Staff matters December 22, 2017 - Issue 134 Week 24
Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year! As 2017 draws to a close I would like to thank all of you for your incredible efforts in 2017, and wish you are your loved ones a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 2017, has no doubt been the most challenging in the history of Afford as our sector goes through the largest changes to social services in a generation. We have all been challenged to try to understand the NDIS and then support our clients and families through the planning process. As we did this the goalposts were often moved by the NDIA meaning there have been times of confusion and delays. We have done our best to smooth the bumps as much as possible. As we embarked on plans we have all found our jobs changed by providing different services, particularly 1 to 1, and much more admin. We now generate 3,000 invoices a week in Client Services which means Team Leaders roles have been changed completely, and District Managers have had to adapt to a new set of focuses. Under the NDIS, Accommodation is the most lucrative so we are expanding in this area as quickly as we can to support the other services until we hopefully see some changes in the pricing. Our factories have continued to struggle financially, but we remain totally committed to all of the services we provide. DES and Raffles have been unaffected by the changes and have helped support us with stellar results. New departments have emerged including Allied Health and Support Coordination, and they have grown very rapidly. In spite of the enormous financial impact of the NDIS, we have expanded on our Employer of Choice initiatives. We continue to pay higher than Sector average wages, provide a vast amount of training, have plenty of great events/parties and many, many other staff benefits. 2018 will be as hard as 2017 so I hope everyone can get a break over Christmas, and then we can come back and hit it hard! The challenges next year will be around plan reviews, pricing changes, rule changes and so on, and all companies in the sector are dealing with the same challenges. I thank you again for being the best team in the sector, and hope you agree that in the Disability sector, Afford is the best place to be! Steven Herald, CEO
Let your abilities soar www.afford.com.au
In This Issue 1 Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year!
2 Staff Profile Afford Get Their Groove On Centre Stage George Awarded for Winning Efforts
3 Raffles Draw A Christmas Winner!
Jolly Christmas Celebrations!
4 Marrickville Factory and TTW Band Together for Healthy BBQ Selfie Of the Week Have a Laugh
Reminder Don’t forget to send your/clients’ achievements, good news stories and photos to CELEBRATE@afford.com.au
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December 22, 2017 - Issue 134
Staff Profile
Prince Aggrey Lifestyle Assistant Sunshine & Cherrywood (Accom) Favourite Song: Christian songs Favourite Movie: More into books. Favourite Hobbies: Swimming, singing and playing tennis. Favourite Foods: Rice If you could be an animal what would you be: None What is your dream holiday destination: Carribean If you had the power what would you change about the world: No war, world peace. What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you: My wife giving me my adorable children. If you had to teach something what would you teach: Teach about our Lord Jesus Christ. Something no one knows about me: I have a fear of failure.
let your abilities soar
Afford Get Their Groove On Centre Stage Afford recently partnered with Burwood City Council for the GroovAbility Festival at Burwood Park celebrating International Day of People with Disability. The festival featured fun-filled entertainment with films, a free BBQ lunch, photo booth, airbrush tattoos, face paint, hands on experience with Australian wildlife and of course the main headline, of groovy dance performances from our Belmore, Ashfield, Green Valley, Chipping Norton, Oran Park and Lurnea Lifestyle Centres. The fabulous dance moves were practiced each week by Jeanette Briggs from Jeanette Briggs Dance Academy at various Afford Lifestyle Centres. All clients who attended had a great time celebrating with everyone while participating in the festivities, making plenty great memories to share with their families and friends. Thank you to staff member, Nancy Elnajar, for partnering with Burwood City Council to provide such a memorable day for everyone who attended.
George Awarded for Winning Efforts At Afford, we love to hear about the many client success stories that happen every day, every week and every year, within the Afford community. We would like to congratulate George for being awarded the title of ‘Client of the Year’ for Chipping Norton Lifestyle Centre! George’s mum tells us that after his win was announced he was so proud and ‘bragged about it to everyone when he got home’. George has achieved many goals this year with staff seeing great improvements in his participation in all programs and social interaction with his peers. All the staff at Chipping Norton are so proud of George and cannot wait to see what the New Year will bring for him and his further achievements!
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Staff matters
December 22, 2017 - Issue 134
Raffles Draw A Christmas Winner! It was an amazing effort for the Cherrywood Raffles Team with six super sellers reaching their target of $310,000 in 47 days – reaching target with a cool six days to spare. In the final days, the team secured an additional $27,970 making the final Christmas Raffle figure $337,970.
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The raffle was drawn on 19 December 2017 and winners included: 1st No 42588 Mr Vernon Bell of Inverell Choice of – Hyundai i30 or Travel or $20,000 cash Seller : CLB 2nd No 28009 Mr Tony Eid of Kyeemagah $2500 Myer Voucher Seller : CSW 3rd No 48690 Mrs Patricia Appleby of Seaforth $1500 Westfield Voucher Seller : CCA Bonus Draw Mr Lloyd Plant of Upper Mount Gravatt $1000 Coles Myer Voucher Seller : CSW The Afford Raffles Team do an exceptional job in the call centre to secure ticket sales to raise funds so that Afford can invest into new services for our clients. Congratulations to all the lucky winners and big thanks to the tremendous efforts of the Raffles Team!
Jolly Christmas Celebrations! Everyone at the Mt Lifestyle Centre were blessed with the BIGGEST and most incredible Christmas Party thanks to the extremely generous donation by the Hiew family. Sabrina Hiew and her wonderful parents were so generous that they paid for the entire party which was held at Rooty Hill RSL. This enabled our Clients, Families, Carers and Staff to enjoy every little minute partying together and celebrating an amazing year. We enjoyed a delicious 2 course lunch, had a visit from Santa who handed out presents to our excited clients. The rest of the afternoon was spent dancing up a storm on the dance floor to the music provided by the DJ!
let your abilities soar
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December 22, 2017 - Issue 134
Marrickville Factory and TTW Band Together for Healthy BBQ Afford‘s Marrickville Australian Disability Enterprise (ADE) recently received a grant from the Sydney Motorway Corporation’s Community Grant Scheme (CGS) to support the site’s Healthy Living project. The project is designed to educate clients about sustainability and healthy lifestyles, with growing vegetables, recycling, respawning and healthy cooking main areas of focus for the project this year. After a big year of education, change and success, the clients at Marrickville Factory’s and the TTW Marrickville students decided to come together and celebrate with an end of year BBQ and put all that they had learnt into practice. Having both the TTW trainees and supported employees together presented a wonderful opportunity for everyone to bond, as they worked together moving tables, preparing the outside area, and helping on the BBQ. TTW trainees were able to develop their life skills by preparing a nice healthy salad for the event and helping to set up for the festivities. Delicious sausages were cooked on the BBQ for all to enjoy along with some refreshing cold drinks. Celebrations were made even better with a beautiful sunny day and a festive atmosphere to go with it. One of our fantastic parents was kind enough to donate some delicious desserts for the day, which proved to be a favourite for everyone who attended. Many wonderful photos were taken along with a beautiful group photo of every ADE supported employee and every TTW trainee singing out ‘Merry Christmas’ for the whole of Marrickville to hear!!! We look forward to having many more joint events and projects between TTW and ADE supported employees in the coming year.
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In the Selfie Above: Historic pic of three Afford Chairmans, as we reminisce with Malcolm Borland, welcome Ross Fowler and farewell Neville Barnier.
let your abilities soar www.afford.com.au
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