Staff matters June30, 2017 - Issue 109 Week 51
Club Afford Take on Science, Sun & Sand
In This Issue 1 Club Afford Take on
Science, Sun & Sand
2 Staff Profile Prestons Lifestyle Centre Sneak Peak New Head Office Prime Purchase!
3 Oran Park Family Tree Trip to Warragamba Dam “Water for Life” Exhibition
4 News from the NDS - It’s
time for action campaign! Selfie Of the Week
Every month, Club Afford welcomes new members who are excited to get involved in the various active and educational outings and experiences on offer. This month, Club Afford members from Macarthur visited the Science Centre and Planetarium in Wollongong. Participants had an amazing time watching bubble shows, building puzzles, learning about the human body and trying out the various interactive exhibits for themselves which demonstrate science, engineering and technology in action. There were loads of exhibits to try - everything from exhibits on dinosaurs, fossils, illusions, to exhibits demonstrating motors and electricity! After the science shows, participants took advantage of the beautiful sunny day and walked to the beach to enjoy lunch together at the nearby park. It was a wonderful outing that combined a great learning experience with sun, sand and a delicious lunch with friends.
Giving you the freedom to soar www.afford.com.au
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Reminder Don’t forget to send your/clients’ achievements, good news stories and photos to CELEBRATE@afford.com.au
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June 30, 2017 - Issue 109
Staff Profile
Prestons Lifestyle Centre - Sneak Peak The renovations of Afford’s Prestons site are coming along well. This was once the office area for Afford Employment at Prestons, but now amazing plans are in place to transform the area into a new and modern Lifestyle Centre for clients.
Bruce Gow
Lifestyle Assistant Jamisontown/Respite Favourite Song: Beautiful Day (U2) Favourite Movie: Tora Tora Tora & Forest Gump. Favourite Hobbies: Snorkeling, Surfing, Bushwalking. Favourite Foods: Mediterranean, Italian. If you could be an animal what would you be: An Olive Python What is your dream holiday destination: Greece/Italy If you had the power what would you change about the world: Poverty/Stability What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you: Marrying my wife Theresa. If you had to teach something what would you teach: Snorkling Something no one knows about me: Brain Trauma (Coward Punch 2004).
Giving you the freedom to soar
The vision for the site is to promote employment outcomes, with high functioning Lifestyle Centre clients able to seamlessly explore their employment potential downstairs and get used to the workplace environments. The site is a unique offering to the area, as it will specialised in both Client Services and employment supports. We will share more updates as the construction continues.
New Head Office Prime Purchase! It’s exciting times for Afford, with so many site transformations and purchases in the works. The most major of Afford’s recent purchases is our new Head Office! It will be very familiar to all and is actually 3 Marieanne Place – the building across the road from our current Head Office at 12 Marieanne Place. Both our Head Office and Minchinbury ADE will move to the new site in the coming months. Especially excited are our supported employees from Minchinbury ADE, who look forward to planning for the move, the change of scenery and the extra lunch areas they will have at the site. The site is around 3 times the size of our current Minchinbury site, and will bring a lot of opportunities for Minchinbury ADE and new training rooms. The new site will nicely sustain Afford’s rapid growth.
www.afford.com.au
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June 30, 2017 - Issue 109
Oran Park Family Tree
For the past three months, all clients from the Afford Oran Park Lifestyle Centre have been working together to talk about and construct an Afford Family Tree of belonging. All Oran Park clients have contributed to the Family Tree. Initially they thought about how they could put their names or photos on the wall next to the ‘big Afford signs’, because they feel that Afford is their big family. Clients and staff had a meeting to brainstorm ideas. Everyone put forward different ideas and researched on the internet for suitable family tree themes. Staff found a family sticker that could be used to add all the client’s photos and names. Everyone then decided that the Oran Park Family Tree would be the site’s Art and Craft project where all clients would be supported by the amazing art and craft staff to cut the paper and add to the project. Clients hung their own photos and are so proud of their progress and the end results. They are happy to share their achievements and show others how strong the sense of family really is at Afford Oran Park Lifestyle Centre. The tree celebrates the cultural diversity of the site, and shows that all the different branches that represent our client come together to make part of the whole tree.
Trip to Warragamba Dam “Water for Life” Exhibition
Clients of the Afford Belmore Lifestyle Centre have been taking part in an Intensive Skills program which has been covering topics around water conservation and water supply. To add to what they have been learning in theory, Belmore Lifestyle Centre staff decided that a hands-on outing would enhance the learning experience. So on 13 June, clients had the exciting opportunity to attend the Warragamba Dam “Water for Life” Exhibition to learn about water conservation and where our water is stored before it comes out of our taps. The exhibition covers the story of Sydney’s dams and catchments, and the history and future of Sydney’s water supply. Everyone had a wonderful day and learned so many new and interesting facts about water and how we can conserve and protect this important resource.
Giving you the freedom to soar
www.afford.com.au
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June 30, 2017 - Issue 109
P EM
News From the NDS - It’s Time for Action Campaign!
OF
LOYER
CHOICE
On Wednesday, NDS was part of the Every Australian Counts delegation which met with Senate Crossbenchers and all major parties at Parliament House to tell them that full funding of the NDIS is crucial and must not become the next political football. Also on Wednesday, the Productivity Commission released its Position Paper on NDIS Costs. Pleasingly, it reinforces many points raised by NDS. In response to poor quality NDIS plans, for example, it proposes “leveraging expertise from within the industry, and getting specialist disability organisations or service providers more involved in the planning process.” As we stressed in our recent policy paper ‘How to get the NDIS on track’, the NDIS remains the right reform for Australia, but its implementation is rougher and riskier than it needs to be. The NDS policy paper is undoubtedly having influence, but we need to amplify its messages in order to get the improvements that are urgently required. NDS has heard the concerns and frustrations of NDS members across the country. This month, the NDS Board approved a campaign to get the NDIS on track. The primary objectives are to: • Introduce better accountability and consultation in the implementation of the NDIS; • Resolve current issues with the scheme’s roll out, including timeframes, planning, pricing and IT dysfunction. The campaign will be constructive. We want to work with the Agency and governments to help the NDIS deliver on its great promise to people with disability. To deliver on this promise, the implementation of the NDIS must improve.
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Sef the o
In the Selfie Above: Team Leader Guildford LC: Mirela Radman – Senior Lifestyle Assistant Guildford LC: Don Bosco Fredy.
Please send in your selfies
Giving you the freedom to soar www.afford.com.au
Have a laugh