Awabakal Newsletter February 2018

Aged Care Services

We have had an eventful few months at Awabakal Aged Care Services. The Elders enjoyed themselves at a fantastic Christmas party at Souths and all the clients received a delicious Christmas hamper delivered to their home.

Craft groups and outings have now recommenced with scrapbooking workshops and a recent cruise around Newcastle harbour.

We would also like to welcome six new care workers from the local community to the team. Pauline Anderson, Stacey Green, Jodie Lowe, Maree Simon, Shandy Simon Donnelly and Jedda Warby have joined us to help deliver the much needed Domestic Assistance service.

This has been successful in helping many clients further improve their lives through reassessment to higher level packages and the assignment of new packages.

If you are over fifty and could benefit from domestic assistance, social support or home maintenance, today is the right day to get assessed for a package.

Expansion of Medical Services

Over the coming weeks we will be expanding our health services to include more locations and outreach sites.

Along with our primary Awabakal Medical Service in Hamilton, which will continue to operate and give people access to more specialised health care and dental services, we will have two additional full-time, dedicated sites in Cardiff and Raymond Terrace, along with four outreach sites in Toronto, Windale, Karuah and Maitland.

These new clinic and outreach locations will help us to deliver a broad range of health services and community programs to our growing Awabakal community.

Phone 4907 8555 for Medical Services.

Call My Aged Care on 1800 836 799 or contact the Awabakal Aged Care Team to assist you through the process.

Early Learning & Education

Awabakal Early Learning has opened its doors for another fantastic year of learning. 2018 brings a new program to our Portfolio with our Young Starters kicking off its inaugural year. The great news is that the program is up and running! The sad news is that it is currently held up in Government Approvals, therefore, the program is currently operating through our Wickham site.

Our children’s first week has been about familiarising themselves with their new classmates and teachers.

Lawn & Garden Maintenance

Last but not least, it has now been six months since we launched the Awabakal Lawn Maintenance team. We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for all the positive feedback received, it is much appreciated.

The Lawn Team’s hard work and commitment was also recognised with an award at the Awabakal Staff Christmas party.

Given their success, we think it is only right to offer the service to everyone in the community, so if you would like us to help you out with your lawn maintenance give us a call today on 4918 6400 to arrange an obligation free quote.

Awabakal is now a registered NDIS provider

Awabakal exists to serve the local community and is always looking at ways to improve the lives of people in the region.

We could see the need for culturally appropriate disability services, so Awabakal is now a registered NDIS provider and is committed to improving the lives of community members with a disability.

If you have an approved NDIS plan or have a disability and could benefit from assistance, we can help. Please contact Awabakal on 4918 6400 or visit www.awabakal.org

They have started a strong maths and literacy focus from day one and are already exploring the beautiful sites of Newcastle on their educational walks and discussions.

Our two preschools have opened their doors and transitions are occurring this month for all of our new children. Both centres are currently at capacity, however, spaces can open from time to time so we do strongly suggest you submit your Wait List Application (which you can get from our website) and drop it in or email it to the preschools. We are more than happy to discuss options for you and your child.

Surfest

On the 17th - 18th February Awabakal Ltd was proud to jump on board as a sponsor of the Wandiyali Indigenous Surf Classic held at Merewether beach.

The Indigenous Classic has been running for a number of years and continues to attract the best Indigenous surfers from across the state and the nation. Awabakal attended the community gathering to promote our I'm Quitting health campaign and smoke free events.

It was great to see so many people enjoying the day and a special thanks to all the people who tested took on the Awabakal mechanical Surfboard challenge.

Congratulations to Dhurrahn Douglas who won the major prize with a ride time of 37.06 seconds!

A big shout out and thanks to Wandiyali for a strong community event. See you again in 2019 for the Indigenous classic next year!

Above L-R: Rod Smith, Steve Kilroy, Shannon Pratten

Eggins, Karen Hudson, Ray Kelly.

Below: Mechanical surfboard competition winner

Dhurrahn Douglas.

Contact Details

Awabakal Ltd – Administration (02) 4918 6400 | 64 Hannell Street Wickham

Awabakal Medical Service (02) 4907 8555 or freecall 1800 292 225 Corner Denison & 38A Samdon Street Hamilton

Early Learning & Education – Wickham (02) 4918 6999 | 5 Grey Street Wickham

Early Learning & Education – Glendale (02) 4041 3700 | 509 Main Road Glendale

www.awabakal.org

Transport

At Awabakal we do our best to provide our people with the transport services that they need. Our drivers operate on a schedule, so just a friendly reminder to ensure that you are ready and waiting at the time you have booked your transport.

If for some reason you book and no longer need transportation, it is also important to make sure you cancel your transport service to ensure that our drivers and others are not kept waiting.

Our drivers will not tolerate inappropriate or abusive behaviour, so greet us with a smile and we’ll return the favour.

Playgroups

Our Playgroups have begun and are building every year.

We have many locations that we cater for so please feel free to visit any of the sites and meet with our staff.

Playgroup Locations

Monday Woodberry Public School | 9:00am – 11:00am

Tuesday Raymond Terrace – Port Stephens Family Support 9.30am – 11.30am

Fennell Bay Schools Community Centre 9.30am – 11.30am

Wednesday Gateshead – Bahtabah School | 9.00am – 11.00am

Wickham – Awabakal building – 64 Hannell St 10.30am – 1:00pm

Thursday Edgeworth Neighbourhood Centre Starts week 3 of term 2 | 9.30am – 11.30am

Friday Windale – Centre for Hope | 9.30am – 11.30am

Awabakal Transport Services

For bookings call 4907 8555

For emergency pick-ups and cancellations only, call Marook Perry 0437 294 658

Please give 24 hours’ notice for bookings and cancellations where possible

www.awabakal.org