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LEISURE TIME

Report for the 12 Months to 31 December 2010

The year 2010 was a positive and pleasing year for Leisure Time. Growth in guest numbers reflected ongoing community need for our program and sustained volunteer numbers demonstrated the commitment of Glen Waverley Uniting Church to maintaining a high standard of care in this community outreach initiative for local seniors.

Leisure Time is a reputable and reliable program which has earned the respect of other local aged care organizations and Monash City Council.

2010 Annual General Meeting and 2010 Committee of Management

The 2010 Committee of Management comprised 11 volunteers, including Alison Clarkson (previously Dingwall), who was appointed to the committee by the Church Council as its representative.

All key positions were backed up by elected deputies. This plan has worked effectively. 2010 Office Bearers were as follows:

Outings sub-committee: Cliff Baker, Ross Vevers, Lesley Lamble, Barbara Craig, Pam McDonald

The 3-year term for Committee of Management members was introduced at the 2009 AGM and will be fully implemented by the 2012 AGM. Committee members due to retire at the 2011 AGM are Cliff Baker, Pam McDonald, Lesley Lamble and Elwyn Pederson.

Cliff, Pam and Elwyn have indicated a willingness to be re-nominated for a further term and we thank them for this. Lesley has submitted her resignation from the committee after many years of service. Florence Martin has also resigned, for family reasons. The committee would like to extend its thanks to both Lesley and Florence for their contributions and thank them for their willingness to continue serving Leisure Time in other ways.

Due to an unsustainable and diminishing bank balance at the start of 2010, guest contributions were increased in March 2010. Weekly contributions increased from $5 to $7 with a maximum of $15 for outings. Guests were agreeable to the changes and along with increasing attendances, we finished the year in a much more healthy financial state.

We would also like to acknowledge and thank David Mair for his ongoing support as our honorary Auditor.

Guest Numbers during 2010

Reaching out to our local community and connecting with isolated seniors who would enjoy and benefit from attending Leisure Time is a primary task of the committee. We aim to offer our program to as many guests as we can safely cope with, while still maintaining a stable friendship group and personal attention. Discussions about our maximum capacity for providing high quality guest experiences, together with the limits of our resources, resulted in a decision to aim for an attendance of up to twenty guests on any one day. With this in mind, we set an upper limit of twenty two on the Guest List and aimed to reach this target during 2010.

Our relationships with other agencies who interact with local seniors are important and remain the main source of introduction to possible new guests. Cliff Baker has continued to be our representative on the Monash Interagency Network of aged care agencies, which allows us to develop these relationships and Leisure Time was the featured program at the November meeting with a slideshow presentation and question time.

Margaret Fraser has also maintained active links with Monash Volunteer Resource Centre, Freemasons Outreach and Peter James Centre who have made referrals to us.

We were also pleased to welcome one new guest from our own congregation during 2010, and believe that this is within line with the strategic direction of Leisure Time.

We commenced 2010 with eighteen guests actively attending and finished the year with twenty one on our list. We welcomed seven new guests during the year. One guest from our initial list was too ill to continue attending and another passed away last April. Two of the new guests attended briefly, but decided that this was not the type of group they were looking for. The remaining five new guests remained with us, and became regular Leisure Time guests. As at the end of 2010, all our guests were women.

In December 2010, three of our guests indicated that they would be unable to continue in 2011, one through ill health, one had moved away with family and another now felt confident to access other community groups independently. They were all very grateful for the care and company they had enjoyed at Leisure Time and will miss their friends.

The following graph shows the average attendance for each month, and reflects the gradual increase in guest numbers during 2010.

Monash Positive Ageing Lifestyles EXPO

Leisure Time was again invited to set up a stall at the Monash Positive Ageing Lifestyles Expo. The Expo was held in Glen Waverley in September 2010. We had learned from our initial efforts in 2009, and this time provided a continuous slideshow on a laptop computer, a big display board with large photos and titles, Leisure Time handouts and plenty of opportunities for attendees to ask questions.

We were pleased with the level of interest shown in Leisure Time, and felt that it was again worthwhile to demonstrate to the community at large that Glen Waverley Uniting Church is an active congregation which is reaching out to its local community.

Volunteers in 2010

Our reliable team of more than sixty loyal and caring volunteers continued to give their time and talents as Day Leaders, Hosts, Home Cooks, Kitchen Leaders and Helpers, Drivers, Committee members and “Emergency” helpers who fill in at short notice.

Sincere thanks to all on behalf of the Leisure Time committee and more importantly, on behalf of our guests. Many volunteers undertake more than one role or duty, but whether they helped a little or a lot, they were all part of our happy and helpful team. Guests often comment on how caring all our volunteers are – our Christian love is shining through.

A number of our volunteers were away or ill or unable to help for a while during the year, but once again, they tried hard to ensure that the roster was always filled by doing swaps or extra duties as required. We are very grateful for that level of commitment.

We would also like to acknowledge the home cooks, kitchen leaders and kitchen helpers for their continuing compliance with food safety requirements, including labeling of food, correct storage and transportation of food and excellent standards of kitchen cleanliness. The church kitchen is inspected by Monash Council regularly, and Leisure Time’s procedures for food service to this “vulnerable group” are always examined closely and have been approved as a high standard. Well done.

Leisure Time program

Guests attend every Monday and are treated to an interesting and varied program including guest speakers, demonstrations, craft, games, exercises, singing, quizzes and outings. Opportunities for conversation, development of relationships and a good laugh are always priorities.

Craftwork is included in our regular program at least once per month. Many calico dolls were sewn and stuffed for use at the Children’s Hospital, knitting was completed for African orphans and animal shelters and many interesting items were constructed for guests to take home or for use at the Christmas party.

The Outings sub-committee plans all outings and does a prior check of venues to ensure suitability, costs within budget and food quality. The 2010 outings were all well received by guests. They were: March Village Green Hotel for smorgasbord lunch May Pinewood Cinema for a movie and lunch August Mt Dandenong lookout and lunch at Olinda Golf Club November Lavender farm & historic embroidery exhibition

Our Christmas break-up day consisted of morning tea, entertainment by Syndal South Primary school children, hot Christmas dinner and a Christmas reflection time led by Alison Clarkson in the chapel. The break-up was a highlight of the year and provided a time for guests and their families to mix with many of the volunteers as well as members of the ministerial team. Our Outings committee planned the whole day, including entertainment, catering, table decorations and transport of guests, making it the success it was. Many thanks to the hard-working Outings Committee for their work all year.

Care & Communication

The Care & Communication sub-committee, comprising the Coordinator, Day Leaders and Care Secretary, met regularly to discuss care of individual guests to maximize their comfort and pastoral care sick or absent guests and appropriate follow up program planning ideas communication processes between Day Leaders safety and emergency procedures planning and preparation of Christmas craft items matters to be communicated to the Committee of Management

One outcome of these meetings was to implement a place-cards system for the lunch tables, where cards are now placed randomly on the tables each week. In this way, we were able to ensure that guests were mingling better and avoiding cliques.

City of Monash Community Grant

The committee successfully applied to Monash City Council for a grant to subsidise the costs of Leisure Time outings. We received an amount of $500 (plus $50 GST). This allowed us to maximise the variety and benefits of the outings while minimising costs to guests. We gratefully acknowledge this assistance.

Police Checks for Leisure Time volunteers

All volunteers who interact with guests undertook a police check during 2009 or 2010. The checks were processed through the CrimCheck system, run by Monash Volunteer Resource Centre. Margaret Fraser is Leisure Time’s CrimCheck Administrator.

The cost for each police check was $12.50, but after Margaret Fraser met with the CEO of Monash Volunteer Resource Centre, a request was sent to their Board seeking a fee exemption. This was approved and Leisure Time was granted an ongoing exemption. This is a big help and we are grateful for this support from MVRC.

As new Leisure Time volunteers are recruited, police checks are being completed for them, and at some point, yet to be determined, we will need to update police checks for all our volunteers to maintain a suitable level of currency.

Looking forward

Leisure Time is now in its 33rd consecutive year of outreach service. With an active and motivated Committee of Management, a supportive Church Council and congregation, a wonderful team of volunteers, and a viable bank balance, Leisure Time is in a healthy and exciting position as we move into 2011.

The tried and true organisation of the program, excellent catering, well staffed rosters and efficient sub-committees, ensure that we are confidently achieving our Christian mission.

During 2011, we will aim to

• attract more male guests as vacancies arise
• maintain guest numbers as close to maximum as possible
• recruit new volunteers to join the roster, especially kitchen leaders and helpers
• elect or co-opt some new people to join the Committee of Management
• be open to new ideas and better ways of doing things
• continue awareness raising within our own GWUC congregation about Leisure Time’s mission and outreach efforts
• review our Position Description document to ensure currency and as a way of assisting new volunteers to understand the various duties
• create a Leisure Time cookbook, in response to the many requests for recipes

We pray that Leisure Time will be blessed in its continuing Christian service to local seniors, and that each and every volunteer and guest will know God’s strength and guidance in the year ahead.

Many thanks to all who make Leisure Time possible

Margaret Fraser
Coordinator & Chairperson

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