Staff matters September 8, 2017 - Issue 119 Week 9
Afford Supporting Faith’s Fundraiser
In This Issue 1 Afford Supporting Faith’s Fundraiser
2 Staff Profile Austin Getting into the Swing of Things Prestons ADE Metallic Makeover
3 Chris’ Journey – I’m an Afford Celebrity
Afford’s Top Tips – Accessibility For Google Chrome Afford enjoys aligning with people, trades and businesses that share the same values and promote the mission of our organisation. So when we had the opportunity to offer support for a very worthy cause, we jumped at the chance.
4 Aloha to Our Annual
Customer Service Awards Winners! Selfie Of the Week
Glenn Will Do It has been working with Afford as a contractor for the past 9 years. Glenn and his wife, Amanda, dedicate much of their lives to supporting charities and promoting the good work of charities across the community.
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They have fostered children for 19 years and 10 years ago they adopted Faith, who was diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) at birth. Inspired by the work her parents do to help out charities, Faith has become a passionate fundraiser. She is holding her second fundraiser this year with 50% of funds raised going towards FASD research and 50% donated to the heart ward at Westmead Children’s Hospital. At just 10 years old, Faith has organised both fundraisers all on her own. Last year, she raised $1,000 for the Nepean Hospital neonatal ward and this year she hopes to raise as much as possible for the Children’s Hospital and for FASD awareness. Faith’s Fundraiser for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is this Saturday, 9th September, 10am - 5pm at Luddenham Showground. For more information call: 0412 744 536. Afford is so pleased to be able to support such a worthy cause and recognise the selfless people in our community who share our mission of making a difference to the lives of others. We wish Faith every success in her fundraising!
Let your abilities soar www.afford.com.au
For all payroll enquiries
send to payroll@afford.com.au
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September 8, 2017 - Issue 119
Staff Profile
Austin Getting into the Swing of Things Belmore Lifestyle Centre welcomed Austin in January 2016 and worked closely with him to address behavioural concerns and develop a personalised plan that helped him build his skills.
During his time with Afford, Austin has transitioned safely and been supported by Afford staff to become more involved in his local community.
Barry Pearson
Lifestyle Assistant Accommodation Cherrywood Favourite Song: Fallen - Jessica Mauboy Favourite Movie: The Help Favourite Hobbies: Outdoor activities, walking, arts and crafts. Favourite Foods: McDonald’s If you could be an animal what would you be: A hawk What is your dream holiday destination: Scotland or the South Pacific, any of the Islands. If you had the power what would you change about the world: Poverty, abuse and mental health What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you: Being a support when feeling down and out. If you had to teach something what would you teach: Child Care, Parenting or Cooking Support Teacher for special needs and bring them happiness. Something no one knows about me: I’m scared of dying.
let your abilities soar
During his first trip into the community with Afford, Austin seemed very excited and happy to be spending a day outdoors in the park. Belmore Lifestyle Assistants are constantly looking for ways to work with clients to meet their individual needs and bring them happiness – both at the Lifestyle Centres and during community access. Our staff are champions for our clients and for all that Afford stands for – we’re proud to have such professional, dedicated and joyful staff members among our Afford community!
Prestons ADE Metallic Makeover Prestons ADE is having a make-over! As part of the reimagining of Afford Employment, our Prestons ADE is transforming their site to include a slick, industrial look and design. The new metallic finish on the hallways is a great addition to the site and makes it look amazing! We will keep you updated with all the new site developments and are very excited to see the finished product when the transformation is complete!
www.afford.com.au
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September 8, 2017 - Issue 119
Chris’ Journey – I’m an Afford Celebrity Friendly and full of energy, Chris welcomes everyone who visits the Minchinbury ADE with a big hello and beaming smile. Chris joined the Afford Minchinbury ADE five years ago to find work that was just right for him; work that suited his interests and made him get excited about going to work. At Minchinbury, Chris is definitely a team player who brightens everyone’s day with his positivity and friendliness. “I love coming to work, because we get to have fun. All the staff are very friendly and I have made lots of friends. The best thing is we get to attend parties and events like the Funathon and Ball,” said Chris. Through working with Afford Chris has been able to complete accredited training courses and take part in the Learners Club program. By taking part in these courses Chris has learnt new skills and gained greater confidence in his work abilities. “I like being able to try different jobs and learn how to use computers. It’s not boring like other jobs. Coming to work every day is great!” Chris is working towards his goal of learning new and more challenging tasks, and he also hopes to one day assist in the office with administration tasks. A highlight for Chris this year was being interviewed for an Afford Radio Advertisement. He was thrilled to hear himself on the radio and makes sure everyone knows that he is an Afford Celebrity. “I’m an Afford celebrity now I’m on the radio!”
Afford’s Top Tips - Accessibility For Google Chrome At all Lifestyle Centres, clients have opportunities to take part in programs that develop their communication skills and ability to confidently recognise numbers, letters and learn to write.
Technology plays a major role in supporting clients to learn these skills and Chrome web browser has a variety of web extensions that provide tools to help all learners of all ability levels. •
Text to Speech Extensions offer users the option to have web pages read aloud to them and remove distracting elements from the site (e.g. Read and Writer for Google Chrome and Announcify).
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Readability Extensions help to make the website easier to read by adjusting font size, colours and removing ads (e.g. Mercury Reader, OpeDyslexic, and Colour Enhancer.
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Reading Comprehension Extensions support users to understand words or summarise an article (e.g. Google Dictionary, and SMMRY).
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Focus Extensions help users stay focused on what they are reading by blocking distracting websites (e.g. Simple Blocker, uBlock Origin, and Move It).
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To navigating websites without using a mouse, extensions such as Click-free Browsing, and Caret Browsing can be very useful.
For more tips or information on the extensions mentioned, visit http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/10/special-needs-extensions. html?m=1
let your abilities soar
rome h C E OGL 10 GO ELP TO H TIPS H S WIT T N E STUD TY ABILI S I D A
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Google Chrome web browser allows users to install a wide variety of web extensions that provide tools that can help all learners, regardless of ability level.
1. Read & Write - Is a text to speech extension 2. SpeakIt - Is a text to speech extension 3. Announcify - Is a text to speech extension 4. Mercury Reader - Is a readability extension 5. MagicScroll Web Reader - Is a readability extension 6. OpenDyslexic - Is a readability extension Technology can be a 7. High Contrast - Is a readability extension powerful tool to 8. Color Contrast - Is a readability extension assist students with a disability or any sort of 9. Click-free Browsing - Is a navigation extension learning challenge. 10. Vimium - Is a navigation extension
For More Helpful tips Visit: www.afford.com.au
www.afford.com.au
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September 8, 2017 - Issue 119
Aloha to Our Annual Customer Service Awards Winners! Afford is committed to nurturing and recognising the excellent customer service delivered by our amazing staff. We are proud to be an Employer of Choice that offers opportunities for staff to develop their skills, learn on the job and be part of a supportive environment that fosters camaraderie and teamwork.
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Afford staff are known to go above and beyond to provide excellent customer service for our clients. We recognise many of these wonderful employees throughout the year, but now it is time to announce the 2016 / 2017 Annual Customer Service Award winners! Being nominated and winning the monthly awards is a fantastic achievement in itself, with strong competition each month due to our organisation’s focus on exceptional customer service levels. The next level to this is to be recognised across the business as an ANNUAL winner, a decision made by the Executive Management Team. It goes without saying that the winners have gone above and beyond the exceptional standard we have within Afford, and are very deserving of their individual awards. The ANNUAL winners for 2016 / 2017 Customer Service Awards are: • 1st PLACE – ANTHONY FITZGERALD (Campbelltown & Lurnea Lifestyle Centre) - $4,000 trip to Hawaii or alternative destination of your choice to the same value • 2nd PLACE – ANASTASIA ARTHANDI (Team Leader, Kings Park) - $2,500 trip to the Gold Coast or alternative destination of your choice to the same value • 3rd PLACE – TONI HOOPER (Raffles Call Centre) - $1,000 for a 5 star weekend getaway on Sydney or alternative to the same value Congratulations to all the winners and indeed everyone who was nominated and won throughout the year – it’s a fantastic achievement and you all contribute to making Afford the leading disability service provider in Sydney!
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In the Selfie Above: Staff Member, Don Van Nguyen, showcasing his favourite jersey for National Jersey Day.
Please send in your selfies
let your abilities soar www.afford.com.au
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