Respect and recognition ceremony

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www.firstnationstelegraph.com

Respect and Recognition Ceremony by Kerry Klimm 27 December 2013

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Respect and Recognition Ceremony was recently held at the Cairns Wellbeing Centre – Pat Gosper Place ahead of its official opening early next year. The Red Cross facility will provide quality, affordable accommodation for people from remote and regional areas accessing medical treatment in Cairns. Michael White, Regional Manager for Far North Queensland says it was important to have the ceremony before officially opening the doors to guests in February. “The centre will provide a healing, safe and culturally appropriate environment for people. We also expect that a lot of the guests will come from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the region. “The Respect and Recognition Ceremony which included smoking through the building was setting the scene for a calm, healing and inclusive place for everyone who comes here.” The Cairns Wellbeing Centre aims to support people in rural and remote locations to access health services in urban centres to help improve their quality of life. Red Cross has been providing accommodation services on the Lake Street site for over 50 years and the new facility will provide a holistic wellbeing service model to assist patients with their journey to recovery. This building is named after Patricia (Pat) Gosper OAM, an extraordinary woman who has given much of her life to

Pat Gosper at the Respect and Recognition ceremony. Image supplied

Australian Red Cross in Far North Queensland. Pat has been with Red Cross for over 60 years and still continues to volunteer her services at the age of

92. Pat says Red Cross is like a second family and she’s honoured to have the building named after her.

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