Welcome to the next edition of the GM Team comms. June has proven to also be a busy month.
I would like to take a moment to say a big thank you to Elise Woodhouse for being the acting GM while I was on leave. Great job Elise…
Herbert Street Office News: Elise has worked hard with the Whitsunday Regional Council and we now have a disability car park out front of the office. Now that we have easy access to Herbert Street come on down with your clients and say hello. Join us for a tea, coffee or a cold glass of water and maybe a biscuit.
Staff Changes
In June we have had some changes to the organisational Chart. A copy of the new chart will be available shortly..
Brooke Mosley has taken on the role of Senior Leader for both Service Delivery (SD) and the KMAS teams. Kim Jorgensen will be stepping away from the day-to-day operational side of SD to focus on strategic imperatives (many arising out of the Strategic Planning work). Kim will work closely with Brooke and RJ to fine tune processes.
Team Leaders will be taking on more of the day-to-day operations of SD.
Kerrie-Ann has taken on the Leadership role of Support Coordination and will be working very closely with Cath Morgan. I would like to thank everyone for “stepping up” and taking on the new roles to better service BFC.
QCoal Foundation Visit
We had a visit from Margarita (QCoal Foundation) in June. Margarita came to see the wheelchair hoists and the pelican slides in action. For those that don’t know, QCoal is one of the foundations that BFC applies to for grants. Foundations like QCoal are instrumental in helping purchase items for not for profit organisations.
Social Media
If you haven’t had a chance to visit our social media pages (Facebook and Instagram: @bowenflexicare and LinkedIn- Bowen Flexi Care Inc.) then I encourage you to do so – we are getting lots of positive feedback from community members about our proactive approach. Our success in social media relies on clients and staff sending photos and news snippets through to our marketing and promotions officer, Sarah Longmire. If you have done something fun, have a story to share, attended an exciting event with clients and you have photos you would like to share you can email them to Sarah on: sarah.longmire@bowenflexicare.org.au or you can even direct message our Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/bowenflexicare/
You need to provide Sarah with some information about the photo. Sarah will check that BFC has the client’s consent to share and then post (and I know that doesn’t mean snail-mail – which I still use!).
We also are slowly but surely improving our web page – unfortunately, the platform that was used for the previous site was not fit-for-purpose for a “go digital” strategy, so our web developer has had to “unpick” a lot of and start from scratch on some things. We hope to soon have a portal for staff to log into to access forms digitally eg leave forms, policies and procedures etc.
Employment Consultative Committee
Our first Employment Consultative Committee (ECC) was held on 8 June – I hope you have all had a chance to read the draft meeting notes recently sent. Lots of great ideas from staff, some of which have already been implemented. We are looking for 2 – 3 more Support Worker staff to join the ECC so if you want to be involved in organisational decision-making and or promote your and your peers’ ideas and improvement suggestions, then put up your hand. Attendance is about 1 hour every 6 weeks and is paid time.
Mobile Time and Attendance
Mobile Time and Attendance is almost upon us all. I thank those staff that have offered to be part of the pilot program. August (hopefully) will see the roll out to all staff, dependent on the type and amount of “glitches” we experience in the pilot program. You will need a smart phone to enter your digital timesheet so you may wish to think about that now – is your phone “smart” enough?
Annual General Meeting
BFC’s Annual General Meeting will be held in September. Many BFC clients are members of the organisation, and I would like to be able to offer them the option of attending the meeting so they can vote. I will keep you informed about dates, but please think about having conversations with our clients regarding whether they would like to attend, and then putting in place “how to” support clients to attend and vote? The AGM is usually held over a lunch time period, the meeting goes for about 30 mins, and then we share some light lunch.
Other Recent Highlights
Our great Winter weather has meant lots of outdoor activities including beach walks, BBQs and gardening.
Sarina, Tracie and Michelle really enjoyed meeting former NRL player
Chris Walker and his support crew when he visited Bowen as part of his epic ‘Walk of a Lifetime’.
Bowen Show Day! The weather was perfect and there was lots to see and do. Everyone had a great time!
Sarina and Wayne checked out the Monster Trucks that we’re visiting for the Show.
Sandra and Sarina enjoyed a morning at Bowen Lions Sunday market.
Brent, Lennon, Wayne and Kaylene had a blast with their epic Nerf gun battle
The art group with their lovely bottle art.
David cooking and completing kitchen chores independently with some modified kitchen aids.
The cooking group continues to prep and cook delicious meals every Wednesday.
Abbot Point Operations generously donated funds to put towards the purchase of a new modified van for our planned community transport service.
David’s birthday wish to go on a motorbike ride came true. With thanks to the generosity of Oscar, Tracey and Alex and dedicated support from Tracie C and team.
Brent was awarded Mr Naidoc 2021 at Girudala’s Naidoc Family Fun Day. Brent was acknowledged for his warmheartedness, happiness and his positive contribution
to the community.
We proudly participated in Bowen’s Reconciliation March as part of Naidoc Week.
I look forward to any feedback/questions you have – if you wish to contact the GM team the best number is: 4786 4755 or email: gm@flexicareinc.com.au.
Kind regards,
Faileen James
General Manager