From the President Pat Dalton QC President Knoxbrooke Board of Management

For many years Knoxbrooke has conducted a small packaging business in

premises near the Ferntree Gully railway station where employment for upwards

of 25 supported workers has been provided.

The business itself has always struggled because customers are not easy to find

and their supply of work is too often intermittent and unreliable. Further for some

time the Board has been trying to devise a financially sustainable move away

from the Ferntree Gully premises because they are too small and ill adapted for

future expansion. So it was indeed a most fortunate coincidence that at this very

time a sister organisation, Monkami Centre, was looking for an organisation to

take over its packaging business which it was running in Mount Evelyn. As it

was quickly realised that a takeover by Knoxbrooke would bring significant

advantage to both organisations agreement was reached and very soon we will

move our operation to the much bigger and better adapted facility in Mount

Evelyn which we will rent from Monkami.

We will also take over the businesses formerly run at the site as well as the

employment of Monkami’s 27 supported employees. Of course in doing so we

are undertaking greater risk but we are hopeful that the advantage we gain in

obtaining such an excellent site for our business will lead to more profitable

opportunities.

Providing suitable employment for the intellectually impaired is one of our core

objectives but under present Governmental policy we must be able to run the

business side profitably.

this issue From the President P.1

Day Program Service P.2 Knoxbrooke Industries P.5

Horticulture Group P.7

Knoxbrooke Talk

ISSUE

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Day Program Service Glen Bowen Manager Disability Support Services

The Day Program is Closed on the Following Days Monday 8 June 2015 Monday 6 July 2015 to Friday 10 July 2015 inclusive Monday 28 September 2015 to Friday 2 October 2015 inclusive

Signing in on Arrival If you are an independent travel remember to please sign in at reception each morning. If you are a family member or carer that drops off a Knoxbrooke participant in the mornings, please remember to sign in at reception each morning on behalf of that participant. This daily process assists Knoxbrooke staff to know that these participants are in attendance and also helps us in more accurate invoicing to financial administrators. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

New Buses Knoxbrooke has taken delivery of 2 new buses for use by the various community based programs. These new buses will also be used for the Knoxbrooke Transport Service and will take over the current QHL and REV bus runs.

Illness & Policy Procedure

Please note below the following requirements and responsibilities regarding illnesses at Knoxbrooke.

PURPOSE OF ILLNESS POLICY 1. To ensure that any person that Knoxbrooke supports who is

ill, or becomes ill, is able to recover in their home

2. To ensure that any person that Knoxbrooke supports who is

significantly injured or is significantly ill, is supported to

access the appropriate medical treatment

3. To ensure that the likelihood of cross infection from person

to person is minimised.

ILLNESS POLICY It is recognised that a person that Knoxbrooke supports state of health and level of personal

comfort are important factors in his/her ability to participate in and benefit from programs

offered at the Knoxbrooke Day Program.

Knoxbrooke staff are neither qualified to provide nursing care nor able to provide ongoing individual attention for a person who is seriously ill or injured. They will administer basic first aid where appropriate, until medical aid or other assistance arrives or is sought out. If Knoxbrooke staff are required to accompany a person that Knoxbrooke supports to a hospital in its own transport or via an ambulance, Knoxbrooke requires that once the primary carer is notified, they make reasonable attempts to relieve Knoxbrooke staff as soon as practicable. If a person that Knoxbrooke supports is ill, they should remain at home until they are well

enough to attend the Knoxbrooke Day Program service.

Exclusion times as detailed in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) ‘The Blue Book’ are to be adhered to in the case of all infectious diseases or conditions. ILLNESS PROCEDURE Participants should not attend Knoxbrooke Day Programs if they: show signs of high temperature; have symptoms of diarrhoea or vomiting; have undiagnosed rashes or spots, open weeping cold sores or uncovered open

wounds, etc.; have infectious diseases, including ‘flu’ and colds; are generally unwell to the point where their physical & emotional condition is

impaired. If a person arrives at the Knoxbrooke Day Program and is obviously unwell, staff are to inform the Manager Disability Support Services or Assistant Program Manager who will decide whether or not the person needs to be sent home or if the person requires direct medical attention. If signs of illness occur after a person arrives and his/her condition develops to a point where he/she requires constant attention or is unable to participate in programs, the person will be taken out of programs until the primary carer can be notified. If the primary carer cannot be contacted, emergency contacts will be notified. In the interim period, a designated staff member will care for the person. The person's health, need for comfort and an opportunity to recover are the foremost consideration concerning any decisions made.

A WINNER On the weekend of the 11th and 12th of April, the State Summer

Games for Special Olympics were held in Bendigo. Marissa competed

in Bocce and won: Bronze for Singles, Bronze for Pairs and Bronze

for Teams. Congratulations and well done Marissa!

A Special Guest

During March the Performing Arts Group were surprised to have a visit from Lisa Edwards, a solo and session singer/musician (you will probably know her well from any of the John Farnham concerts). Lisa joined in the rehearsal of the various acts that the group were practicing as well as enjoying a presentation of some past performances .

Knoxbrooke Industries

Peter Berthelsen

General Manager

Clare Nixon & Shaun Tuckerman

Managers

We would like to congratulate three of our workers who competed in the Special Olympics

State Summer competition in Ballarat.

Bradley in Bocce – 3rd place ‘Singles’, 3rd place ‘Doubles’ and 4th place ‘Group’.

Brant in Bocce – 1st place ‘Singles’ and 2nd place ‘Doubles’

Tara in Swimming – 1st place 200m freestyle, 1st place 200m breast stroke, 2nd place relay

and fourth 100m freestyle.

Knoxbrooke Industries and easternOUTSOURCE-exciting News

Knoxbrooke has taken over easternOUTSOURCE, a division of Monkami Centres Inc.

(Monkami). easternOUTSOURCE has operated for some years now without generating

sufficient funds to sustain its operation. During this time, Monkami's Committee of

Management (the Committee) chose to financially support easternOUTSOURCE however,

without evidence of any change to its future levels of sustainability without the financial

support from Monkami Centre, the Committee decided late last year that it was time to close

the operation.

Given Monkami's long history of commitment to supporting the lives of people with a

disability, CEO Jillian Christie, supported by easternOUTSOURCE manager Susan

Humphries, set out to find a solution to the issue of the continued employment of its

employees.

Although a range of options were considered, early discussions with Knoxbrooke Industries,

General Manager Peter Berthelsen discovered synergies between the two organisations,

particularly with the work undertaken by each ADE in its gardening and production activities.

After further discussions revealed similar challenges with operating a sustainable business

with a limited number of employees, the idea to merge the two ADE's was explored.

Following approval by the Department of Social Services, we are now very pleased to

announce that the easternOUTSOURCE business will be taken over by Knoxbrooke

Industries, a division of Knoxcare Limited, effective from 30th March 2015.

Knoxbrooke Industries will continue the easternOUTSOURCE operations, and over the

coming months will move its workforce and business to the new factory at 21 Clancy Rd. Mt.

Evelyn. The two businesses will fully integrate over the coming year and will create a new

identity.

The Knoxbrooke Registered Training Organisation (RTO) which provides accredited training

to develop employment skills will provide a fabulous opportunity for everyone in the new

business to access training to further develop skills and broaden opportunities for varying

employment experiences.

A very big welcome to all ex-employees of Monkami who have now joined the large

workforce at Knoxcare, we all look forward to getting to know each other and the

opportunities that come with a larger workforce.

Horticulture Group Peter Berthelsen

General Manager

The Home of Garden Lovers Garden Lovers sales have still been above expectations for the last 2 months. Mild weather

has encouraged customers to still keep gardening. Autumn is almost over and the weather

has continued to be kind. Plants get off to a great start if planted during Autumn. The warm

soils encourage good root growth and with the rain it assists in getting the roots deep into

the subsoil where moisture is often retained throughout the driest periods.

The Mothers Day sale will once again be on this year so put aside a day over the weekend

Friday 8th – Sunday 10th May. Camellias, ferns, natives, palms, daphne, tube stock,

hedging plants, colour pots, seedlings all at 50% off marked price. Don’t forget to use

your membership card which entitles you to a 10% discount on purchases except on the

sale weekend when you will purchase at 50% off the marked price of plants.

Horticulture Services Horticulture services is also impacted by the take over of easternOUTSOURCE with two

mowing and garden crews in the business. These crews will now be managed from the York

Rd. site led by Ian the Horticultural contracts manager. The crews will be integrated into the

current Horticultural Services and a rationalisation of rounds will need to take place to gain

some efficiency in operations. The crews had their first combined meeting at Yarra View a

week ago to get to know each other and start to put together a plan to improve the

operations into the future.

Yarra View Nursery February and March have not been as busy as the preceding months however sales year to

date are still ahead of budget.

It has been a time of catching up with maintenance and also potting up plants for the coming

Spring season which promises to be as good as last year.

Mitre 10 has just had an Autumn catalogue sale for which Yarra View supplied a large

volume of plants. Masters have opened their first store in a number of months at Rouse Hill,

a suburb of Sydney. There will be two new store openings in the month of May in Sydney

and Brisbane which we will supply with stock.

Registered Training Organisation.

Certificate 1V in Disability Studies is being offered to staff within the organisation to increase skills, this commenced on the 23rd of April.

Classes in certificate 1 Work Education have commenced AT Yarra View last week in conjunction with Bendigo Access Employment Services RTO. These classes will assist current employees and students to gain further work skills.

Promotion of services We attended a number of events in March and there was a significant amount of positive feedback about students wanting to come to the nursery in 2016. Yarra Ranges SDS (formerly Mt Evelyn SDS) – four expressed interest Disability Transitions Expo – Scope Lilydale – two expressed interest

Yarra Ranges Council ‘Women on Farms’ conference – Thursday 26 March 7pm (we provided plants to decorate the entrance and stage. The council will publish some promotion material of our three programs for the participants.

Knoxbrooke Inc. Performing Arts

Present

‘Love Will Find A Way’

At

Burrinja Theatre

Glenfern Road. Upwey.

On

Thursday October 22nd, 2015

6.45pm

Please mark this date in your diaries - tickets on sale from mid July