13 July 2020

​One more weekly meeting down and counting.  By the time it gets to my 52nd I should be word perfect and more than capable in handing the baton over.  All I have to do now is to remember to thank the member(s) who provided the after dinner snacks and to call for a volunteer for the forthcoming week.  So, a little belated but better late than never, thank you Giovanna for tonight’s snacks and to Heather in volunteering to provide next week.

 We were delighted to welcome  guest speaker Michelle Lennon and her colleague Adam King, and Barb Kitto (her 3rd visit).

​Michelle and Adam took turns in presenting National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) as the new way of providing support to Australians with disability, their families and carers.  Criteria for access to NDIS:
- Must have a permanent disability
- Under 65yrs old
- Be an Australia Citizen
 
Community Capacity Builders are available in every APM region to work with all community members in the hope of building inclusive communities throughout the state

​Whilst we continue to hold our weekly meetings at The Kardinya Tavern, we have a choice to reintroduce a weekly host to meet and greet us as we arrive and sign in, or we look after ourselves and find our own name badge and more importantly return it to the cabinet when leaving the meeting.  It’s quite a sight to see Carole struggling with the name tag cabinet but she cannot do everything, which I noticed this evening included helping the staff to serve our meal.  Do we need to reintroduce a host with the additional task akin to a maitre d’ in directing the waiting staff to the member whose meal is being served?  At the very least it is far better than in the earlier weeks when staff were trying to find meals a home by shouting out the name of the member and thoroughly disrupting the meeting procedure.
 
I, for my part, will try and keep the meeting on schedule and close by 8.00pm in order that we have time for fellowship but it’s surprising how time slips by and the 1 ½ hour simply flies by.

-nwm