Volunteering news Dawn

Volunteering news Dawn Burke Wilson Outreach News Nicola Ryan Hello again and welcome to the New Year. I trust you all had a lovely and enjoyable break. Did you know that 2015 is the Chinese New Year of the goat/sheep? Our Members and volunteers at Wilson Outreach celebrated Chinese New Year on 19 February and were kept busy with various themed activities. We celebrated International Volunteers Day on December 5, 2014. I was lucky enough to be able to invite nine volunteers to attend the annual Volunteering WA Garden Party at Government House. We all enjoyed an afternoon tea of hors d’oeuvres, drinks and beautiful music. Our table was also very honoured to personally meet the first female Governor of WA, Kerry Sanderson AO. It was a great opportunity for our volunteers to get to know each other and share their varying roles at MSWA. A lovely afternoon was had by all. The annual Members, volunteer and staff Christmas party was a huge success and was enjoyed by everyone. I tried to keep to the theme of blue and silver with my Christmas party outfit. I didn’t plan on looking like an elf, but apparently I did! I’m sure everyone loved being entertained by a blue and silver, bubble blowing, ribbon waving, dancing elf. The new venue was fantastic and I believe it has already been rebooked for Christmas this year. Christmas events such as this can’t be run successfully without everyone pitching in together. I’d like to thank the staff for the amazing job done, especially Pam LeClus and Nicola Ryan. We couldn’t have run the Christmas Party as successfully as we did without the dedicated QBE corporate volunteers, who once again helped set up on the day and served meals. QBE has been a great supporter of MSWA over the years and we look forward to our ongoing partnership with them. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new volunteers to the Society for 2015. We have a great team of people here at MSWA and I’m sure you will enjoy your time with us. As always, it is great to see our long term volunteers back on board and I look forward to a fun, positive and productive year. If anyone is interested in volunteering or knows of someone who would like to volunteer, please give me a call on 9365 4897. I will be able to share what opportunities may be currently available. Easter will be upon us before you know it. With this in mind, I wish you all a Happy Easter and may you not overload on chocolate. Until next time, please take care and bye for now. Our lovely Christmas party was a huge success, with plenty of positive feedback about the new venue and a fantastic performance by the 90 children school choir which included a full band! We all enjoyed our lovely break, with staff and Members now back feeling refreshed and energised for a new year! We have exciting things planned at Wilson with our lucky Members going on a virtual tour around the world! We will experience other cultures and cuisines and learn more about their history. And of course, there will be fun arts and crafts, and games along the way, all from the comfort of our air conditioned lounge! Our first ‘stop’ is China and, with our passports stamped, we get on-board the “MS Airways”! Our names will be painted in traditional Chinese writing, we will explore the meaning of our animal signs, learn about the most famous Chinese inventions and educate ourselves on The Great Wall of China and Terracotta Warriors. The walls of our centre will be decorated with our arts and crafts to really create the feeling of travelling to another country. We will also indulge in fine dining and fortune cookies to ensure we are well fed! Once we ‘fly’ home, we will settle back into Wilson before preparing to travel again in a couple of months to…India! Look out as we get into the spirit of Bollywood, celebrate the festival of colours and appreciate our favourite aromatic foods! The third ‘stop’ will be Alaska! While there, we will admire stunning mountain ranges and have some fun with ice and snow. We will also do as the locals do and spend some time fishing (watch out for bears!), and building a life-sized igloo! Lastly, we will connect with our inner tribal warrior and travel to the Serengeti in Africa where we will be entertained by traditional African Drummers! With such wonderful themes, we are sure our Members will enjoy another great year at our Wilson centre! This year also marks a special centenary for Anzac Day. It will be 100 years since our brave soldiers embarked on that fateful and historic journey. We are planning to hold a special ceremony to commemorate this event at our Wilson Centre and are hoping for a good turnout to honour our veterans, past and present. Southside Outreach News Colin Whitton MSWA lost a dedicated and great supporter when Colin Whitton passed away in September last year after a workplace accident. Along with his wife Lynda, Mr Whitton, 66, had been involved with MSWA for the past 18 years. Lynda has been the president of the Bunbury Outreach Group Committee for the past 10 years and has MS. Mr Whitton had been an employee of BHP Billiton for the past 24 years at the time of his accident. As a tribute to Mr Whitton and to thank him for his years of service, BHP Billiton donated ,000 to the MS Society in his honour. We’d like to thank BHP Billiton and the Whittons for their continued support of MSWA. Colin Whitton (L) with his wife Lynda. Our new home in Rockingham is running very smoothly. Everyone is very happy with all the extra room – no more having to play dodgems while wheelchairs juggle for space! Having air-conditioning throughout the building is also a godsend during this very hot weather! Our staff and volunteers really put on a show with their “Dancing with the staff” performance during our Christmas lunch! A very funny and clever parody of the popular TV show. As ever, Nicola and the team did a wonderful job of arranging the caterers, entertainment, gifts and much more. We also have Ann and Annette to thank for the table decorations. Having a designated area for craft is wonderful. Ann and Annette have had ‘fun’ sorting out boxes of supplies and equipment. We plan to make cards and other craft items to put on sale as a way to fundraise throughout the year. Bryan and Sally are off on a cruise in March. Cruising seems popular with people with multiple sclerosis. Member Marija wrote about her cruise experience in the last two editions of the Bulletin! She found cruising easy for anyone with limited mobility. We look forward to your story, Bryan and Sally. 22 Autumn 2015 The MS Society of Western Australia The MS Society of Western Australia Autumn 2015 23