coffee and a cake at

the Eaglehawk bakery.

Homebush residents went for a trip around

Central Victoria to see the entrants in the

Hay bale competition.

This very hungry caterpillar was just outside

Bridgewater.

Elaine Crowle HACC Support Worker

Big Plan facilitator training “a planning style giving time and space to consider your future with the

support of family and friends” Heather Simmons

Staff from Amicus, The Christie Centre in Mildura, the Ageing Carers Initiative, Bendigo Health Carer Sup-port Services and the Bendigo Volunteer Resource Centre took part in the Big Plan training in the second week of February. The purpose was to learn about Big Plan and how to facilitate it. Provided by Heather Simmons, developer of the Big Plan method, the training was inspiring, thought-provoking and energising. At least that’s how I experienced it! The Big Plan process, when put into practice, creates an environment where individuals, their families and supporters (including interested professionals) can imagine and plan for a future where they are fully in-cluded in the lives of their communities. There is one question at the centre of the process:

“What would it take for this man or woman to have an interesting and fulfilling life where they can get to know people who would become their friends and are able to make their contribution to their local community?”

On the first day, Heather shared the following poem:

If you want to work with me,

You have to listen to me

But you can’t just listen with your ears because it will go to your head too fast

If you listen slowly, with your whole body,

Some of what I say may enter your heart …. Christine Meyer

Throughout the three days we learned and practiced the process of facilitating, and how to guide people through a series of exercises and experiences. How Big Plan seems to differ from other planning methodol-ogies is that it:

is a large group process (based on work by Connie Lyle O’Brien and Beth Mount)

involves friends, families, other significant people and community members

has 2 facilitators leading and a facilitator supporting each family

involves families working with the individual then feeding back to the large group

uses a microphone, so that the voice of the person planning is amplified, and they take ‘centre stage’

includes an introductory session, then five subsequent sessions, spread over 10 weeks

Next steps Now to put it all into practice! The Ageing Well Project will collaborate with The Ageing Carers Initiative and the Christie Centre in Mildura to organise Big Plan sessions for older people with a disability and their families. We hope that these sessions will also involve older people from the community as volunteer as-sistants and peer supports. To talk further about the project, or express your interest in Big Plan, please contact Kir Larwill at Amicus on 54412666 or klarwill@amicus.org.au.

Kir Larwill Ageing Well Project

Ageing Well Project

More HACC News

A group of Princes Park Lodge residents were able to view the magnificent dis-

play of art quilts at the Marlborough Art Gallery on Sunday 22nd.

Joyce even went back for another look on our second trip.

Well worth a visit for anyone going to Marlborough. Unfortunately we aren't

able to take photos.

Robert had a great day

A group of residents from Princes Park Lodge with the Collingwood football players

Glenda Duffy HACC Support Worker

Eaglehawk Community House lunch was a great place for some of the Princes Park Lodge residents to

catch up with family and friends.

March already! I love this time of year in Bendigo. Beautiful warm days and cooler nights. So much eas-ier to be out and about in the community and get a decent night’s sleep under the doonah! Plenty of action on the Community Inclusion front. Here are a few things we’ve been up to this month.

Inclusive Communities Network meetings. Hosted by the COGB Community Inclusion team, this is a new initiative encouraging inter-agency net-working and peer support. It’s for anyone working in the sector of disability support who have roles that focus on community development and inclusive practice. We meet roughly every 6 to 8 weeks and share ideas, questions and feedback around program developments, practice models and opportunities for shared resources and project collaboration. At our last meeting we discussed a range of issues including the following: Inclusive sports; Employment & volunteer pathways; Time share vehicle initiatives and Ap-proaches to accessing project funding. The stand out conversation for me though was a great discussion on Business Accessibility and the shared vision for developing a region wide initiative to introduce acces-sibility ratings for voluntarily participating businesses. A great way for businesses to become aware of, take action on and be rewarded for making their businesses more accessible to people with disabilities. It’s an ambitious idea so may take a while to implement but watch this space for more news.

Bowling and laughing. As some of you may know, a few Amicus groups have recently made friends with the North Bendigo Bowls Club. We’ve been made very welcome to take our groups to bowl at the club. Good onya North Bendigo. Thanks in particular to Russel Finch, the club president. What a fantastic opportunity and what you might also like to know is that anyone is welcome to join up as a social member. At $55 a year its pretty good value. One person who loves his bowls is Gary Thompson. Gary makes his own way to the club on Friday eve-

nings. He walks the kilometre from home as a warm-up to the main event - a friendly chat with the club

locals, a cold one at the bar, and a few bowls up and down the green. As the Community inclusion Facili-

tator, I’ve been joining Gary for a few bowls at the club, just whilst he gets settled. He’s already got ma-

tes there and he’s also much better than I am on the green. When I asked him why he

likes it he said this,

“The bowling is great fun and the people are very kind. We have a good concentration!“

The hall mark of a true champion.

News from the Community Inclusion Facilitator

Peter Fountain Community Inclusion Facilitator

Good onya Gary. Well done for having a go and joining in.