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Dear Valued WAYS
Supporter, View from the
Top
Welcome to the July issue of WAYS and MEANS. This is a bumper issue of
good news about recent successes and activities here at
WAYS. I am proud of the work staff, volunteers and
management committee members do and would like to take this opportunity
to say thankyou for the past year. I
would like to acknowledge in particular one of our Management
Committee members, Sergeant Les Burroughs, who was awarded an Australian
Police Medal in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours. He has made
an outstanding contribution to our organisation and we are
grateful for his dedication to our community.
The end of the financial year
is busy in any organisation and WAYS is no different. We are
finalizing accounts, reports to government and other funding bodies
about services and activities undertaken this past year.
By way of a snapshot - WAYS has engaged 342 new clients, provided
276 appointments in the youth health clinic, enabled 14 young people to
successfully gain an accredited Yr 9 education; successfully accredited
as an Registered Training Organisation, and had over 4,000
contacts with young people in our youth centre. Enjoy
the reading and once again thank you for your ongoing support of WAYS
Youth Services.
Raffle Draw -
Success for Anna
The
raffle for the Toshiba TV was drawn by Dr Karen Spielman with Francine
Esterman WAYS management committee member as scrutineer, both pictured
left on Thursday July 15th. A delighted Anna Ward
had the successful ticket. Anna came to the
Bondi Beach office to collect her prize from Russell King, CEO.
Congratulations Anna, from the team here at WAYS.
Queens Birthday
Honours for WAYS Management Committee member
Sergeant Leslie Burroughs pictured left with Russel King CEO, has
been awarded an Australian Police Medal for
distinquished service by a member of the Australian police force.
Les has been a WAYS management committee member since 2005, however he
says of his involvement with WAYS " I have been involved with WAYS
and Russell since it began. When I was in charge of the BEAT
unit here in Bondi, the Police would play basketball with the young
people of WAYS and some of us were pretty good". Les
is passionate about the importance of helping young people. He
says, "If we can save one youth by providing an outlet - our Police
organisation benefits and we have a duty of care to them and anything we
can do to prevent them from being in trouble is
necessary". Russell King says
"Les has been a great advocate for the needs of young people because he
not only cares about the community as a whole, he cares
for individuals. I have appreciated his support
and back up over the years". Congratulations to
Sergeant Burroughs from all of us here at WAYS.
Volunteering @
WAYS
Introducing Eric Alhfors
and Amber Wallace - two newish volunteers to the team@WAYS.
Eric helps in the Youth Centre and Amber helps at both the youth
centre and the Bondi Junction office. Eva one of our
dedicated team asks Amber and Eric to tell us a little bit
about themselves.
WHAT HAS BROUGHT YOU TO VOLUNTEER @ WAYS?
Amber says: I have always wanted to pass on the skills I
have learnt through life and give back to the community. I enjoy
teaching and working with the youth.
Eric says: I have been wanting to do some volunteer work
for a long time, for my community, but I was always too busy with my
business to commit to anything. I heard about WAYS through some friends
who told me I could be useful there so I took the plunge and there you
are...
WHAT DO YOU DO?
Amber says: I volunteer at other places, teaching bead making. I'm
also a single mother, a part time art student and also work casually as a
chef
Eric says: I have had an upholstery business for the last 25
years in Sydney. I employ a few people. I learnt my trade in France
working for national museums and castles around Paris for a few years
and then migrated to Australia. I surf, play guitar, boxing, sing
in the shower...
WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT VOLUNTEERING @ WAYS?
Amber says: Seeing the kids grow and blossom, the moments
when they're proud of their achievements. And then, come back the next
week to do it all over again.
Eric says: I feel I'm doing something worthwhile for somebody
else and I learn more about young people and my community, and cook with
them which I really enjoy as well as meeting some dedicated people who
work here.
On behalf of the WAYS team, welcome and thankyou for giving of your time
and creativity. If you would like to volunteer at WAYS click here to send an
enquiry.
Introducing
David Adams - Youth Work Coordinator
Welcome
David!
It is with pleasure we introduce David Adams the new Youth Work
Coordinator. David has a background in social work, group leadership and
outdoor adventure. He brings with him a lot
of enthusiasm and has many new ideas for fun activities to run in
the Youth Centre. Keep an eye on the website for
updates about activities, or stop on by to say Hi and meet David.
Retail Training
Success
75% of
students enrolled in the last Retail training programme completed.
Pictured is Linda McDonald, a WAYS Management Committee member with
proud recipient Ikai'ka Yelash - one of the successful
students who graduated with a full certificate. "This
is a very good completion rate' said Karen McLaughlan WAYS Business
Manager. "We are very proud of the results the students are
achieving."
WAYS Youth Training offers courses in Business and
Retail, where flexible learning, creative staff and innovative
teaching options are designed to maximise the chances of the young
people succeeding. Most of the young people who train at
WAYS have found sustaining themselves in mainstream learning
environments difficult. "We use music, video's and
other methods that emphasise 'doing it’ instead of just
talking about it." says trainer Lynne McGimpsey. "We also
offer extra support when needed. It’s a friendly and easy environment to
learn in and it appears its working. Some of these kids
have never done well at school, so it’s a really positive achievement.."
WAYS is currently offering the nationally accredited
Certificate II in Business with 10
enrolments. We look forward to the success stories that
will follow. To download the next training course
click here
Effective
Parenting Course - Massive Success
During the past two months Dr Terri Said and Mariel Peters ran the
ever-popular Effective Parenting Course offered every year by the WAYS
counselling team. 13 enthusiastic parents with adolescent
children consistently attended the six week course, with topics
such as adolescent development, effective communication and
conflict resolution, setting limits and boundaries, alcohol and
other drugs, sex, mental health issues and resilience.
Feedback was extremely positive with many parents confirming they had
gained new strategies and skills to build happier and more effective
relationships with their children.
Keep an eye out for the next
Effective Parenting Course scheduled to run in September 2010 (dates to
be announced). Contact Mariel or Terri on (02) 9365 2500 to get
more information or to hold a spot. Be in quick.
POEM Students
Car Wash Success
The POEM students once again organised a $10.00 carwash to raise money
for their end of term celebratory excursion to Luna Park.
The class washed fourteen cars and successfully raised $140. “I liked
washing cars. I have never done it before. It was an easy way to make
money. I want to do it again so we maybe climb the Harbour Bridge.” says
Tiana. “It was kind of cold to wash cars for a few hours but it will be
worth it when we finally go to Luna Park for the day.” says
Dominic. A special thanks to the accommodating staff at Waverley
Bowling Club who permitted the use of their premises on the day and all
those people who brought their cars along to be washed.
Post Graduate
Students help WAYS
University of Sydney post graduate students in Occupational Therapy
-Stephanie Tom, Annie Tung, Michelle Chua, Melanie Munoz,
Louise Outridge pictured left joined the WAYS team over the months
of April, May and June. Their task -to help us to explore what
kind of mentoring programme might work for the young people engaged in
our education and training programmes. They interviewed young
people, staff and other key stakeholders, explored the literature and
produced a very worthwhile report. We will be able to use the
report to help develop a funding model and it will
guide the development of a mentoring programme specific to the
needs of the young people at WAYS. We are reminded through
these enthusiastic and dedicated students that students make a
worthwhile contribution to the community sector -thankyou.
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