Staff Matters 48

Staff Matters

April 1, 2016- Issue 48 Week 40

Raffles On Target For Easter

In this Issue Page 1 •Raffles On Target For Easter

Page 2 • Staff Profile • Meet Our New Staff Members • Meet Kirsty’s New Baby Boy

Page 3 •ADEs Egg-Travagant Easter Parties •Congratulating Staff On New Roles •Ndis Mailbox Reminder Our Afford Easter Raffle proved to be a great success as our fundraising team smashed their target of $260, 000 worth of ticket sales.

All funds raised from this raffle help go towards our new group homes that are presently being built which aim to offer our clients better opportunities to integrate in society and have more fulfilling lifestyles.

Page 4 • Mt Druitt Know How To Do It • Afford Selfies • Have A Laugh

It is a great credit to Cristina, who lead her first ever raffle as Team Leader, and the team out at the call centre who spend their day calling businesses in NSW to sell tickets in our raffle which has been running for many years.

Fun Fact

The raffles team celebrated their achievements over a wonderful lunch before acknowledging top performers with certificates and a bottle of wine and of course drawing the winner and runners up.

It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it.

If you missed out buying tickets in the Easter raffle don’t panic. Next Monday the Winter Raffle starts so get in touch with the team to buy your tickets and go into the draw to win some fabulous prizes. You can contact the team on 0247 213 638 or 1800 723 353.

T 02 8805 3700 E info@afford.com.au 12 Marieanne Place, Minchinbury 2770 afford.com.au

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April 1, 2016 - Issue 48

Staff Profile

Meet Our New Staff Members

Rhiannon O’Brien

Community, Fundraising and Events Manager Favourite Song: Yeah- Usher Favourite Movie: Dirty Dancing Favourite Hobbies: Spending time with my 5 month old son Favourite Foods: Cheeseburgers If you could be an animal what would you be: A Cat- sleep, get cuddles and eat all day- well the ones at my house do What is your dream holiday destination: Maldives If you had the power what would you change about the world: All the issues we currently have around terrorism What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you: My nan who at age 91 got my babies room and all my sons clothes washed, etc. ready before he was born If you had to teach something what would you teach: Reading people and knowing what someone is saying without them saying anyting Something no one knows about me: I’m a licensed real estate agent

We would like to give a warm welcome to the following new staff members joining our Afford team: Amy Prince- Casual Lifestyle Assistant Nelly Jones- Casual Lifestyle Assistant We are very pleased to be welcoming them to Afford and look forward to working with you both!

Meet Kirsty’s New Baby Boy It is with great excitement that we can announce the new arrival of Elliot Harold Ruecroft to the very proud parents Kirsty, staff member from our Lurnea site, and her husband Rob. Elliot arrived on Easter Sunday, 27th of March, weighing in at 5lb 9.5oz and a height of 46cm.

Both Kirsty and Elliot are doing very well and very keen to get home with Rob and start their new life together as a family.

Congratulations and best wishes goes to the beautiful new family and we look forward to meeting him soon!

Staff Matters April 1, 2016 - Issue 48

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ADEs Egg-Travagant Easter Parties

Last week Afford ADEs enjoyed their site Easter Parties. Featured are pictures from the Minchinbury factory and Ingleburn factory.

Minchinbury employees worked hard to finish their labelling work so they could enjoy a day of arts and crafts and delicious BBQ. At the Minchinbury factory Helen even got to meet the easter bunny ( or close enough ! the easter tiger) Also Ingleburn factory went all out with a delicious lunch of, kebabs, hamburgers and a sausage sizzle!

All sites are loving their new “Buzz Events” so they can spend time relaxing and building a strong team.

Congratulating Staff On New Roles

We would like to congratulate the following staff who have accepted new positions within the Afford team: Helen Berridge- Carer Support/Events Coordinator: Helen has been with Afford for over 10 years as District Manager for Windor and Mt Druitt Day Programs and was also the driver behind great Afford events including Afford’s Got Talent and Harmony Day. Rhiannon O’Brien- Community, Fundraising and Events Manager: Rhiannon has been with Afford for 8 years as the Grants and Event Manager and has been key in securing many grants to improve the quality of service we provide our clients. She is now in responsible for both the the Fundraising team and Grants and Events.

Angela Wilkinson- Marketing/Link Support Services Manager: Angela has been with Afford for 15 years as the Link Manager and has been instrumental in bringing new clients to Afford and providing great customer service. She is now Responsible for both Marketing and Link Support Services.

Well done guys and keep up the great work!

NDIS Mailbox Reminder

For any questions or queries regarding the NDIS please email NDISQuestions@afford.com.au and we will endeavour to answer them the same day.

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April 1, 2016 - Issue 48

Mt Druitt Know How To Do It On Thursday March 17th 2016, Afford Mount Druitt site hosted parents/ carers to the NDIS pre-planning workshop. The aim of this workshop was to assist families/carers prepare for the NDIS transition commencing July 1, 2016.

The workshop was a mix of presentation, question and answer sessions and networking. Chinese dinner was on offer, with drinks as well. After the formal presentation, the carers/ families were provided the platform to ask questions and it was encouraging to see a lot of carers take that opportunity to ask the questions which were most pertinent to them.

As the night wore on, it was heart-warming to see the carers/parents start to network and talk about working together and possibly forming a local parent’s support group made up of families accessing Afford Mount Druitt’s Day Program services. The event was a successful night with carers and parents still providing feedback two days after the meeting.

Future follow up meetings are currently being planned, but it is important to note that this is now possible as a result of the initial workshop meeting. For this, we are grateful to Carers NSW for providing us the grant to host such a productive night.

Thank you Carers NSW.

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In this Selfie Above: Staff member Bruce Gow on hoidays at Port Douglas with Olie, a 4.3 metre Olive Python weighing 12.8kgs!

Please send in your selfies

Have a laugh