Connecting creativity, human dignity, leadership

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SWARA Connecting.... Sunshine Welfare & Remedial Association

101 Park Road Woolloongabba QLD 4102

Website: www.swara.com.au Email: admin@swara.com.au

Phone: 07 3391 4119 Fax:3391 0922

Our Values: Love, Truth, Right Action, Peace, Non-violence

May 2015

FROM OUR FOUNDER MOYIA O’BRIEN

We welcome you all to join us for our celebrations of the 40th year of SWARA in

Brisbane serving our local community. We have loved everyone involved over all

of those years and look forward to welcoming you all back again at SWARA

during our Open Week November 23-27.

Our famous SWARA plays, our SWARA Songbirds Choir, our poets, musicians

and artists will warm your heart, inspire you to make an impact on the world

and to make a difference, the way all of our clients do.

I invite you to join me at SWARA and to bring along all past clients, volunteers

and staff that you are able to contact. We will share wonderful stories, memories and lots of love together.

With love always, Moyia

SWARA 40TH CELEBRATIONS LAUNCHED

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SWARA 40TH YEAR CELEBRATIONS launched with

a brainstorming of ideas about what and how we

will celebrate. Surrounded by lots of love our

current Pink Twins Moyia O’Brien and Councillor

Helen Abrahams shared some great ideas to put

SWARA on the map and connect with our

amazing community particularly in the

Woolloongabba area. It looks like the walking

groups is about to stride around our local streets

seeing where we can contribute and thank our

local community for the support we always have

received in beautiful Brisbane.

Since we have moved from College St, we have

been busy preparing to reconnect with our

community and our staff are keen to provide far

more community access.

SWARA PROGRAMS

HEALTHY DOMESTIC LIFE SKILLS

Sunshine Café produces sumptuous, healthy

feasts, like this one to farewell staff member

Adam Brooks who is now working on some new

decade goals.

LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE SKILLS

Congratulations Joshua Nash who was awarded a

Reading Skills commitment award for his

commitment to his own learning with the best

attendance at lessons. Well done our magnificent

Volunteers who run Reading Skills daily from

9.30-12.30.

Basketball keeps us fit and warm on these

beautiful May June mornings and skills are

developing well!

HORTICULTURE

Daily watering, pruning, refreshing the gardens

keeps us all active and aware of Nature our best

teacher.

CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS

Thank you Ted Lucas as you spend your last week

with us until you return from the USA. You have

inspired our artists to bring out their magical

internal visual skills and inspired us to keep the

SWARA story alive on our walls in preparation for

our November celebrations. We welcome Jenny

Ip who will guide the Art project through its next

phase.

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Well done clients, the love in your brushwork

lingers on our driveway walls and your inspiration

becomes indelible for our memories.

Jeff Blunt is creating a dove sculpture for the

Peace Garden each Friday. It will adorn our walls

and raise our spirits too.

BAKERY SKILLS

BAKERY CLUB goes on outing to see Moyia

O’Brien:

We all went onto the lovely new home where

Moyia now lives. Anne, Lisa, Ruth, Sally, David

and Tim all signing in as visitors in a place

called Arcare at Eight mile Plains.

It was a great day for everyone in the Bakery

Club to have some one-on-one time with

Moyia even though we were running a little bit

behind schedule and we hope to go and visit

Moyia again soon. Written by Seb Thomson.

RECYCLING

Our clients are ready once again with full

containers for the United Metals truck to be

picked up. Great work everyone, our outcome

this month is to buy new tools and safety

equipment to gain full potential through the

many stages of the recycling process. Let’s break

our record!

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SWARA PROGRAM AND MEAL TIMES 2015

8:00 - 9:00 Horticulture Garden Club

9:00 - 9:15 Communication welcome -all to attend promptly

9:15 - 10:30 Session 1

10:30 - 11:00 Morning tea and clean-up

11:00 - 12.30 Session 2

12:30 – 1:15 Lunch and clean-up

1:15 – 2:30 Session 3

2:30 Sign off/ home time

MAY BIRTHDAYS

1st Michael Harman

3rd Barry Davey

10th Clare Curry

13th Glen Lucas & Wendy Robb

16th Boll Henderson

17th Stephen Doig

20th Medina Milecevic

22nd John Gwizdalla

29th Michelle Giufridda

UPCOMING EVENTS

Save these dates:

25th June – SWARA invites all family, careers,

advocates and volunteers to assist clients in

‘Understanding client plans for our NDIS

interviews’. Lunch will be provided. Could all

reading and other volunteers help us on this day

please? You will help individual Needs Surveys

and plans to be written.

17th September – National Disability Week

conversation with an NDIA speaker helping us to

know how to write your plans to realise your full

potential and to get maximum individual funding

in 2016.

29th October – NDIA clients plans presentation

and NDIA review of plans

Kind regards,

SWARA Board and Staff

Ranji Goundar (Chair), Susan Carlton (Secretary),

Kiel Harvey (Treasurer), Andrew Karydas, Faye

Carver, Sonu Kumar Board members.

Bronwyn Gowing (exec manager), Deb Kilvington

(senior support worker, Baz Glasson, Lois Vider,

Richard Manning, Buddhi Kudaligama, Sarah

Aitken

Our Management Board are meeting weekly

currently to ensure that they guide SWARA

through the important changes needed to guide

you, our clients, families, carers and friends

through the changes brought about by the NDIS

Act.

Your client funding from government is important

as are your own goals and pathways to achieve

those goals.

With your plan that staff are assisting clients to

put together by December 2015, the NDIA will

fund your needs that are ‘necessary and

reasonable’.