Members of the Holland Park Men’s Club were treated to a visit from a vintage 1903 Oldsmobile recently. The gasoline powered Curved Dash Oldsmobile is credited with being the first mass-produced automobile.

Owner John Day gave a presentation about the car and allowed the men to get hands- on look at the car.

Una Sandeman, Lifestyle Lead at Metro South, said it was a wonderful day for the Men’s Club, giving the men the chance to reminisce about cars, motoring and mechanics.

This week is International Men’s Health Week (10 - 16 June 2013).  It is important for men to discuss their health issues and concerns and understand the small things they can do to improve their health and general wellbeing. The men’s clubs provide the opportunity for men to share stories and experiences and discuss issues that affect them.

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What would you do if you thought a friend of yours was being physically abused by their spouse?  What about if that person was being verbally of financially abused? Would you interfere?  Would you be game to raise the topic?  Or is it none of your business? 

Brisbane ABC Local Radio recently discussed the topic with a panel of commentators, including Paul Monsour who is a counsellor with the Anglicare SQ Counselling and Education team.  A podcast of the panel discussion is available at: http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2013/05/taboo-tuesday-domestic-violence.html

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On Monday 27 May, the first day of Reconciliation Week, Anglicare Southern Queensland with students from Queensland University of Technology will take to the Queen St Mall to highlight the importance of a referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution.

The journey to recognition is moving forward. In February this year, the Australian Government House of Representatives passed legislation recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first inhabitants of Australia. On Sunday 26 May, Recognise (recognise.org.au) will launch the Journey to Recognition, an epic relay across the country.  There is a groundswell of support that believes now is the time for full constitutional recognition through a referendum and time for all Australians to join the conversation.

It’s an issue supported by Anglicare Southern Queensland. Acting Executive Director, Karen Crouch, says that for full constitutional change to occur, all Australians need to be part of the conversation. The event at lunchtime on Monday aims to engage Brisbane workers and shoppers to join the conversation.

Anglicare and students from across disciplines at QUT have partnered to bring the event to the Queen St Mall.  Supporting the event is the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane, Reconciliation Queensland, World Vision and other supporters.

“We have a line up of great speakers, performers, music and information, and we’re looking forward to a real celebration of constitutional reform and what it will mean for all Australians”, Ms Crouch said.

Anglicare, together with the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane, is advocating for change to our constitution as something for all Australians.

“Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our constitution isn’t just an ‘indigenous issue’. At its core, the referendum will be about creating unity, not division. It’s an opportunity for all Australians to talk together, to reflect on our journey so far, and to shape a future that brings us together as a nation, not drive us apart,” Ms Crouch said.

The students of QUT bring a fresh dimension to Anglicare’s social justice work, increasing the reach of social justice campaigning to the next generation.

“Anglicare and the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane benefit from the enthusiasm and new perspectives that students bring to our projects, and they’ve helped us to extend the reach of our advocacy further into the community,” Ms Crouch said.

Anglicare is proud to have a strong tradition of championing social justice advocacy. The Social Justice Research Unit works with the diocese and Anglicare to campaign for social justice through research, advocacy and intervention to benefit members of our community, especially those who are disadvantaged.

Join Anglicare and QUT on Monday 27 May 12 – 2 pm in the Queen St Mall and take part in the conversation about recognition and reconciliation of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

For more information on how Anglicare is advocating social justice please visit anglicaresq.org.au.

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Anglicare Southern Queensland will recognise the importance of palliative care and the tireless work of palliative carers and professionals with a thanksgiving ceremony at St John’s Cathedral at 10 am on Friday 24 May.

Palliative care is the specialist care provided for all people living with, and dying from a terminal condition and for whom the primary goal is quality of life.

Anglicare focuses on a holistic approach to palliative care to enable clients with life limiting illness to live well at the end of life and provide support required to stay at home as long as possible.

This National Palliative Care Week (19 – 24 May) Anglicare has joined with Palliative Care Queensland and Karuna to host the National Palliative Care Week service at St John’s Cathedral, Ann Street Brisbane to honour the wonderful work provided by Queensland’s palliative care professionals. The Honourable Fiona Simpson, Speaker of the Queensland Parliament, will be taking part in the service.

This year, the theme of National Palliative Care Week is ‘Palliative Care, Everyone’s Business’.  Anglicare Palliative Practice Lead, Kerri-Anne Dooley, said that palliative care is something everyone will deal with at some stage during our lives.

“Palliative care is an issue that will affect all of us at some point in our lives, whether as a patient, carer, family member, neighbour or friend,” Ms Dooley said.

“Care given to palliative care patients varies, though the prime focus is making the patient as comfortable as possible, and giving them quality of life.”

“As part of our holistic approach, we work with a range of health care providers, including GPs, to provide physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions to make sure they are as comfortable as possible” she said.

Palliative Care Queensland CEO, John-Paul Kristensen, said that as our growing population ages, the number of people requiring palliative care will grow considerably.

“Each year 25,000 people die from anticipated causes, such as serious or chronic illness, most of who require palliative care. This number is going to dramatically rise over the coming decades” said Mr Kristensen.

Mr Kristensen welcomes the final report of the Queensland Parliament’s Health and Community Services Committees Inquiry into palliative care and community care services in Queensland.

“We look forward to working with the State Government and all Health and Hospital Service Boards in the future to assist in implementing all 63 recommendations, including the important recommendation to develop a state-wide strategy for palliative care service delivery,” he said.

The Palliative Care Thanksgiving Service will take place at 10 am Friday 24 May at St John’s Cathedral, 373 Ann Street, Brisbane. For enquiries please phone 3835 2222.

If you would like more information about Anglicare’s End of Life Care, please go to anglicaresq.org.au or phone 1300 785 853.

For more information on Palliative Care Queensland go to the Palliative Care Queensland website.

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The nights have cooled, the blankets are coming out, and the urgency for homeless services in our own backyard is growing. This winter, help homeless women break the cycle of homelessness by donating to the Anglicare Southern Queensland Winter Appeal.

With winter around the corner, demand for Anglicare’s homelessness services will escalate, with more and more women and children turning to Anglicare in desperation.

Chairman, Community Services Commission, Rob Law, said that Anglicare is deeply committed to providing services that create a more just and compassionate society. Every donation made to the Winter Appeal will support Anglicare’s work in achieving this.

“Women come to us in desperation for a multitude of reasons. There are many pathways to homelessness, be it a diagnosis of mental illness, a history of domestic abuse, health issues that have led to unemployment, sudden financial crisis, or family breakdown. We don’t want to be turning these women away.”

“For homeless women we can help, we are able to provide the support they need to get their lives back on track and move forward with strength” Mr Law said.

One of these women who have broken the cycle of homelessness thanks to Anglicare is Julie*. Julie came to Anglicare having been homeless on and off for more than 30 years, stemming from a childhood of abuse that continued into adult relationships, coupled with the impacts of serious chronic and mental illnesses.

Julie found sanctuary at the Anglican Women’s Hostel, where she was given the support she needed to find the strength and courage to turn her life around. Julie is now living independently in her own home.

Mr Law said by donating to the Winter Appeal, Anglicare can continue to help more women like Julie, who feel helpless and struggle to find the support and shelter they need, particularly during winter. 

“We are currently forced to turn away 150 women every month – that’s five women every night of the year. Donations received through the Winter Appeal will go towards providing services for Queensland’s homeless  women so they don’t face this winter on the street, and are given the chance to break the cycle of homelessness” he said.

On any given night in Australia, one in 200 people are homeless – that’s 105,237 people. While more than 40 per cent of homeless people in Queensland are women, in Brisbane there are 10 times more beds for homeless men than women. That’s why Anglicare urgently needs your help to fill this gap by donating to the Winter Appeal.

 To make a tax deductible donation to Anglicare’s Winter Appeal, please visit anglicaresq.org.au or call 1300 244 683. The power of your generosity can have an enormous impact on the lives of homeless women this winter.

For more information please visit the Winter Appeal page.

 *name has been changed to protect client’s privacy

The post Help break the cycle of homelessness for women this winter appeared first on Anglicare Southern Queensland.

(Published in Caboolture News 15 May 2013)

Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek paid a visit to Caboolture Neighbourhood Centre on Tuesday to highlight the free health screening clinics provided at the centre.

The health checks, offered regularly to the community, aim to prevent stroke, hearth disease and other serious ailments by detecting them before it’s too late.

The neighbourhood centre has teamed with Anglicare Southern Queensland and Metro North Medicare Local to offer free screening.

Ms Plibersek said simple checks could make a huge difference in people’s lives, and create a healthier health system.

“It means people can get healthy and stay out of hospital,” she said.

Centre manager, Malcolm Thomson, said Ms Plibersek’s visit was significant.

Labor candidate for Longman, Michael Caisley, underwent a check on the day.

Medicare Local deputy CEO Jeff Cheverton said the partnership used the Stroke Foundation’s Know Your Numbers test, which lets people know if they have health issues that they should see a GP about.

“Many people with health issues they haven’t told the doctor about but have been worried about can come to the neighbourhood centre, where they feel comfortable and talk about their health issue and identify whether it is something they should take action on,” he said.

To find out about upcoming free health screening checks at Caboolture Neighbourhood Centre, call 5428 1404.

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It seems the concerns of the poorest and most disadvantaged in the community are just not important in the upcoming election, Anglicare Australia Executive Director, Kasy Chambers said today.

“While it was bitterly disappointing there was no increase in the Newstart Allowance in this year’s Budget, we did welcome the lift in the tax free threshold to $100 per fortnight, which is indexed for the first time,” Ms Chambers said.

“Last year, similarly, we welcomed the supplementary allowance because it was a de facto acknowledgment that Newstart is simply inadequate. That is why the unanimous support yesterday for Adam Bandt’s motion in the House of Representatives that the rate of Newstart is too low was so very welcome.

“However, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s budget-in-reply last night dealt a blow to people on low incomes, cementing the fact that their needs don’t appear to count in in this year’s electoral contest.

“According to Mr Abbotts’ speech, a Coalition government would cut the twice a year supplementary allowance to people on benefits and the Low Income Superannuation Contribution, as well as delay for two years the compulsory increase in super contributions.

“These are all measures that will impact on the most disadvantaged people in our society – those completely out of work as well as those with insecure jobs.

“It is unfortunate they have been framed as funding tax cuts that will benefit those better off. It simply encourages all of us who are better off to believe that our interests are opposed to those who are doing it toughest.

“Anglicare Australia welcomes the commitment to revisit the Henry Tax review, but reminds the Coalition that a key feature of that paper was a permanent increase in Newstart and Youth Allowances to more realistic levels.”

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This Families Week, 15-21 May, 48 year old single mother Mary* will be celebrating the new found strength and resilience of her family with Anglicare Southern Queensland (ASQ).

Through its Family Intervention Service in Morayfield, Logan and Roma, ASQ works with families where children are at risk of either being removed from the family home or reunified following being placed in foster care.

 Families are referred to ASQ by the Queensland Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services.

In Brisbane’s north, ASQ is working with approximately 20 families to stem the trend in Queensland of children being moved into out-of-home care.

 Nationally, this trend has seen the number of children in out-of-home care increase by 5 per cent from 35,895 in 2010 to 37,648 in 2011, resulting in an increase of 33 per cent since 2007. While in Queensland the number of children placed in out-of-home in 2011 care rose to 7,602.

Acting Manager for ASQ’s Strengthening Families Service in the north Brisbane region, Stacey Lynch, said children are removed for a variety of reasons, including being exposed to abuse, neglect and domestic violence.

She said it is important that children at-risk are identified and that families are given the support and strategies to change behaviours to reduce the need to place children in out-of-home and foster care.

“We do this by working with parents, understanding their circumstances and the dynamics of the family. We try to build on their goals and enable them to plan, learn life skills such as parenting, budgeting and household management as well as providing links with other support services” she said.

Mary, a single mother to a teenage daughter, nine year old son and four year old child, had her son, John*, removed from her care and placed in out-of-home care before Christmas. Mary has been working with the Family Intervention Service to work through the struggles her and her family face, and work towards John being reunified with the family.

Ms Lynch said that through the Strengthening Families Service, Mary worked with a Family Intervention Services officer and undertook a home therapeutic approach and was given improved access to a psychologist. She found better ways to engage with her kids, deal with stress, and increase her emotional health to reconnect with her family.

“Mary needs to take credit for lifting herself, because change is attitude and is not something prescribed or externally delivered” she said.

John is on the road to being reunified with his family, and should be back with his mum Mary after the July school holidays.

Mary’s story is one of many that ASQ deals with daily. This Families Week (15-21 May), ASQ wants all families to remember that being together can be joyful, and to embrace the fun times.

A barbecue will be hosted by ASQ in Caboolture for families currently taking part in the Strengthening Families Service during Families Week. It will be an opportunity for families taking part in the program to get to know each other and share their experiences, challenges and successes.

*names have been changed to protect client’s privacy

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More men encouraged to take up volunteering – Anglicare Southern Queensland

Volunteering may be on the rise, but Anglicare Southern Queensland (ASQ) says the service is in need of a man’s touch.

The Anglican not-for-profit organisation, which provides caring and supportive services to the south-east Queensland community, says volunteer numbers have climbed in recent years but women volunteers still outnumbered men.

“At Anglicare Southern Queensland 69 per cent of our volunteers are female and 31 per cent male,” ASQ Manager Volunteer Services Libby Scheinpflug said.

“Most of our male volunteers are aged 65 and over and volunteer for gardener and handyman-type jobs or to be drivers on social outings.

“They do a marvellous job and we’d love to have some more men, particularly younger men, doing other kind of roles.

“There’s absolutely nothing stopping a man coming in and being an activities assistant at one of our residential aged care facilities. We also have a lot of elderly men living at home who are being supported by Anglicare, and it would be wonderful to have some younger men volunteer to be social companions for them.”

This week is National Volunteer Week, which recognises the contribution of over 6 million volunteers who offer their time and dedication to the communities we live in.

Ms Scheinpflug said volunteer numbers at ASQ had risen this year to 498 from 314 last year.

She said men could help in a number of ways including assisting with outings and art classes at aged care residential facilities, and offering social companionship for elderly people still living in their home, such as taking them out for a coffee.

There are also opportunities to volunteer at Anglicare services which assist young mums, refugees, the homeless and those with mental health issues.

“People volunteer for a wide range of reasons; to develop skills, gain experience, realise a passion, make a contribution, gain a sense of belonging and meaning or do something worthwhile in the community,” Ms Scheinpflug said.

“We believe men of all ages have a lot to offer the world of volunteering.”

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International Nurses Day

On International Nurses Day we are encouraged to remember and be thankful for the good work done by the many people engaged in the nursing profession. These caring individuals undertake work that is sometimes beyond the call of duty and often unrecognised by those they care for and the community at large.

They go home at the end of long shifts and often have to care for loved ones. Their life and their world is dedicated to the care of others. Without these dedicated nursing professionals, organisations such as Anglicare Southern Queensland, hospitals and numerous care organisations would not be able to provide valuable services to the community.

Please join me in prayer for nurses and for all those who care for others who can not care for themselves. Take a moment to be thankful for these special souls who are there for us when we need them.

Yours in Christ

The Most Reverend Phillip Aspinall

Archbishop of Brisbane

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