Staff Matters 242

Staff Matters January 31, 2020 Issue 242 Week 31

CARING ABOUT OUR STAFF WEDDING BELLS RING AT INGLEBURN ADE

We love to celebrate our staff and their achievements at Afford. We have a teams & tribes culture where you will always be welcomed by friends and supported to develop lifelong friendships.

That is how it all started for Supported Employees Leigha Wyborn and Jacob Wodin. They both work at Afford’s Ingleburn ADE where they met 18 months ago. After spending a few lunchtimes together chatting away, they realised they had a lot in common, sharing the same interests. They enjoyed spending time together.

In This Issue 1

Wedding Bells Ring at Ingleburn ADE Joke Of The Week Afford Trivia

2

Affordians Support Bushfire Appeal Staff Profile

Leigha has worked at the Ingleburn ADE for two years. She does a range of labelling and inserting jobs and enjoys her work. She is also an active member of the WHS Committee. Jacob has been with Afford for four years and he performs loading, packing table jobs and works with the pallets.

3

New Sites Opening in 2020

4

Victorian Frontline Conference Soars

Reminder

Handyman Timetable

Soon after they met, Leigha and Jacob began to see each other outside of the workplace. It didn’t take long for them to start dating and for the past year, they have been going out on weekends for a meal or to simply spend time together as a couple.

Selfies of the Week Upcoming Events Afford Trivia Answer

Leigha and Jacob have also been able to get to know each other a little more at the newly formed Afford ADE Social Club. The ADE Social Club activities are organised by ADE Sales and Operations staff so that Supported Employers can go out with their workmates in a more relaxed and casual environment.

Everyone at Afford’s Ingleburn ADE were excited to hear the relationship took a huge step when, over the Christmas and New Year holidays, Jacob had popped the big question to Leigha! He asked her to marry him and, she said YES! Jacob said that he was very nervous about asking Leigha to marry him, but finally built up the courage to pop the question! “I am very excited at the idea of having a wedding and being married”, said Leigha.

Everyone in the Afford community is so excited for the couple and we wish them the very best in their journey together.

AFFORD TRIVIA

What AFL Team did we form a partnership with in 2018?

www.afford.com.au

Staff Matters

STAFF PROFILE NAME: Jillian Sillwood POSITION: Team Leader LOCATION: Caboolture Accommodation, QLD FAVOURITE MUSIC/SONG? Tennessee Whiskey - Chris Stapleton FAVOURITE MOVIE? Chick flicks FAVOURITE HOBBIES? Gardening FAVOURITE FOODS? Pavlova IF YOU COULD BE AN ANIMAL, WHAT WOULD YOU BE? A monkey

January 31, 2020 Issue 242

AFFORDIANS SUPPORT BUSHFIRE APPEAL As we all know, Australia has been suffering from devastating fires since midSeptember, with the crisis worsening over December and January. Sadly we have lost lives, homes and half a billion animals.

Afford have launched an Afford Bushfire Appeal supporting a number of charities to help fundraise for Australia during this crisis. Staff can make a monetary donation, from your pre-tax earnings on your salary and for every dollar that employees donate, Afford will match it!

It is also important that we build employee awareness around what options we have to help our local community and those affected. One of our own Affordians lost their home to the fires, and we have had sites in NSW evacuated, with clients having to be relocated for their safety.

For all staff members that would like to make a monetary donation, from the pre-tax earnings of your salary, please follow these steps:

WHAT IS YOUR DREAM HOLIDAY DESTINATION? Italy

• Email - bushfireappeal@afford.com.au from your Afford email address

IF YOU HAD THE POWER, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT THE WORLD? More kindness

• Send the email - that’s it, you have contributed to helping your fellow Australians.

IF YOU HAD TO TEACH SOMETHING, WHAT WOULD YOU TEACH? Gardening

• The Australian Red Cross

SOMETHING NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT ME? A secret

• Symbio Wildlife

• Include the amount you wish to donate and clearly name your preferred charity

Charities to choose from: • Rural Fire Services • Koala Park – Port Macquarie In addition, to Afford matching your donation, our CEO, Steven Herald, has also confirmed that Afford, as an overall organisation, will be making a donation as well. Over and above this, sites can feel free to collect cans of food, items of clothing, and Afford will make sure that they are delivered to charities that are calling out for these items.

For anyone else who has other things that they want to donate, furnishings etc. please approach your Team Leader about this, the logistics around collecting and delivering will be handled and managed on a case by case basis on your behalf.

Affordians are known for our HUGE hearts, thank you very much for your kindness, acts of generosity and community spirit! We have so far in our first few weeks raised over $1,000 and we will follow this journey as this amount grows. Let’s dig deep and in The Afford Way, offer our support to those who need it most!

Questions, donations and enquiries can be sent to: bushfireappeal@afford.com.au

www.afford.com.au

January 31, 2020 Issue 242

Staff Matters NEW SITES OPENING IN 2020 There’s no doubt, 2020 is shaping up to be a big year for Afford! Our day programs and group homes interstate and in NSW have steadily grown and are continuing to provide our signature award-winning supports to thousands of valued clients each day. We have received strong interest in our activities and programs from new clients in all states, which means exciting new growth for us as an organisation.

With such leading services and our vision to grow and build on our interstate operations, it was clear that we needed to secure new properties in all states to allow this exciting business growth. So exciting times are ahead for Afford, with dozens of new sites set to open in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Group Homes at Afford are about so much more than bricks and mortar; it’s about supporting residents to enjoy an amazing lifestyle, the Afford Lifestyle. We will see new homes in Cranbourne, VIC, Deception Bay, QLD, Rouse Hill, NSW and Campbelltown, NSW – to name a few. It is a priority for our organisation to continue to do our bit to meet Australia’s shortage for suitable housing for people with disability and we are proud to be able to do our bit.

Afford Day Programs are also set to grow with new sites opening this year in Randwick, Parramatta, Camden, Nowra, Wollongong NSW and Cheltenham VIC. Our Day Program hubs are highly regarded in the community, providing a person-centred engaging environment, where there is an emphasis on learning practical life skills while building on clients’ confidence and social skills.

It’s all happening across the Eastern Seaboard and it’s full steam ahead at Afford as we welcome more Group Homes, Day Programs, and new clients into the Afford Community!

Reminder - AccessPay Appointments Most Affordians take advantage of this Employer of Choice benefit, we now offer opportunities to book phone appointments for any staff member that has questions regarding AccessPay benefits.

AccessPay means more money in your take home pay, meaning more disposable income! AccessPay also does car leasing, can secure better home loan rates, and offers pre-paid credit card options.

The phone service is available for the next 3 months every SECOND Friday, starting from Friday, 17th January 2020.

The dates are: • Friday, 7th February • Monday, 10th February • Friday, 14th February • Friday, 28th February ** Please ensure that if you are in QLD, you consider daylight savings time when making the booking as it is all booked in AEST time. ** If you find you cannot secure a time in February, please contact maureen.brown@afford.com.au BOOK AN APPOINTMENT - http://bit.ly/AffordAppointment

www.afford.com.au

January 31, 2020 Issue 242

Staff Matters VICTORIAN FRONTLINE CONFERENCE SOARS

The third frontline conference for our staff in Victoria was held last week at the exclusive Hotel Chadstone Melbourne MGallery by Sofitel. The conference was opened by Afford CEO, Steven Herald, with his overview of the previous 6 months and exciting vision for 2020.

The conference provided attendees with the opportunity to network, share ideas and learn about developments in the disability sector. It was also the perfect opportunity for Affordians to get prepared and motivated for the exciting growth to come for the Melbourne team in 2020.

A highlight of the day included an extremely motivating presentation from Shaun Spence, the Hawthorn Hawks Foundation Manager, who spoke about how to effectively work as a team through adversity, and come out on top. The Hawthorn Hawks are one of the most successful partnerships we currently have, since aligning in 2018. As one of the most successful and popular teams in the AFL, having won 13 premierships, the Hawks are passionate about the community and making the sport inclusive for players and fans alike. We have had amazing success with this partnership, introducing stadium sensory spaces at the home games. We look forward to launching new initiatives, with our continuing Hawks partnership, supporting our clients and people with a disability to access and enjoying sport in VIC. As with all conferences, it is also important to reinforce Afford’s high standards and procedures, with Edward Boghikian – District Manager, presenting about incident reporting and notifiable incidents. Edward was followed by Julian Vilsten – VIC Afford Psychologist, who delivered an informative presentation about Restrictive Practices.

It was a day full of learning and inspiration, and attendees took a great deal away with them to inspire them and their teams’ performances in 2020.

Handyman Timetable Our Handy Man, Tahier, will be at the following sites this week:

Meet Our Handyman Tahier

- 3rd February: Oran Park & Eagle Vale - 4th February: Lakemba & Guildford - 5th February: Woodbine & Ingleburn - 6th February: Windsor & True Blue - 7th February: Paperwork/Weekly catchup and attend to

urgent requests

SELFIES OF THE WEEK

wra staff Selfie Above: No Pawsome mpsey and De lie Ky s, member le Team Le Selfie Above - Angel co Ni t en cli th wi a Par ader, Laura Simeon and Carrara Waterford, Logan V sons, s! ile illage sm G all ro in, up Homes, Rank friend Bind with her fu i. r

UPCOMING EVENTS DATE:

EVENT:

3 February

Business Shirt Orders Close

7-13 February

Feeding Tube Week

20-21 February

Managers Conference

28 February

QLD Client Gala Ball

Afford Trivia Answer:

Hawthorn Hawks, Go Hawks!

www.afford.com.au