Chairman - Graham Barron

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1 Toowoomba Hospice August 2016 Contents Page 1 The Chairman Page 2 Manager (Promotions and Fundraising) Page 3 Clinical Nurse Page 4 Volunteer Coordinator and Pastoral Care Coordinator Insert Activities and People This time of year is exceptionally busy for our staff, and I would like to thank them all for taking the time and energy to write their articles, provide the pictures and help to distribute this newsletter. It is very important that our supporters, friends and Association members have a good notion of the huge workload our staff have and the breadth of help given by our volunteers! We try to keep you all up to date! So THANK YOU TO ALL OUR CONTRIBUTORS! Keep your articles coming! Editor (also known as the Wicked Witch of West Toowoomba!) Contributors: Graham Barron OAM Chairman Eugenie Corbett, Clinical Nurse Sharene Gosley, Volunteer Coordinator Mark Munro, Promotions and Fundraising Manager Sue Thönell, Pastoral Care Coordinator Editor Janice Swannell Chairman - Graham Barron HI and welcome to August! There has been plenty of activity at the Toowoomba Hospice in recent times. Firstly, the interior painting of the building is nearing completion. The Camellia Show and Garden Expo proved to be very successful despite the weather. I sincerely thank the committee and their band of supporters who ensured the success of the event. As usual, our team of volunteers assisted and I thank them for their ongoing support. Our Race Day, held on Saturday 6th August once again proved to be a very successful event. It is always pleasing to see families of past clients attending and supporting the Hospice in appreciation of the very professional care provided to their loved ones. I am always grateful for the ongoing support that we receive from the community and it continues to be very strong all these years down the track. This support is paramount to the successful operation of the Toowoomba Hospice. To our sponsors who have helped in various ways in making the day a great success, a big thank you. Your support is very much appreciated. Once again, thank you to those who attended on the day. Also, thanks to Mark Munro for planning our Race Day. Mark was capably assisted by Sharene Gosley, Jodie Turner and our band of volunteers. While our fundraising and social activities continue to be successful and positive, the overall governance of the Toowoomba Hospice is of great importance. As I have mentioned before, accreditation plays an important part of this requirement. We are currently busy working on the standards in preparation for our Organisational Wide Survey (OWS) to be conducted by ACHS on the 11th and 12th of October. Until next time.

2 Hospice N ew s Promotions and Fundraising Mark Munro Hi Everyone, Putting the FUN in FUNdraising Coming Events Hang Ya Boss Out To Dry 26th August Come along and watch! October 8th Lone Eagle Flying School open day with proceeds going to the Hospice I must start off by saying thanks to all those who were part of this year s Toowoomba Camellia Show and Garden Expo. Whether you were an exhibitor, volunteer, community group or a business, you all did a sterling job over the weekend and your support is greatly appreciated. Considering the weather wasn t the best we still had great crowds through. I must say a HUGE congratulations and thank you to the organizing committee for their efforts prior, during and after the event. It is a huge job to run an event like this and the Toowoomba Hospice is extremely grateful in many ways. Hang Ya Boss Out To Dry will be on the 26 th August at Wippells Autos in Herries Street, from 6.00am to 9.00am. Once again Radio 4GR will be hosting the Big Breakfast with Lee at the event; Lions Club Wilsonton will be there selling their Big Breakfast Burgers ; and our good friends from the Coffee Cruiser will be there to keep you all warm with hot drinks! I mustn t forget our great mates from Master Hire who donate the Scissor lift and the Cherry Picker for the morning. What a great team of supporters we have! Our target this year is $100,000 and if we had 20 participants and they raised at least $5,000 each that would be a RECORD fundraiser for our wonderful Hospice I can tell you we are worth every dollar. Please.if you can help recruit Bosses and CEOs, please see or call Jodie or myself. Until next month stay warm, keep smiling and keep putting the FUN back into FUNdraising with us Mark October 30th Jazz Breakfast November 1st Melbourne Cup Lunch November 19th Wine Tour November 27th Hospice Carols December 3rd - 24th Toowoomba's Christmas Wonderland More details and later events can be found on the Hospice website or by contacting us (07) Up you go! Some of last year s competitors about to reach amazing heights!

3 Hospice N ew s P age 3 Clinical Nurse Eugenie Corbett Whilst Allison has been on leave taking a meaningful break with her family and friends, I have written the Director of Nursing item on her behalf. We trust she will come back with a new spring in her steps as we prepare for our upcoming accreditation in October. It has been a busy few weeks, with some of us also getting Winter viruses, and so I would like to thank the whole team (administration, nurses, pastoral care, volunteers) for all their efforts. As a nurse, and pastoral carer, I would like to reflect on the care we provide at the Hospice. In companying the dying, as Greg Yoder described, it is about being present to another s emotional and spiritual pain, it is not about taking it away or fixing it. Sharing in people s lives at the end of their life journey is one of the greatest privileges and responsibilities of our Hospice team. Being present and the art of presence enables our clients and families to journey this difficult chapter in their life during moments of vulnerability and intense loss. When we share in this moment we too make ourselves vulnerable. Bloemhard (2006, p.142) describes the relationship of spiritual care, which all nurses and pastoral care provide, as a sharing of vulnerability and being present to the intensity of the moment. At the Toowoomba Hospice we aim to provide excellent palliative care. That is not only the clinical care, physical and emotional wellbeing; but we also have the privilege of creating and providing a healing environment that is so important and difficult to provide in a hospital. We provide a space where clients and their families can explore their lived experience, celebrate their life s achievements in a safe and homely environment. As I nurse I have been privileged to journey with many clients and their families, each one different, yet no less special; but recently I have had the honour of saying my farewell to a friend. She was the first person to walk across the room and greet me at church when I had been in Australia for only 2 days. She became a friend, confidant, and at the time, a surrogate grandmother to my children who were small at the time. She had a rich, fulfilling life, not only as a nurse but as a mother to so many all over the world. She had her joys and struggles as we all do but always had a welcoming grateful heart. Thank you to the team for caring for her as beautifully as you always do. We often catch only a glimpse of our clients stories but value every story shared and every moment because it is a privilege, not a right. I am so grateful that our nursing and pastoral care team care for each and every client no matter who they are or where they come from or what their story is, as if they were our friend, mother, father, brother, sister, aunty, uncle or child. Eugenie

4 Hospice News Volunteer Coordinator Sharene Gosley Hello everyone! I trust the cold weather has been kind to you all and that you have managed to avoid the coughs and colds this Winter. Thank you to Jodie, Mark, Janice and all the volunteers who helped fill in while I was away on holidays. It was much appreciated. I would like to give a big shout-out to all the wonderful people who contributed to our Camellia Show being such a success. The weather was against us, but the show was still a success. Thank you to everyone who helped with the Café, craft stall, produce stall or selling raffle tickets. We couldn t have done it without you. Special thanks to all the wonderful students from Centenary Heights State High School who gave up time on their weekend to help out. What a fantastic representation of your school! Due to the flu season, we have had a number of our regular volunteers away, if you are able to pick up an extra shift or two to help out, it would be most appreciated, particularly in the kitchen and housekeeping areas. Give me a call if you can help! Until next month, keep warm and well. Sharene Pastoral Care Sue Thönell A young father in Massachusetts, USA recently wrote to Archbishop Tutu because he wanted to collect a book of letters for his baby daughter. This was the response he received: Dear Juliet Hello, little sister. You don t know me. I am a very old grandfather from South Africa nearing the end of my journey on earth while your journey on another continent many miles away is just beginning. We may never meet on earth, so I thought to send you a secret. Well, it s not really a secret because we should all know it. So I don t mind if you tell everyone else. Did you know that all people belong to one family, the human family? That although we may look nothing like each other, live in separate homes, practice our own cultures, subscribe to different religions and some of us have more money than others we are all sisters and brothers of God s family. You and I, and everyone else, were born with the same purpose. For love, for goodness and for one another. God Bless you. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Cape Town, South Africa Sue Toowoomba Hospice Association 57b O Quinn St PO Box 6463 Clifford Gardens Qld 4350 Phone: Fax: admin.toowoombahospice@bigpond.com Website:

5 Our next big event is the famous HANG YA BOSS OUT TO DRY on Sunday, 26 August! We are happy to accommodate several more candidates, so if you re a brave and heroic boss, or if you have a brave and heroic boss then call us and get an application form! Strap em in! Such a beautiful day!

6 The Produce stall, which was filled by donations from many, many generous people, was a great success! Our thanks go to all who gave us the stock and to all those who stood behind the counter! Sharene and The beautiful Japanese ladies who performed a tea ceremony throughout the day! And finally the Committee that organised the whole event! Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen, and many thanks from the Hospice!