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ABN: 59 334 227 797Annual Report 2015 - 2016KNC

K A T O O M B A

NEIGHBOURHOODC E N T R E

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CONTENTS

Contents ........................................................................................................................ 1History, Vision & Objects .................................................................................. 2Acknowledgements ........................................................................................... 3Organisational Structure ................................................................................. 4Strategic Directions 2014 - 2018 ............................................................... 5Honour Roll ............................................................................................................... 6

ReportsChair ................................................................................................................................ 7Chief Executive Officer .............................................................................. 8-12ASK on the Street ........................................................................................13-17Operations and Quality ................................................................. 18-19Service Support ...........................................................................................20-22Community & Cultural Development ........................................23-26Blue Mountains Home Modifictions & Maintenance Service (BMHMMS) ....................................................................................27-29Ruth Ley Tribute ...........................................................................................30-31Katoomba Out of School Hours (KOOSH) .............................32-34Community Visitors Scheme ............................................................35-36Katoomba Volunteer Home Visitors Service .......................37-39Film Society .............................................................................................................40Writers Group .........................................................................................................40KNC Photo Montage ................................................................................41-43Vale Street Centre for Social & Emotional Wellbeing ....44-46Blue Mountains Community Support Programme (BMCSP)...............................................................................................................47-49Aboriginal Flexible Respite Programme ..........................................50Treasurer ....................................................................................................................51Finance Report ..............................................................................................52-54Financial Statements & Auditor’s Report ................................55-65

Brothers John and Charles at the Archibald 2015 - An ‘Out and About’ trip.

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KNC acknowledges the Darug and Gundungurra nations as the traditional custodians of these lands

• Advocating and assisting individuals to ensure that those who are disadvantaged and vulnerable can access the services they require in a timely and appropriate way.

OBJECTSThe Objects of the Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre are:-

1. Provide for the direct relief of social and financial disadvantage, vulnerability, distress and misfortune for residents in our community

2. Provide practical assistance through the response to, and provision of emergency relief and support for people experiencing distress and or need

3. To increase the knowledge of, and use of, community resources by the more disadvantaged within our community to assist them to realise their potential

4. Raise community awareness of the issues impacting on the disadvantaged and vulnerable within our community

5. To provide opportunity for community connectedness and access to programmes that build resilience within and across our community

6. To work with the community to identify their needs, and to assist in the development and implementation of appropriate services, programmes and links to meet and address those needs.

We do this through:-• The practical provision of food and community

accessible meals to those experiencing misfortune or isolation.

• The provision of services to the frail aged, persons with a disability, those living with or recovering from a mental illness to assist them to live independently and safely within their homes and be active within their communities.

• Social support and early identification, assessment and referral services to those who are disadvantaged, vulnerable and at risk, living in insecure accommodation, experiencing financial and housing stress and are at risk of becoming homeless.

• Information and referral services accessible to all members of the public to enable them to utilise community resources and public services available to them.

• The provision of services to the aged, people with disabilities, people living with mental illness and people on low incomes.

• Providing a community space supporting different social groups and activities aimed at enhancing wellbeing and community inclusion.

• Identifying community needs and where possible and appropriate, initiate, develop and operate programmes to meet those needs.

• Developing and supporting self-help initiatives and networks which strengthen our community.

• Creating opportunities for residents to meet others, develop beneficial relationships and links within the community.

• Raising awareness of local community issues and the needs of disadvantaged people.

BRIEF HISTORYKatoomba Neighbourhood Centre (KNC) has been operating for 35 years, providing a range of community services within the Upper Blue Mountains and across the Blue Mountains Local Government Area. In 1979, thanks to the efforts of local residents, and Thelma Murphy, a long term elected member of the BMCC, our doors were opened in two public buildings owned by the Blue Mountains City Council. KNC particularly focuses on the provision of services to the most at risk and vulnerable within our communities using strong partnership and collaborative models for project and service development and delivery. Our strength lies in our commitment to social justice and our strong community development operating framework. We strive to support and assist in developing a connected, safe, resilient and informed community.

VISIONTo build a community that cares and supports the vulnerable and disadvantaged, by providing benevolent services for those most in need. We work to remove barriers to opportunity and social inclusion and improve the quality of life for vulnerable individuals and groups within our community.

MISSION/PURPOSE1. To provide care and service to the most vulnerable

within the community we serve, in a safe and supportive way

2. That the services provided are delivered in a dignified and respectful way, with integrity and honour

3. That the capacity of individuals and groups most in need is enhanced to achieve better outcomes for themselves.

KATOOMBA NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE

KATOOMBA NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE6 - 10 Station Street(PO Box 197) KATOOMBA NSW 2780www.kncinc.org.au

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSKATOOMBA NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE INC.ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016

KNC acknowledges funding and financial assistance from:

AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTCommonwealth Home Support Programme

Department of Health

Department of Social Services

NSW GOVERNMENTDepartments of: Family & Community Services;Social Services; Education & Communities; Ministry for Police & Emergency Services; Infrastructure & Regional Development

LOCAL GOVERNMENTBlue Mountains City Council

PARTNER AGENCIESNepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Blue Mountains Women’s Health & Resource Centre, Aftercare, Mountains Community Resource Network, Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network, Australian Graduate School of Policing & Security, Charles Sturt University, Blue Mountains Lithgow Integrated Neighbourhood Network (BLINN)

LOCAL MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENTMember for the Blue Mountains, Ms Trish Doyle, Federal Member for Macquarie, Ms Louise Markus (2010 - 2016), Susan Templeman.Thank you to everyone in all services across the Blue Mountains who are committed to working collaboratively for a community that values justice and equality.

Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre thanks the following businesses and organisations for their contributions in 2015 - 2016.

GENEROUS SUPPORTERSThe Carrington Hotel, KatoombaThe Paragon Cafe, KatoombaCountry Women’s Association - Leura Evening BranchThe Rotary Club of Upper Blue Mountains Sunrise

BREAD AND FOOD DONATIONSHominy Bakery, KatoombaThe Buttery, KatoombaWoolworths Earth Recovery Australia

COMMUNITY LUNCHESAnanda MargaBlue Mountains Food Co-op, KatoombaLeura NewsagencyLeura PharmacyThe Lunch Box, KatoombaFine Flowers, KatoombaMegalong Books, LeuraAvalon Restaurant, KatoombaThe Hatter’s Cafe, Katoomba Circus, Leura Cafe Landseers, Leura Office Choice, Katoomba Maharani Boutique, Leura Anna, Marlene & Felicity in KNC’s Reception

KATOOMBA NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE

CONSULTANTSIT Consultants: Dale Reardon, DRCS; Marty Walker, Still Moving Design; Ray Bennett, Com Management; Michael & Wendy Farrell-Whelan, Farrell Whelan & Associates; Juan Pereyra, PNYX; Dr Sarah Redshaw, Research Fellow Macquarie University, Principal, Driving Cultures, Assoc. Charles Sturt University

This Report was written by staff and volunteers at Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre.

Edited by Kath Harrison, Barbara Cuthbert & Carole Williams.

Photographs - Marty Walker and staff. Graphic design and layout - Felicity Tonks.

The KNC Board and Staff acknowledge and thank Bennetts Printing, Katoomba, for the production of this report.

Dragonflies created by the children of KOOSH, staff and friends, Wendy Farrell-Whelan, and the cover dragonfly made by Isaac Sherring-Tito (in homage to Ruth Ley).

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Katoomba Neighbourhood CentreBoard

Katoomba Neighbourhood CentreBoard Executive

Katoomba Neighbourhood CentreServices & Programs

KNC Finance & Resources

Community & Cultural Development

Katoomba Out of School Hours Care (KOOSH)

Blue Mountains Home Modi�cation & Maintenance

Katoomba Volunteer Home Visitors

Community Visitors Scheme

BMCSP Programme

Vale Street Programme

Katoomba Neighbourhood CentreBoard Sub-Committees

Flexible Respite Programme

Quality Improvement Policy & Procedure

Employment

Human Resources

Advisory Groups

KNC General

Vale St Participants

Aged Care/CHSP Programme

Older Parents as Carers Aboriginal Flexible Respite

Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre Organisational Structure

KEY

Direct Line of Responsibility

Professional Line

Communications/Promotion & Marketing

Katoomba Neighbourhood CentreChief Executive O�cer

KNC Management Team

KNC ManagerOperations & Quality

KNC Chief Financial O�cer

Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre Organisational StructureKATOOMBA NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE

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Service Provision1. Aged Care

2. Disability

3. Community Development

4. Mental Health

5. Children & Families (OOSH)

6. Vulnerable Children Families & Youth

Developing KnowledgeInfrastructure

2014 - 2015

1. Community Consultation

2. Data, information mining

and activity capture

3. Research

2014 - 2018

KNC as Enabler

1. Community Engagement

2. Social Capital/Collective Impact

3. Strategic Alliances & Partnerships

4. Education Evaluation & Outcome

5. Social Change

6. Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders &

Cultural Safety

2014 - 2016

Resilient Connected Inclusive

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Evidence/ Results-Based Outcome Focused Public knowledge

Social Change/Collective Impact/Public Innovation

Sustainability Workforce development, community skills, partnerships & alliances 2014 - 2016

Quality Community Home Care Standards, Disability Support Standards, NQS, ISO 9001 2014 - 2015

Organisational Development Resources, Funds, Investment, Strong Governance, Strategic alliances 2014 - 2018

Community Engagement Social investment, collective impact, community profile, public innovation 2015 - 2018

NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTREAS COMMUNITY HUB

Aged Care; FACS Community Builders; National Disability Insurance

Scheme (NDIS); Childcare Services

Community Capacity, Capability & Connection

Quality Based; Person Centred & Self Determined

STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS 2014 - 2018

KATOOMBA NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE

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KNC HONOUR ROLL 2015 - 2016

BOARD MEMBERS

Ruth Bennett - ChairTina Napier - Treasurer (from Jan 2016)Mahalya Middlemist - SecretaryKerry Whitehead, Katherine TurnerGay Thornton, Wendy HollandDavid Arnett (Treasurer July - Dec 2015)Val Phillips (resigned March 2016 ), Karen Booyens (resigned August 2015)

STAFF

Kathleen Harrison - Chief Executive OfficerSue Jaques - Chief Financial Officer Neil Smith - Financial Administration Ruth Ley - Builder/Coordinator - retirement farewell celebration and commencement of LSL 25.2.2016. Deceased 12.5.2016Scott Melville - Senior trade staff - resigned 25.5.2016Stephen Duncan - Trade staffMegan Kavanagh - Service AdministratorLaurie Strathdee - Operations ManagerAnna Tardent - Service SupportBarbara Cuthbert - Quality Coordinator & KOOSH Administration.Josie Vendramini - CCD CoordinatorMarlene Churn - KVHV CoordinatorClaire Grover - BMCSP Coordinator, Aboriginal Flexible Respite Program CoordinatorCarole Williams - Finance Relief, BMCSP & Aboriginal Flexible Respite Program Relief, KOOSH Admin Relief, BMHMMS Admin ReliefKorey Gunnis - BMCSP Intake & Sessional worker (Katoomba Film Club)

Vasant de Mello - KOOSH Co-ordinator/Nominated SupervisorJenna Cosgrove - KOOSH Certified SupervisorTaylor Brisbane (completed Traineeship April 2016), Isaac Sherring-Tito (KOOSH trainee) - Child Care WorkersHunter De Groot, Louise Bender, Belinda Lopez, Georgia Morris-Gardiner, Isaac Sherring-Tito, Olivia MacPhail - Casual Child Care WorkersFelicity Tonks - CVS CoordinatorBren Sherring - Vale Street CoordinatorMelanie van Kessel - Vale St Project WorkerAmos Tito - Bus DriverTracey Johnson - Vale St Temp/Casual Trainee and Casual AdminJenny Lloyd - Casual AdministrationCasual handyperson - Thomas Redmond - resigned July 2015Sherron Barrass - Cleaner

VOLUNTEERS

ReceptionDavid Armitage, Maxi Davidson, Jackie Delaney, Jim Hennessey, Tracey Johnson, Jenny Lloyd, Cathy Maddock, Johanna O’Hea, Bernie Power, Carol Price, June Rose, Angela Sharman, Rose Shilson-Josling.

Community LunchesJune Rose, Jim Hennessy, Brian Gravison,Lyn Harrison, Gillian Dupen

CCDMel Michaels, Rika Kristall, Xavier Waterkeyn, Tracey Johnson and Aline Richardson

CVSElizabeth Bowe, Antoni Cornado-Cornet, Keith Davies, Betty Evers, Christine Franklin, Denise Garden, Linda Hemmings, Lesly Jones, Narelle McIntyre, Jim Peoples, Felicity Tonks, Chantelle Wallis, Patricia Woodley, Carol Price, Carolanne Van Leeuwen, Helen Rabone, Lyn Anag, Susan Crick, Peter Aboud, Vivian Handley, Jenny Ingram, Matthew Tonks, Maria Gibney, Rachael Pilley, Patty Pye, Hilary Maginnis, Chloe Mahr.

KVHVWarren Windred, Antonio Cornado-Cornet, Heather Jansch, Narelle McIntyre, Bronwyn Hay, Robyn Fairbairn, Diane Stebbings, Bernadette Power, Biruta Latta, Wayne Airth, Joy Constantine, Suzanne Kuhn, Korey Gunnis, Greg Rich, Rhea Ellison, Matthew Johnson, Rexann Maxwell, Gwen Meehan, Sharon Shaw Pat McCullough

KOOSHDawn Wigg

VALE STREETJohn Hockney, Passion Rodziewicz, Tracey Johnson

Vale Street participant/volunteersDesley I, Lesley P, Heather N, Mark O, Craig H, Garth C, Diane G, Hanna W, Peyton R and Judy C

KATOOMBA NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE

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KNC Board Report 2015 - 2016

Ruth BennettChair

KNC is proud to acknowledge that we are privileged to meet on the traditional lands of the Darug and Gundungurra nations. We pay our respects to their elders, past, present and future.

There have been many noteworthy achievements this past year, which Kath Harrison, our CEO describes in her report. One key achievement following on from the publication of Community Connections: Vulnerability and Resilience in the Blue Mountains, was further research that will be of benefit to our local area, The Blue Mountains Sustainable Approaches to Fire and Emergency Project. Valuable community consultation work was done using the Harwood technique, enabling the direct voice of our local community to provide advice and guidance as we run services to all age groups across the region.

In my time on the board of KNC over the past five years, we have seen the turnover of the organisation increase from $1.4m to $2.1m, staff numbers have grown from 21 to 29, and volunteer numbers have increased from 71 to 114. Over the past year, KNC’s turnover increased from $1.8m to $2.1m. The organisation is healthy, well managed financially and has a well-run board which is committed to this vital and growing organisation and its work, which contributes to the lives of the socially and financially disadvantaged across the Blue Mountains region through its programs and activities.

KNC has a strong governance focus. KNC has an outstanding management team, led by Kath Harrison, and a dedicated and hardworking staff and volunteer

workforce. The board is involved in an ongoing way with providing advice and direction at a strategic level to the management team, who are in charge of day to day operations. The board works closely with the management team to ensure sound, ongoing financial management, organisational governance, and minimising of risk across the organisation’s activities.

We have had amidst the successes this past year great sorrow too. With great sadness we bid farewell to Ruth Ley, our long-time Home Modifications & Maintenance coordinator, who tragically lost her fight for life earlier this year. So much of her life’s work was in service to the individuals and families of the Blue Mountains, whose lives she enriched and bettered through the Home Modifications service. We miss her amazing personal qualities – her intelligence, skill as a leader and organiser, her superb relations with clients, her humanity and empathy for others.

In the midst of all these circumstances it is testament to our staff – our experienced management team with its wealth of experience and expertise, and our highly talented staff who are so dedicated and hardworking - that the organisation continues to drive forward, running programs and activities across the Blue Mountains, which benefit families, people with a disability, the vulnerable and the elderly. The board also appreciates the key support from the local community given to KNC, including local businesses, that contributes on a daily basis to supporting the work done by KNC.

I heartily thank all fellow board members, and the management team, for their contributions to this successful organisation. Their energetic commitment and community engagement is vital to our mission. It is very enjoyable to engage with other board members in an atmosphere of mutual respect, free flowing discussion and generosity of contribution of time and effort. KNC has a very positive future which is sustainable, and has been sustained by the Blue Mountains community for over three decades. The organisation is growing from strength to

strength in response to the needs within the community. In this way the community is strengthened and made more resilient, and social cohesion and networks are increased. We thank the community for its great support which is key to our ongoing success. n

Below, from top:Josie, Claire and Anna at KNC’s 2015 AGM; Ruth Bennett, KNC Chair address at AGM

BOARD REPORT

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Chief Executive Officer’s Report 2015 - 2016

Kath Harrison

I would like to begin my 2015-2016 report by acknowledging that we operate our services on the lands of the traditional owners, the Darug and Gundungurra peoples. We are privileged to live and work in this special place, on behalf of the staff, volunteers and Board of Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre, I pay respect to their elders past, present and future. I would also like to begin by thanking the Board, the staff, volunteers and supporters of Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre Incorporated (KNC). Your ongoing commitment to and support of the Organisation is central to our ability to work with our

CEO community.

This year has brought growth and opportunity for Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre and the communities we service and also great sadness with the death of our much loved and respected member of staff Ruth Ley, the Blue Mountains Home Modification and Maintenance Coordinator after 20 years of devoted service.

KNC welcomed Josie Vendramini to the position of Community & Cultural Development Service Coordinator, Paul Philpot to the Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre Aged Care & Disability Services team as Service Coordinator of the Older Parent Carer Program, Isaac Sherring Tito as the new Katoomba Out of School Hours service Trainee, Tracey Johnson as the casual relief worker for both the Vale Street programme and the Aboriginal Flexible Respite Care Program and Jenny Lloyd as administration casual support worker assisting with the data capture across a range of KNC services and research initiatives . We welcome them to the staff.

We welcomed Associate Professor Wendy Holland onto the Board of KNC this year. Wendy is an indigenous member of our community with expertise in the field of education, arts, cultural studies and Indigenous Australian studies, we are privileged to welcome Wendy and the strengths she brings to our Organisation and the services we provide now and into the future. We also welcomed Stephen Ramsay to the role of Building Services Manager, Stephen brings 30 years building experience operating his own successful building and construction business within the Blue Mountains and metropolitan Sydney. We are also very pleased to welcome Chris McKenzie McHarg to the Home Modifications and Maintenance trades staff. KNC farewelled two long standing Board members this year, David Arnett and Val Phillipps. Their stewardship and wisdom will be missed.

We could not operate KNC without the support and expertise of our teams of volunteers. KNC operated in 2015-2016 with ninety four registered active volunteers on a ratio of approximately 1:4, four volunteers for each staff position. We continue to have volunteers utilising their expertise and enriching all service components of KNC. We celebrate and thank our volunteers.

As a local Organisation we are privileged to continue to be strongly supported by the broader community, Blue Mountains City Council, our State and Federal Members of Parliament, local business, community groups, our partner Community Sector Organisations, the Local Health District and individual community members. Special thanks and acknowledgement goes to Trish Doyle our State Member of Parliament for Blue Mountains for her ongoing support of KNC services and her active representation of the Community Sector and our community on the floor of parliament. The level of support and involvement received assists KNC not only to provide service but to grow, maximise opportunities and further develop services.

At left: KNC’s CEO Kath Harrison; Kath, Trish Doyle and Evonne at ‘Ageing With Altitude’

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The support comes in many forms: practical assistance, resources, donations, fundraising, advertising, produce, expert advice, advocacy and representation. Our profile in the community is in many ways made possible by the strength of this ongoing support.

I would particularly like to acknowledge and recognise the professionalism shown by the KNC Board of Management. This committed group of community members volunteer their time, experience, wisdom and guidance. The Board govern the Organisation with intelligence, integrity, engagement, leadership and humour, they truly embody strength in citizenship. The ongoing successful roll out of the KNC strategic directions to 2018, the successful expansion and growth of a number of programmes and the formation and consolidation of key strategic partnerships is testament to their input, energy and commitment to the Organisation. I also need to acknowledge and celebrate a remarkable group of people - the staff of KNC. It is truly a privilege to be part of this team.

The current social and political climate continues to drive and influence ongoing reforms across both our State and Commonwealth funded programmes. The Targeted Early Intervention Programme reform process (TEIP) currently underway across the NSW Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) directly impacts the core Community Builders funding stream for Neighbourhood Centres. This reform process sees the reorientation of FaCS funding to vulnerable children and families. Currently the full impact of these reforms on the users and service focus of Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre, indeed all Neighbourhood Centres within the Blue Mountains Local Government Area, is unknown. What is known is that funding will be targeted at areas of greatest need as

defined by the needs of vulnerable children and families. Whilst acknowledging and understanding the need for focus and funding in this area, KNC continues to advocate for the needs of socially and financially disadvantaged adults particularly in the 40-60 years age group who are the primary users of generalist Neighbourhood Centre services. Currently there appears to be no provision in the reform discourse or cited evidence around this group and their needs into the future. The scheduled roll out for these reforms is July 2017, KNC currently has contracts until June 30th 2017. KNC continues to actively advocate strongly around this issue and the impact of the targeted reforms.

The other funding reforms impacting on KNC and shaping our future are the Aged Care and Disability reforms. Particularly the move to client centred funding models with the roll out of the NDIS within the region in this reporting period and the upcoming reform to individualised funding for Consumer Directed aged care provision, beginning in the next 12 month period. KNC has been going through a period of transition in this reporting period in readiness for these changes and the loss of block funding to our Home Modification, Home Maintenance, Volunteer Home Visitor, Aboriginal Flexible Respite Care and Older Parent Carers programme. As clients under 65 years of age are moved to the NDIS, the Ageing Disability and Home Care funding historically received by these KNC services will be withdrawn. KNC currently has 20 clients and families within the Older Person Carer and Aboriginal Flexible Respite Care programme transitioning to the NDIS.

This reporting period saw the full introduction of the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP), replacing the historical Home & Community Care (HACC) programme. KNC has been given contracts for all of the programmes affected by the reforms until June 30 2018:-

Blue Mountains Home Modifications & Maintenance

Katoomba Volunteer Home Visitors

Blue Mountains Community Support – Domestic Assistance

Blue Mountains Community Support – Transport

Blue Mountains Community Support – Social Support Groups

The full roll out of the CHSP programme brought with it the introduction of the My Aged Care service, the national essential entry point for all referrals for community focused aged care support services. This has been challenging for clients, carers, families, Organisations and staff alike and KNC has been no exception. This system requires all referrals for services and enquiries around services to be streamlined through a central national point of intake, and assessments for service to be undertaken by a third party regional assessment service. As the months have progressed so have alterations to the operation of My Aged Care in an attempt to improve access and create a much more user friendly system. The system improvements have been welcomed however actioning referrals, communicating with the My Aged Care service and ensuring the client experience is reasonable and the preferred outcome achieved when using this new system, remain challenging.

It must be acknowledged that these changes have the potential to destabilise staff and services when there is lack of funding surety into the future that may impact on employment certainty and funding levels. The KNC staff are to be congratulated for continuing to deliver service with professionalism, enthusiasm and integrity in a time of great change and flux and lack of certainty into the future.

KNC STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS 2014-2018This reporting period has seen KNC focus on the Organisations’ Strategic Platform priorities (see KNC Strategic Directions 2015-2018 Diagram). The strategic areas of focus for this 2015-2016 reporting period have been: (please see table following page)

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Strategic Pla�orm Area Priority Focus Outcomes 1. Sustainability Partnerships & alliances

- Ongoing development of the BLINN Consor�um, with all BLINN members agreeing to core community development ac�vi�es around community resilience and community consulta�on, sharing resources and scheduling annual ac�vity across the LGA

- Cri�cal research partnership with Charles Sturt University Ins�tute of Land Water and Society

- Poten�al around appropriate merger and or amalgama�on opportuni�es commenced 2. Quality Successful External accredita�on against

- Community Care Standards - NSW Disability Standards - Na�onal Quality Framework Early Childhood Educa�on Services

Consumer, Staff & Referrer Feedback - External system for staff annual sa�sfac�on feedback implemented - System for annual client and carer sa�sfac�on surveying and analysis developed

and implemented 3. Organisa�onal

Development Funding & Resources

- Transi�on to NDIS has commenced with KNC registered as a provider against mul�ple NDIS service categories

- Strengthening of KNC Disability Services has successfully seen KNC selected as the provider of the Ageing Disability Home Care Older Person Carer Program and the Aboriginal Flexible Respite Care Program within the Blue Mountains and alloca�on of Flexible Respite Care clients, with a number of these clients expected to transi�on to the NDIS with KNC as service provider

- KNC Targets established for NDIS plan management and support coordina�on clients 2016-2017

4. Community Engagement

Harwood Community Consulta�ons - KNC now undertakes annual Ask On the Street ac�vity across the town centres of

Wentworth Falls, Leura, Katoomba & Medlow Bath coinciding with Neighbourhood Centre Week in May, giving voice to the community and informing service direc�on. Over 300 community members have engaged in these consulta�ons to date

NSW Mental Health Commission - KNC work in partnership with NSW Mental Health Commission to undertake

consulta�on with upper Blue Mountains community members with lived experience of mental illness, 100 community members engaged in this consulta�on

The majority of work this year has seen the full development and implementation of the KNC Quality Platform and robust exploration of funding opportunities and the potential for key partnerships and alliances.

VALE RUTH LEY “A LIFE FULLY LIVED” The quote above was a description of Ruth by a work colleague reflecting her contribution to life, community, work and those she cherished. Ruth Ley was on staff at Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre as the Building Services Coordinator within the Blue Mountains Home Modifications and Maintenance Service for 20 years (1996-2016), tirelessly working to improve the lives of the frail aged and people living with a disability within our Local Government Area. Ruth was so much more: a partner, friend, colleague, environmentalist, feminist, daughter, sister, advocate, lobbyist and musician, to name but a few, with a wit and turn of phrase that continues to live in my memory everyday. All at KNC were blessed to have the opportunity to know admire and cherish a truly special woman, for to know Ruth Ley was to know and feel real integrity, creativity and enduring grace.

Ruth Ley at her Farewell celebration

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SIGNIFICANT ISSUES Katoomba Out of School Hours (KOOSH) site contamination

KNC is pleased to report that after a significant period of time and numerous attempts to remediate asbestos and glass contamination in the KOOSH playground, all work has now been completed. KNC acknowledges and thanks Blue Mountains City Council for their ongoing work to rectify this issue and the professionalism of the KOOSH staff operating with a reduced outdoor footprint for such a prolonged period of time and their vigilance in maintaining and securing the safety of the physical environment before the children arrive, enabling the original problem to be identified early.

HIGHLIGHTS/ACHIEVEMENTSImplementation of the KNC Quality Platform and External Accreditation of Core KNC Services

KNC embarked on the development of a robust quality platform as a major component of our current strategic directions. Barbara Cuthbert was appointed the KNC Quality Coordinator in this reporting period, working with KNC Management and the Board to implement our quality platform; guiding the staff and the Organisation through three external accreditation reviews across three discreet sets of State or National quality standards affecting seven discreet KNC services:-

1. Third Party Verification (TPV) against the NSW Disability Standards covering all KNC services to people living with a disability under 65 years of age (Blue Mountains Community Support Programme, Katoomba Volunteer Home Visitors, Blue Mountains Home Modification & Maintenance, Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre Management, Aboriginal Flexible Respite Care Programme).

2. Home Care Standards (previously the Community Common Care Standards). These standards are the national benchmark and apply to all KNC Community Home Support Programme Services providing

community services across the Blue Mountains Local Government Area to our ageing residents over 65 years of age requiring care to remain safely within their home and community environments (Domestic Assistance, Transport, Social Support, Katoomba Volunteer Home Visitors and Blue Mountains Home Modifications & Maintenance).

3. National Quality StandardsThese standards are the national benchmark for early childhood education and care, and outside school hours care services in Australia. They apply to our Katoomba Out of Schools Hours (KOOSH) and Vacation Care Services, bringing together the 7 key quality areas that are important to outcomes for children.

We are pleased to report that the Organisation passed all three processes gaining accreditation across the various standards for our services. These reviews occurred over two to three days for each review and involved in depth review of all KNC and individual service policies procedures and processes. The actual audit processes involved in depth interviews with KNC management, service coordinators, staff, clients, volunteers of the respective services and external referrers. The whole process involved months of concentrated service and policy and procedure review prior to the actual audits.

To successfully gain external accreditation across National and State service standards is a notable achievement for any Organisation. As a small Organisation, to attain successful accreditation across three external processes covering three differing sets of service standards in a seven month period is unheard of. This achievement cannot be overstated and reflects the professionalism of the KNC staff, volunteers and Board. This is an enormous achievement for the Organisation and simply could not have been achieved without the commitment and tireless effort of a number of key staff. This result could not have been achieved without the guidance and input of Ruth

Ley and Megan Kavanagh for the Home Modification and Maintenance Service, Claire Grover for the Blue Mountains Community Support Programme and the Aboriginal Flexible Respite Care Programme, Marlene Churn for the Katoomba Volunteer Home Visitors programme, Vasant de Mello, Barbara Cuthbert and Jenna Cosgrove for Katoomba Out of School Hours & Vacation Care Services, Anna Tardent Service Support Coordinator and David Arnett and Mahalya Middlemist from the Board of KNC who took carriage of the KNC Quality and Policy subcommittee of the Board working with staff and management across the review period.

Special acknowledgement must go to Barbara Cuthbert, KNC Quality Coordinator during this period. The knowledge, experience, guidance, tenacity, organisation, professionalism and gentle good humour with which she approached this mammoth task cannot be overstated. KNC and the community are very lucky to be able to access such talent, we were successful in no small measure as a direct result of her work and she is to be congratulated.

Older Parent Carer ProgrammeThe NSW Department of Family & Community Services; Ageing Disability & Home Care contacted KNC and requested the Organisation consider taking responsibility for the Older Parent Carers Programme within the Blue Mountains, after Anglicare services withdrew from a number of disability service contracts with the Department. The Older Parent Carer programme supports the very unique needs of up to 14 older carers of adult children with a disability, including their respite needs. The programme commenced with KNC in earnest in June 2016 and is funded until June 2018. We welcome Paul Philpot as the Coordinator of this service.

Blue Mountains Sustainable Approaches to Fire & Emergency Project (BSAFE)The BSAFE project concluded in June of 2016 with the launch of the formal BSAFE report by the NSW Minister for Emergency Services. This project was funded under the

12BSafe Report Front Cover

Community Resilience Innovation Programme under the Natural Disaster Resilience Programme, funded by the New South Wales and Commonwealth Governments through the National Partnership Agreement on Natural Disaster. KNC conducted this project as lead agency for the Blue Mountains Lithgow Neighbourhood Network (BLINN), with research partners Charles Sturt University and Springwood Neighbourhood Centre Cooperative. This project involved the evaluation of a number of key resilience and preparedness programmes funded and implemented within the Blue Mountains by a number of agencies following the 2013 Blue Mountains bushfire event. The project resulted in the development of a community action framework for resilience and disaster preparedness. This work represents a milestone in the formal recognition of community organisations in disaster response, recovery and preparedness.

Despite at times a very challenging operating environment, the experience of working for your community, with your community and in your community is a rewarding experience like very few. I would like to finish by thanking all the members of the KNC Board of Management during 2015/2016 – Ruth Bennett, Chairperson; Tina Napier, Treasurer & Deputy Chairperson; Mahalya Middlemist, Secretary and members, David Arnett (outgoing), Kerry Whitehead, Katherine Turner, Val Phillipps (outgoing), Gay Thornton and Dr Wendy Holland. I would also like to single out the support, governance and wisdom provided to the Organisation and to me by Sue Jaques KNC Chief Financial Officer. Thank you all for your stewardship, support, guidance and real belief in this Organisation, the work we do and what we achieve together. n

13

Report prepared by Dr. Sarah Redshaw and Josie Vendramini.

Funding body: NSW Government Department of Family & Community Services, Community Builders

GENERAL OVERVIEWAs we found when we conducted Ask on the Street in 2015, people, friendliness, caring, connection and community events, activities and facilities are the main issues.

Overall, people liked to see a community that is friendly, safe, well resourced, open, inclusive, connected and caring. Some felt that they had this kind of community and others said it was what they thought community was about. These are some of the comments made by participants:

A community that supports the people in the community and local events where people are willing to get involved, support the whole community.’

Variety of interesting activities. Nice community, kids have

grown up here. Good friendship and school connections. Connected.

Peaceful and harmonious, sharing, fun, active, inclusive community.

Place where people meet, open discussion, directions, knowledge, emotional, helping services “Who are you?”

Do what you want when you want, younger activities and facilities, jobs for youth and elderly, people helping each other, to support each other.

Close knit community - people help each other.

Services, facilities, activities and events were mentioned by 36 people individually. They talked about community, helping, disability, isolated and elderly, services and events, activities and facilities for all and for the young and Aboriginal people,

Good services for those in need.

Disabled have all the services in place, no need to go for anything outside of the community. Disability services are easy to access, including support groups, outings for everyone and social events.

Generous, accepting, inclusive, with emphasis on keeping the natural environment beautiful, safe, family friendly, have access to resources and facilities, transport.

Friendly - meetings in groups. Need community services.

Revived shopping centre, more parking, more facilities, more things to attract more visitors.

Council needs to service people not the other way around.

Social outings and events and [for people of] all abilities. Social clubs for (scooter) disabled people. “Ten Pin” bowling centre. More opportunities for forms of exercises. Exercising opportunities improves other areas of life.

Improve facilities for young people. More work opportunities and activities for young people. More skate parks and graffiti walls. Young-bush survival, walks.

Service to chat; anonymous support calls for everyone; more assistance and reaching out.

There was some mention of lack of work and jobs for young people in particular by nine individuals and mention of shops. These were the only mentions of economy related issues. The emphasis was on community being about people and communal activities, caring and diversity. One person stated:

Too much emphasis on development and money and not on humans.

Eleven commented on shops and shopping and access for disabled people, the look of Katoomba, having more for young people.

For some, community meant:

Safe, lots less people, quiet, facilities and shopping.

Strip-shopping. Community activities for all ages. Parks.

A few people mentioned parking issues:

More parking, address the main street and shops, have more security around at night, more lighting in outer area

‘Feel’ was related strongly with village and happy. ‘Better’ was most associated with services and transport as well as opportunity and young people/youth. ‘Improve’ was connected with the acknowledgement that community life could be improved, especially facilities – for exercise, young people, business and families.

‘Need’ related to ‘good services for those in need’, medical needs, ‘the need to pull together’, ‘to soldier on’, U3A, ‘more vibrant activities’, help for those on low incomes, and single mothers. Other comments included money for resources and community activities and fairer opportunities:

Money needs to be spent on Community Centre and Mental Health.

Needs a place for single mothers, having more activities that are free-flowing, more flexibility, better radio, bus to hospital is not often enough, single mother emergency drop-offs, KNC signs from town, have regular spots with KNC, flyers, more community transport at different times, including night time bus service, community bus service to the hospital.

ASK ON THE STREET

14

Acknowledge that we need to give some groups more supports than others to make levels of opportunity and participation fair across the community. Not the same - fair.

One person outlined an ideal of community:

No one has a job but we all work together. No need for money and jobs. Apparently [a population of] 150 village size is perfect.

Housing was considered a basic need along with social equality, ‘meeting people’s needs’, youth services for 12-18 year olds , more things for kids in Katoomba, more help for public schools and addressing mental health.

Katoomba was mentioned by 11 individuals, more than any other place in the mountains. People talked about ‘our Katoomba’, ‘looking after our youth in Katoomba’, ‘more drugs in Katoomba’, how Katoomba ‘has community’, how the ‘main street is dead’,

The diversity of Katoomba community is a little bit invisible, it seems to come out during winter magic otherwise it comes out at particular shifts - you don’t tend to see it. People with disability are not that visible around the town. That’s partly an issue of accessibility. It’s a bit of issue particularly for wheelchair people - lots of shops can’t get into.

North Katoomba - lack of car parks, dangerous traffic scenarios, better shopping facilities.

I am not anonymous around town. Katoomba has lost it, it is cityfied. Medlow has its own identity.

Concerns for the isolated and elderly from ten people included access to services and support, interaction between young and elderly, parking and transport services to medical and shopping centres, and more opportunities for community participation. One person wanted to see more consideration for the elderly:

Having a mindset in shops and facilities to give time to the elderly.

One person talked about ‘living alone and only meeting people at shopping, book and movie clubs.’

Twelve people talked about the ‘village’ feel, belonging and atmosphere with some wanting more of that and one a general store in each village. Eighteen people also used the terms ‘town’ or ‘local’ saying they liked the country town feel, wanting to see more street pride and town pride, smaller towns are more isolated, and a few mentions of wanting a town square and local events. Blackheath was seen as having ‘more of a town feel’ than Katoomba by one person.

A number talked about wanting more social hubs and spaces where people could sit and chat and could include space accessible by disabled people, artistic spaces and ‘spaces for people to hang out - families with young children’. One person said there was ‘green bias and limited commercial space’. Connect or connection were terms used by 18 people who talked about lack of connection and the need for more, about connection being important in community. Some felt that was hard to find while others said they felt connected:

You like to be connected, having community rapport.

When you work outside the area it’s harder to connect - mountains spread out.

It [Community] makes it feel connected. Somewhere to go when they are in trouble. Often there’s not funding but when people get involved it means things get done that otherwise wouldn’t get done. I think then people have ownership in their community.

We love how Katoomba has community. We live on a garden block and everyone chats, school is connected, open and friendly.

Transport issues mentioned included more transport needed, community transport, transport for young people and night time services and in addition ‘bike riders feel unsafe’.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERVIEWEESEighty seven interviews were held with people from a

range of age groups as shown in Table 2. Almost two thirds were women and all were Blue Mountains residents with the majority from Katoomba.

Table 1: Gender

Almost 70% of the interviewees were aged 50 years and above. Table 2 also indicates age by gender. Only the 80+ age group were not represented by both genders. Only the 20-29 year age group had equal numbers of male and female. The 70+ age groups were most represented by women.

Table 2: Age groups represented by gender

The majority, nearly half, were Katoomba residents and all were Blue Mountains residents. The distribution of residence can be seen in Table 3.

Table 3: Residence

% Male 30 34 Female 57 66

number

Age % Male Female

9-19 Years 3 3 2 1 20-29 6 7 3 3 30-39 5 6 2 3 40-49 13 15 5 8 50-59 25 29 9 16 60-69 20 23 7 13 70-79 12 14 2 10 80-87 3 3 0 3 Total 87 100 30 57

number number number

% Katoomba 40 46 Leura 15 17 Wentworth Falls 11 13 Medlow Bath 5 6 Blue Mountains Other 16 18

number

15

GENDER DIFFERENCESWomen were much more likely to talk about the elderly and transport issues than men except train travel where comments were slightly higher for men. Women were more likely to talk about services, access, disability, parks, opportunity, help, families and need.

Men were more likely to talk about towns and villages, neighbours, what could be improved or ‘better’.

Even proportions of men and women talked about community, facilities, activities, people, events and support.

AGE DIFFERENCESTransport issues were talked about most by those in the 50-59 year age group who also used the terms ‘happy’ and ‘safe’ the most. Those in the 60-69 year age group were more likely to talk about ‘social’, ‘neighbours’ and ‘services’. Parking issues were mentioned most by those in the 70-79 year age group. ‘Help’ or ‘assist’ were mentioned across all age groups as were people, feel and ‘better’.

INTERVIEW ANALYSISAnalysis was carried out using NVivo 10 (a qualitative data analysis tool) to determine the most common themes and issues as well as those that were marginal. Word frequency analysis was followed by identifying and coding comments within nodes to investigate what was being said about the main terms used, how these overlapped and how they related to demographic characteristics. Interview comments were brief and recorded in the form of notes in response to each question.

Word frequencies indicate the frequency with which terms were used across all questions. Table 4 indicates the most frequently used words – those words used at least eight times. The most used terms were ‘people’ and ‘community’ followed by ‘feel’ and ‘need’. ‘Services’ and ‘activities’ were used over 20 times as were ‘happy’, ‘friendly’ and ‘support’.

‘People’ and ‘community’ were most strongly associated with services, activities, facilities and events, care,

friendly, safe, connection. ‘People’ was also associated with young (people), needs, transport, disability and facilities and ‘community’ with inclusiveness, happiness and opportunity.

Word searches allow terms to be grouped and coded into nodes or themes. Nodes were generated from the most meaningful terms used and grouped together under seven major themes. The nodes/themes and their sub nodes/themes are shown in Figure 1. (following page)

Word Count Word Count Word Count Word Count people 92 shops 18 one 12 love 9 community 79 inclusiveness 17 village 12 able 9 feel 45 everyone 17 access 12 around 9 need 44 social 17 live 12 give 9 get 34 things 17 lack 11 life 9 services 28 young 16 opportunity 11 space 9 like 28 help 15 elderly 11 youth 9 good 25 groups 15 looking 11 personal 9 happy 25 part 14 sense 11 council 9 make 24 improvement 14 �me 11 local 9 be�er 23 caring 14 street 11 neighbours 8 parking 23 know 14 area 10 nice 8 support 22 issue 14 happen 10 others 8 friendly 22 less 14 want 10 change 8 ac�vi�es 21 transport 14 facili�es 10 disabled 8 place 21 kids 13 Katoomba 10 sharing 8 connected 20 lot 13 pre�y 10 think 8 events 18 together 13 town 9 use 8 safe 18 meet 12 involved 9 work 8

Table 4: Word frequencies

Faces from ASK on The Street

16

Community

better

care

connected

friendly

happy

inclusive

safe

street

diverse

know

access

improve

need

share

help

support

work

Katoomba

local

mountains

parks

town

village

age

elderly

everyone

families

neighbours

tourists

youth

disability

events

facilities

activities

bus

parking

road

tra�c

train

Feel Social Opportunity Places People Services Transport

Community

The nodes were able to be cross referenced with the questions to see where each node is talked about the most. ‘Friendly’ was mentioned most in relation to the first question as were connection and safety, care and inclusiveness.

In question two the most common themes were ‘feel’, especially happy. For question three ‘better’ and ‘improve’ were mentioned most along with references to Katoomba, the mountains, parks and town. For the fourth question ‘people’ was mentioned most, especially youth and disability. ‘Needs’ and activities were also mentioned most at this question as well as transport issues.

NODE COMPARISONSWith comparison between demographic data and nodes it is possible to see how many individuals used different terms. Almost all, 75 of 87, used the term ‘people’. Transport issues were mentioned by 22 people and included mention of car, bus, train, traffic, parking and roads. ‘Friendly’ and ‘happy’ were the most commonly used terms to describe community and 23 people were concerned about activities for people, particularly for young people. n

Node What kind of community

Why is that important

How is that different

Things that need to happen

Community 20 17 11 21 Feel 5 25 12 2 Be�er 0 5 8 8 Care 9 3 1 1 Connect 10 4 6 1 Friendly 14 0 1 0 Happy 5 10 5 3 Inclusive 9 2 3 1 Safe 10 2 1 1 Opportunity 3 1 2 5 Access 3 1 3 3 Ac�vi�es 6 1 1 15 Disability 2 1 2 4 Improve 0 1 8 4 Need 3 7 6 16 Share 3 2 1 2 People 13 20 14 29 Age 1 1 1 2 Elderly 4 1 3 5 Everyone 6 4 2 4 Families 1 1 1 1 Neighbour 1 3 2 0 Tourist 0 2 1 2 Young 4 1 2 13 Katoomba 2 2 5 4 Local 2 0 1 6 Mountains 1 0 4 0 Parks 1 0 4 4 Town 1 3 4 2 Village 5 2 3 2 Services 5 1 6 8 Events 4 0 0 9 Facili�es 6 0 0 4 Social 5 2 1 7 Street 1 2 2 6

? ? ?

Table 5: Nodes by QuestionFigure 1: Themes and subthemes for coding

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Nodes by Ques�on

What kind of community

Why is that important

How is that different

Things that need to happen

Transport 5 3 5 12 Bus 0 0 1 3 Car 2 1 0 1 Parking 4 0 3 7 Road 0 1 2 2 Traffic 1 0 0 1 Train 0 0 2 2

? ? ?

Node Total Individuals Node Total Individuals People 75 Know 10 Community 70 Opportunity 10 Feel 39 Access 10 Need 32 Elderly 10 Friendly 23 Facili�es 10 Happy 23 Street 10 Ac�vi�es 23 Disability 9 Be�er 22 Local 9 Transport 22 Town 9 Services 21 Work/Jobs 9 Connect 18 Parks 8 Young 18 Share 7 Safe 17 Neighbour 7 Inclusive 16 Diverse 7 Help 15 Support 6 Everyone 15 Tourist 5 Improve 14 Mountains 5 Social 14 Families 4 Care 13 Bus 4 Events 13 Car 4 Parking 13 Road 4 Village 12 Train 4 Katoomba 11 Age 3

Table 6: Nodes by individuals

Table 5: Nodes by Question continuedD

etail - Isaac Sherring-Tito’s Dragonfly

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KNC OPERATIONS & QUALITY

Barbara CuthbertQuality Coordinator

Operations ManagerLaurie Strathdee (July 2015 – 8 July 2016)

Quality CoordinatorBarbara Cuthbert

From 8 July 2016, Laurie Strathdee has taken 12 months’ leave. Barbara Cuthbert has taken on the role of Manager Operations and Quality during his absence.

SERVICE DESCRIPTIONOperationsThe position of Operations Manager was established in 2015 in response to the growing complexity of KNC in terms of the breadth of its areas of service delivery, the changing economic and policy environment in which KNC is operating, and the demands that these factors have placed on the CEO role.

The responsibilities and functions of the Operations Manager are:• to work closely with service coordinators: to

provide regular supervision; to develop and assist in implementation of their work plans; to monitor that service targets and outcomes are being met; and to act as a sounding board and provide advice, support and assistance around day to day service issues;

• to oversee and manage daily operational issues that arise, including troubleshooting as necessary;

• to work as part of the KNC Management Team (with the CEO and CFO and Quality Coordinator) to

implement Board and management decisions, to assist with development and implementation of KNC strategic directions and business plans, and to achieve KNC organisational objectives;

• development and management of the KNC Intake service;

• to assist with monitoring and implementation of KNC policies and procedures, and reporting requirements;

• to organise periodic training for KNC staff, both regular training including first aid and KNC induction training, and training identified by staff as necessary to assist with specific practice gaps;

• to manage the continued roll-out and implementation of the PNYX cloud-based client documentation system, in collaboration with PNYX developer Juan Pereyra;

• to manage the transition of KNC to successful operation within the National Disability Insurance Scheme environment;

• to liaise with, and maintain effective working relationships with, third parties including colleagues in the community sector, interagency groups, government agencies, partners and external service providers

SERVICE DESCRIPTIONQualityThe position of Quality Coordinator was established in 2015. This position took a central role in preparing KNC for the three major external audits that a number of KNC services went through over the course of 2015. The consolidation and further development of the KNC quality platform was a central part of the work undertaken by this role across 2015.

The responsibilities and functions of the Quality Coordinator are:• the continuous development, dissemination,

implementation, monitoring and review of KNC policies and procedures, in conjunction with the KNC Management Team and the Quality Improvement Policy & Procedure sub-committee of the KNC Board;

• to help monitor KNC’s compliance with regulatory obligations;

• to take a central role in organisation and preparation of KNC services for external audit;

• to lead the development of a culture of quality management and continuous improvement within the organisation;

• to provide administrative support for various projects and initiatives that KNC is involved in, including BLINN and the BSAFE research project.

SERVICE ACTIVITY & HIGHLIGHTSOperations• The implementation of monthly staff supervision

with all service coordinators, working with service coordinators to develop work plans, and having the Operations Manager available to manage and troubleshoot day to day operational issues that arise, has helped KNC to operate more efficiently and effectively, and has helped staff feel more supported in their increasingly demanding roles;

• The management and continuing development of the KNC intake service, to operate as an effective centralised intake service for clients referred through the My Aged Care system for services provided by neighbourhood centres across the mountains, including social support, domestic assistance, social transport and home modifications and maintenance;

• The continued implementation of the PNYX client management system across more KNC services, and performing more functions for each service;

• Successful registration of Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre as a service provider, plan manager and

OPERATIONS & QUALITY

19

support coordinator with the National Disability Insurance Scheme

Quality• In December 2015, the Australian Aged Care Quality

Agency reviewed a number of KNC services, including Blue Mountains Home Modifications & Maintenance, Blue Mountains Community Support Programme and Katoomba Volunteer Home Visitors, for compliance with the Home Care Standards. All KNC services met 18 of the 18 expected outcomes.

• Attendance at the MOD.A (Modifications Australia)conference in Canberra in April 2016

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThank you to all KNC staff, and service coordinators in particular, who over the past 18 months have stepped up repeatedly to prepare for and undergo intensive audit processes with ferocious dedication and wonderful good humour. It is a pleasure and a privilege to support you to best showcase the amazing work you do for our community.

From left: Quality Coordinator, Barbara Cuthbert; Operations Manager, Laurie Strathdee; Bren Sherring, KNC Intake; Dragonflies

Thank you to Sue Jaques for the patience, wisdom and kindness you bring to your senior manager role – qualities not always associated with leadership of large, demanding organisations. Thank you to Kath Harrison for fearless leadership, dedication and strength of purpose, and warmth and good humour in a tight spot. I am learning so much about what really good, effective leadership is from you both. Thank you.

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SERVICE SUPPORTAnna TardentCoordinator

VOLUNTEER RECEPTION TEAMDavid Armitage, Maxi Davidson, Jackie Delaney, Jim Hennessey, Tracey Johnson, Jenny Lloyd, Cathy Maddock, Johanna O’Hea, Bernie Power, Carol Price, June Rose, Angela Sharman, Rose Shilson-Josling.

The role of Service Support within KNC is to provide administrative, IT and Volunteer Support across the organisation to ensure the delivery of timely, professional, appropriate and responsive service to clients, staff and groups of the Neighbourhood Centre. This includes the Front Desk/Reception area of KNC which is the first point of contact and is a friendly and welcoming area where you can sit and have a cuppa and a chat, look through our library of Information and Referral booklets or ask one of our Volunteer Receptionists to help you find the information you need. As illustrated in Fig.1 below, KNC’s Reception

area continues to become busier each year. Thank you to our mighty Reception Team who grow and change with us, continuing to learn new skills and always looking after us and the community with care and kindness.

SERVICE ACTIVITY – Community Hub & ReceptionIn line with our funding requirements to the NSW Department of Family & Community Services, one of our most important roles is for KNC to act as a Community Hub that community members can access for general help, information and when necessary timely referral to services most appropriate to their needs. As illustrated in Fig. 1 below, KNC’s central role as a Community Hub is evidenced by the activity coming through the Reception area, which continues to grow and become busier each year.

In order to service our community effectively and efficiently we collect, trend and review our usage data each year and survey our community members to ensure we remain relevant and responsive to them.

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

02011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016

Fig 1. Shows the con�nued increase of Service Contacts each year

Group Name

Northcott Disability Employment Services 11 Women's Recovery AA 52 Narcotics Anonymous Mondays 7pm 52 Pathways to Care Careers Outreach Course 4 English as a Second Language 48 Wednesday AA 52 Amnesty International event 1 Narcotics Anonymous Wednesday 8pm 52 Blue Fringe Committee Planning Meetings 5 Living Sober AA 52 Healthy 4 Life Choir 4 Pacopezants Choir 50 AA Saturday 52 As Bill Sees It 52 Wesley Gambling Counselling Service 35 Art Therapy 2 My Aged Care 1 TAFE Outreach 4 Max Employment Disability Employment Service 45 Department of Veterans Affairs 2 Tax Help 12 Juvenile Justice 1 Public Interest Advocacy 1 Christmas Connect Activities 19 Relationships Australia 1 NDIS Admin 21 Yoga for Beginners 10 Aboriginal Women's Good Breathing Choir 14 NDIS Ready Workshops 2 Aboriginal Family Workers Staff Meeting 4 Art Journaling Course 4 Healthy 4 Life Meeting 1 NDIS 2 Carers meet with Shadow Minister 1 All Addictions Anonymous 4 LGBTI Legal Forum 2

Total 675

Number of times service provided

Fig 2. Service Activity Coordinated through KNC Community Hub

Fig 3. Shows a breakdown into age groups for all phone calls and Walk Ins to KNC over the year. This year has seen a slight increase in Seniors (from 12.9 to 15%) however the largest group continues to be adults in the 25-65 year age group.

Fig 3 Age Groups for Walk Ins and Phone Calls(where known)

AdultSeniorYouthChild

0%1%

Fig 2. (right) Outlines the groups who have accessed our community meeting spaces.

SERVICE SUPPORT

21

Fig 4. Takes a closer look at our Community Hub data – who is approaching KNC for help and what their main reason for connecting with us is.

Fig 5. Shows that by gender it is more likely that women will seek support from KNC than any other gender.

Fig 4 Average Daily Instance of Service 2015 - 2016

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

UsingInfrastructure

SocialInclusion

Assistance & Relief

Assisted Referral

Information& Referral

0

5

10

15

20

25

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Fig 5 Daily Average by Gender 2015-2016

Female

Male

Other

Female

Male

Other

Fig 5 Daily Average by Gender 2015 - 2016

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

25

20

15

10

5

0

Male OtherFemale

SERVICE ACTIVITY – Information TechnologyDuring the year many of our services were significantly impacted by changes in reporting protocols and new funder reporting ‘portals’.

The Department of Social Services introduced their new “Data Exchange” portal (DEX) and the new My Aged Care website (MAC) also went live for aged care which means clients, assessors and providers all use this site.

These new approaches to reporting are planned to be more streamlined, automated and reflect the shift in focus from measuring outputs to outcomes, however KNC like many organisations has found the teething process to have its challenges. We responded proactively to these I.T. changes and have been working since late 2014 with Juan Pereya who is developing PNYX, an integrated client-centred Case Management software platform. We successfully reported Jan-June 2016 DEX data via PNYX. We continue to work to respond to these changes, which also include the NDIS for which KNC officially became a registered provider on 18 May 2016.

SERVICE ACTIVITY – Education and TrainingKNC holds regular training for our staff, volunteers and often guests (eg clients, or staff and volunteers from other organisations). Opportunities for training are diverse and driven by individual identified need as well as service-related skills training. Some examples of training workshops over the year include Therapeutic Listening and Accidental Counselling (as covered in Volunteer Orientation); Board Due Diligence and Risk Management (some of the training our Board undertook during the year); various opportunities to complete training around working with technology and with systems as well as specific training for each service as needed. Fig.6 (on following page) gives a breakdown of the various workshops presented by/facilitated by KNC over the year.

As well as training opportunities we offer our volunteers paid work where appropriate, and a special thanks to Jenny Lloyd and Tracey Johnson whose great skills were called upon this year with the extra work involved with the switch

to new portals and reporting procedures around MAC and DEX.

Above: Volunteer Receptionists Jenny and Carol with Service Support Coordinator, Anna. Below: Trevor picking up a Big Issue from KNC reception.

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ENDINGSDuring this financial year two of our longest serving Reception Volunteers retired. Many many thanks to June Rose and Johanna O’Hea for your years of hard work and dedication – you are missed. June continues to provide Community Lunches on the first Thursday of each month. Dawn Wigg also retired from KOOSH where the staff and kids greatly appreciated her kindness and humour over the last couple of years. Passion Rodziewicz finished up in her role at Vale Street to concentrate on her studies.

BEGINNINGSA heartfelt welcome to Tracey Johnson and Cathy Maddock who joined our reception team during the year and already feel indispensable! We also thank Mel Michaels, Rika Kristall, Xavier Waterkeyn and Aline Richardson who have been a great addition to our Community and Cultural Development team.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThanks also to Dale Reardon and his team for their invaluable I.T. support and to Marty Walker from Still Moving Design for our website.

I would like to finish by thanking ALL the volunteers of KNC who contribute in so many areas and provide such an extensive skill base and community spirit. Thank you to Earth Recovery Australia who regularly bring fresh food and bread in, it is always much appreciated. A big thanks to Brian Gravison who continues to help us out in numerous ways, including making trips out to bakeries after hours to ensure lovely fresh bread comes here to be distributed instead of being wasted.

In the years that I have been at KNC I don’t think I’ve ever seen our volunteer to staff ratio drop below 4 to 1 - what a wonderful community we have. n

TAX HELP 2015-2016Neil SmithFinance Administration

The community welcomed the return of the Tax Help scheme again this year. It continues to be a valuable and appreciated service.

Tax Help was administered this year by Neil Smith. Charles Packham was the Tax Advisor. Charles is a valuable asset to KNC and we look forward to his return next year. We would also like to acknowledge the support of our reception

volunteers, who worked to qualify enquiries and to schedule appointments efficiently.

The increase in the tax-free threshold meant there was a lessening of demand in 2015, with a total of 31 clients seen. Early bookings were strong but the season saw low demand as we entered October.

Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre in partnership with the Australian Taxation Office remain committed to this important community service and acknowledge the outstanding and ongoing commitment of Mr Packham to our community. n

Type of Training Number of sessions

Number of a�endances

Volunteer Orientation 4 18

MAC Portal Training 1 5

PNYX Training 1 7

Volunteer Clinical Supervision 4 31

Aged Care Rights Training 1 8

Induction to KNC 4 31

Reception Training 3 16

KVHV Training/Get Together 1 8

Board Member Training 5 30

Volunteer Celebration 2 43

Training in Computers/Systems for Staff 2 13

Keeping Safe in the Home and in the Community 1 7

First Aid Training 1 6

Vision Australia 1 12

CVS Volunteer Training/Get Together 1 6

WHS & First Aid Training for Volunteers 1 1

Total 33 242

Fig 6. Education and Training

Right: Neil Smith - Finance Administration

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COMMUNITY & CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTJosie VendraminiCoordinator

Funding body: NSW Government Department of Family & Community Services, Community Builders

Service Coordinator Josie Vendramini

VolunteersMel Michaels, Rika Kristall, Xavier Waterkeyn, Tracey Johnson and Aline Richardson

SERVICE DESCRIPTIONKNC through the community development programme engages the wider community as well as targeted vulnerable communities and individuals to programmes, projects and events that connect people, build resilience, enhance individual and community capacity and support health and wellbeing. A core activity of community development work within KNC is to undertake robust annual community consultations to ensure the voice and needs of the community are heard and acted upon in the most responsive, appropriate and informed way possible.

HIGHLIGHTS Christmas Connect: This programme idea was brought to Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre by Mel Michaels, a community member concerned for our more vulnerable and socially isolated community members during the peak Christmas period where services and businesses shut down. The programme, designed to be supportive and provide positive experiences, ran between the 29th December and the 9th January as a pilot. 9 volunteer facilitators gave their time and expertise to run classes

ranging from yoga to art to journalling for people isolated during the Christmas period. The programme also provided a space after the classes to enable the participants to share a cup of tea in a social context. During the 10 day period the programme operated, 68 participants attend 133 times across 18 separate programmes. All those participating, both facilitators and participants, recorded very high levels of satisfaction with the programme and enjoyment of the experience. We are pleased that following such a meaningful pilot we will incorporate Christmas Connect into our mainstream Community Development programme.

Family Lunch: We partnered with Mountains Support and the Mountains Outreach Community Service (MOCS) to provide vulnerable families with a community event to connect with community and support services, and a delicious healthy lunch shared with their children and other community members. This has been highly successful with hundreds of participants in particular enjoying the Family Lunches and activities run during school holiday periods. As part of the Family Lunches we have also partnered with our local libraries to bring Blue Above: Music and food at KNC’s Community Lunches

CCD Mountains Pop Up Libraries to two of the lunches.

Community Lunches: The Community Lunch held at KNC on the first Thursday of each month is a long-standing institution. At each lunch, a nutritious, delicious vegetarian meal is prepared; the volunteers pay equal attention to the creation of an aesthetically welcoming and beautiful dining room; and a warm and welcoming atmosphere is created for members of our local community to gather and share a meal, conversation and friendship. KNC is deeply grateful to June Rose and the band of wonderful committed volunteers – including Jim Hennessy, Brian Gravison, Lyn Harrison, Gillian Dupen,

Above: Josie Vendramini with Volunteer Helpers for the Family Lunches. Left: Healthy food prepared by volunteers.

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Gillian Jones and Jacki Delaney - who have prepared and served the lunches throughout the year, as well as all the local businesses who have provided another year of practical support for this Katoomba institution.

We also thank Ananda Marga for the community lunch they provide at KNC on the second Thursday of every month. Aromatic, nourishing indian vegetarian meals are prepared and served to members of our local community with warm smiles of welcome. The Community Lunch and Ananda Marga lunches are part of the fabric of a healthy local community, where, in particular, local residents who may be socially isolated or financially struggling are welcomed and nourished and given a place for social connection and friendship. Across both lunches, an average of 65 people were provided with lunch and social connection each month.

Melrose ParkWe supported the development of the Friends of Melrose Park, a group of local residents living around the environs of Melrose Park in North Katoomba. The group expressed their aspirations for beautifying the park and providing infrastructure for a more user-friendly, family-focused connected park. We advocated for and attended meetings with the group, helping with events and assisting with the set-up of bush care in the park as well as securing a $24,000 grant for the Ur Space Ur Place project to enable park infrastructure to be improved. This project, which is a partnership with Blue Mountains City Council, will see improvements to the toilet block, as well as increased and enhanced family seating and shelter.

Meet Your Street (MYS)MYS is a place based, neighbourhood focused strategy to access local people in their streets in their neighbourhoods. MYS is utilised as a core Blue Mountains Lithgow Neighbourhood Network community development strategy aimed in this period at bushfire and emergency preparedness. Multiple MYS activities were run by Neighbourhood Centres across the Blue Mountains Local

Government Area. MYS is a partnership strategy involving other Neighbourhood Centre community development staff, local Rural Fire Service volunteers and community engagement staff and Mountains Outreach Community Services providing activities for children attending the events. KNC ran Meet Your Street in Melrose Park with Friends of Melrose Park, RFS and MOCS among other stakeholders, engaging the community participants around their levels of preparedness for fire and emergency, and providing assistance and tips around planning and working in streets with neighbours to improve preparedness .

Neighbourhood Centre WeekNeighbourhood Centre week is celebrated in May each year. This year KNC held an open day at the Blue Mountains Community Garden featuring the Rural Fire Service and a permaculture workshop, damper making session and toasted marshmallows. Over one hundred people from a diverse range of community backgrounds attended

Above: Photos from Meet Your Street at Melrose Park, September 2015 (Dashhel Photography) Left: Friends of Melrose Park members, KNC staff and Council Representative at Melrose Park, North Katoomba. Right: Community Gardens Open Day - Neighbourhood Centre Week.

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the community friendly fun event. KNC also featured a chocolate making workshop at the Blue Mountains Food Co-op as part of the week’s activities. These activities and events are designed to enable community participation and bring members of the community together and enhance networks and connection across and within community.

Community Conversations/Ask on the StreetKatoomba Neighbourhood Centre utilises the Harwood method of community engagement to enable us to hear the voice of our community. We utilise two main methods of community consultation:

1. Ask on the Street (see the detailed Ask on the Street analysis) is undertaken in Neighbourhood Centre Week each May. We go out onto the streets of Wentworth Falls, Leura, Katoomba and Medlow Bath to take a snapshot by asking our community what their aspirations are for their community and what needs to change or be addressed to meet them.

2. Community Conversations are used to gain a deeper level of understanding and potential action around issues identified for and by the community. Each community conversation has around 10-15 participants. Participants are drawn from the Ask on the Street exercise, from our existing programs and services and general advertising for participants. This strategy is an effective means to find out what our community thinks and feels. It is also a prime means to promote our services to the community and generate public awareness.

These community consultation activities enable us to hear the voice of the community and carry their voice authentically when advocating for them and working with them to address their needs.

Supporting victims of Domestic violenceWe have been working with our wonderful community to provide essential items for women and their children fleeing domestic violence. We had approx. 4,000 people

interacting with our Facebook posts regarding various appeals and received a huge volume of items to support these women and their families.

FacebookKNC has ventured into the social media space to connect

more broadly with our community. Working with the KNC Service Support Coordinator, we ensure that we are using this platform daily to raise awareness of issues both local and more broadly and support and flag events and activities to be accessed by our community. We have reached 600 likes and have had thousands of interactions with our page. In July 2016 we had 1.98K interactions per week. Please find, like and share our page.

Blue Mountains Lithgow Integrated Neighbourhood Network (BLINN)The Community Development staff across the Mountains & Lithgow Neighbourhood Centres have been integral to growing and strengthening this sustainable and effective network. This period has seen the planning and development of an LGA wide approach to two key shared areas of core business for Neighbourhood Centres across the region:

1. Our Community Consultations

2. Resilience & Preparedness

By engaging in the network approach we are able to maximise our community development resources and reach across the Blue Mountains. Currently we are planning our regional approach to working with communities across the Blue Mountains and Lithgow around disaster and emergency preparedness, focusing on realistic planning and emotional preparedness.

Ongoing and Emerging PartnershipsOver the past 12 months we have worked in partnership with: Clear Red, North Katoomba Community Hub, Potslam Youth Festival, Blue Mountains Community Gardens, Nova Employment, Country Womens Association, Katoomba Girl

Guides, Katoomba Fire Station, RFS, MYS, TAFE Outreach, BMCC, all Primary Schools in the catchment Area (Leura, Katoomba, Wentworth Falls), Katoomba Library, Wimlah Women’s Refuge, Project Connect.

Media coverageKNC’s services, events and projects have been supported by local media throughout the year, in particular The Blue Mountains Gazette. Articles in The Gazette covering such things as the Christmas Connect programme, the work and achievements of the Friends of Melrose Park, Ruth Ley’s retirement and farewell celebration, the Seniors Week concert at The Carrington, family lunches, LGBTQI workshops and the launch of the BSAFE report – all have highlighted to our community the breadth of events and projects that KNC is involved in, and have promoted awareness of these diverse projects and services that KNC provides for the local community, whether alone or in partnership. We thank The Blue Mountains Gazette for its support of the work of KNC.

Creating a more environmentally sustainable KNCIn recognition of its place as a community leader in the local area, as well as being a space that is accessed by large numbers of community members and groups, KNC engaged local sustainability expert Marina Brown in June 2016. Marina was asked to audit the current practices

Neil taking on the role of Sustainability Supervisor at KNC, with help from Marina (and to quote Neil: ‘Not part of my job description!)

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at KNC, raise awareness of how KNC could operate in a more sustainable way, and help us implement practices to increase how much we “reduce, reuse and recycle”. It was a real eye-opener for staff about how little of what is thrown in the bin on site needs to go to landfill – most of the waste generated on site can be composted or recycled. Marina helped staff implement a simple system to sort and collect waste appropriately to minimise waste going to landfill. She also helped staff set up a similar simple and sustainable waste collection system in the meeting spaces that are used by community groups. We thank Marina for the way in which she was able to efficiently and effectively raise staff awareness, and help us implement simple and sustainable improved practices.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThank you to Laurie for his outstanding support and mentoring for the CD team. He is very much missed and we wish him and Jasmine all the best on their fabulous adventures! n Clockwise from above: Meet Your

Street - NSW Rural Fire Service meeting the locals; Hazelbrook Rural Fire Service - Meet Your Street; Smoke over Hazelbrook; CCD Coordinator, Josie Vedramini

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BLUE MOUNTAINS HOME MODIFICATION AND MAINTENANCE SERVICEMegan KavanaghService Administrator

FUNDING BODYHome Modifications & Maintenance is funded by the NSW Department Family & Community Services (FACS) (Ageing Disability & Home Care), Commonwealth Department of Social Services (DSS) Department of Ageing (DoHA) Home & Community Care programme from 1/7/15 to 31/10/2015 then Commonwealth DSS Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) from 1/11/2015. 

Commonwealth Department of Social Service for people aged over 65 years and for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders aged over 50 years.

NSW Department of Family & Community Services for people aged under 65 years and for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders aged under 50 years.

SERVICE CO-ORDINATORS AND PAID STAFFRuth Ley - Builder/Coordinator - retirement farewell celebration and commencement of LSL 25.2.2016.Deceased 12.5.2016

Senior trade staff - Scott Melville - resigned 25.5.2016

Trade staff - Stephen Duncan

Service Administrator - Megan Kavanagh

Casual handyperson - Thomas Redmond - resigned July 2015

SERVICE AIMS Our purpose is to provide modifications and maintenance for frail elders and people of any age who have a disability, as well as the carers for both groups, so they can remain

safely in their own homes and not have to go prematurely into nursing homes, hostels or other such facilities.

Among other things we build ramps, create wheelchair accessible bathrooms, and install grab rails to Occupational Therapists’ (OTs) specifications.

We can also assist with minor maintenance if it affects safety: for example, repairing steps, minor electrical and plumbing work.

We cover the whole of the Blue Mountains from Lapstone to Mt Victoria and the Mounts.

SERVICE TARGETS & SERVICE ACTIVITYDuring this financial year we recorded more than 226 re-quests for service. Approximately 86% of these requests were from people over the age of 65.

Some of these referrals were for advice and/or information but most resulted in modification or maintenance work. The number of referrals has remained roughly the same, with the type of work required becoming more complex and requiring more work hours. Some requests were de-clined because no safe, legal modifications could be made due to such factors as non-adaptable constructions or ex-cessively sloping terrain. Other requests saw no action for various reasons such as work being carried out by client’s family, client not wanting the work done, client moving to permanent care or client moving in with family members elsewhere, or the client had died.

Historically Blue Mountains Home Modifications was a Level 1 Service. This meant we could complete modifications to the value of $7,500.  We would then need

to refer work exceeding $7,500 to Fusion HMMS, the holder of the Level 2 funds for the Nepean Local Planning Area. In line with Commonwealth reforms to aged care and disability service provision, the levels of services have been eliminated. Each service can complete Modifications to any value, however the maximum subsidy a client can receive for any Home Modifications & Maintenance job is $10,000.

The net income from client fees for the period was $17,926 (Fees from HMMS clients less materials for HMMS clients). Under our agreements, clients are charged fees for this service, however the fee is subsidised for eligible clients. The client fee is calculated on the full cost of the job (materials, contractors and installation hours). The client fee is a percentage of the full cost. This percentage reflects the client’s financial situation. Where hardship is established, the fees can be waived and the full cost subsidised under particular circumstances. Fees are used to extend the service to more clients.

OUTPUTSThe funding bodies require the Service to report work carried out separately for modifications and maintenance. Modifications are reported as the actual cost of delivering the service to the client and maintenance by the number of hours spent engaged in maintenance services to clients. Outputs for clients aged over 65 years (aged over 50 for ATSI clients) are now recorded in 6 monthly blocks by calendar year. Outputs for clients aged under 65 years (aged under 50 for ATSI clients) are still reported quarterly.

Outputs reported were as follows:

Modifica�ons Maintenance Maintenance Hours July – Sept 15 $60,870.00 $35,887.50 957 Oct – Dec 15 $45,399.00 $15,525.00 414 Jan – Mar 16 $5,361.00 $1,800.00 48 Apr – June 16 $4,679.00 $0 0 Jan – June 16 110,821.00 17,550.00 351 Total $227,130.00 $70,762.50 1,770

Period $ $

Ruth Ley at her Farewell Celebration

BMHMMS

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HIGHLIGHTS & ACHIEVEMENTSClient Satisfaction Surveys are sent to every client on job completion. Previously approximately 95% of these have been returned. In the last year the response has been closer to 70% but still with 100% positive feedback. Increasing complexity of the clients’ needs and the clients’ ability to respond may account for some of this. The client comments and evaluations are complimentary regarding the appropriateness of the work done (the function) and the manner in which it has been carried out. The client responses illustrate how effective well designed and installed modifications enable clients to go about their daily lives.

o Aged Care Quality Review took place when the service was audited by DSS in December 2015. It was a successful outcome as compliance with relevant service standards was achieved.

o Presentations /guest speaker at community interest groups, community forums. The service continues to accept opportunities to talk about what we provide and how to access our service. Many new clients contact us after these events.

o Occupational Therapist/HMMS meetings/training: BMHMMS has been hosting these events quarterly for many years. This process assures good quality of referrals from the OTs, a better understanding with HMMS staff of the technical applications of the modifications and better outcomes for the client

o Early in 2016, Ruth Ley made the decision to retire. We celebrated her 20 years’ service in February at a wonderful party, acknowledging her passion and commitment to the industry. She then took a period of long service leave.

CHALLENGES o Occupational Therapists

Lack of consistent funding to the Service for OT assessments and long waiting lists at Community Health affects provision of prompt, effective service to Blue Mountains clients. 

Limited brokerage OT funding has been available from Modifications Australia (MOD.A) who administer it on behalf of state and federal funding bodies. However it is limited, and with the new My Aged Care (MAC) system in place there is less opportunity to use these funds as most referrals come through the system with an OT assessment in place.

Reports provided by contracted OTs (paid for with brokerage funds): 42 clients

OT reports provided externally: 184

Total clients for whom OT reports were provided: 226

Very respectful to my husband who is a lot of the time non communicative. Thank you. You definitely have made a difference to our lives. - NK Winmalee

Your staff and the service they provide are very good. Wish all other agencies were always as good. - BL Winmalee

The man who completed the installation was lovely to my parents, very understanding and respectful. Scott I think. Full marks. - CM Valley Heights

Excellent service provided. You are always understanding of the situations we face daily and offer assistance at affordable prices. A big thank you. - MD Lawson

I feel I have been fortunate as the work is of a high standard and the workers are very agreeable. Thank you. - MV Faulconbridge

Very affordable and items very helpful. Everything was explained very courteously. - KK Blackheath

We are very happy with the finished work and how it has made access to and from the house much better, adding to more independence for myself. - KA Wentworth Falls

Thank you for the service. Your office staff were wonderful. Your workers were exceptionally kind and understanding. - GW Faulconbridge

Excellent, friendly & efficient service. Advice was given regarding job and is exactly what we wanted. - BM Wentworth Falls

I am very happy with the modifications and commend all the persons involved in this work. The grab rails are a great help. - DP Mt Riverview

An excellent service from start to finish. Should have done it years ago. A pleasant experience in my own home environment. - DP Glenbrook

The same staff member attended me this time as I had some modifications done some years ago, so I felt very comfortable. - KA Springwood

Just a sincere thank you. All was done with courtesy & punctuality. The services available could not, in my opinion, be surpassed anywhere else. It promotes safety and confidence. - MS Hazelbrook

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o Increase in complexity of clients

o My Aged CareAll referrals for clients aged over 65 years are now coming to the service via the My Aged Care portal.

The system has its challenges and we continue to work cooperatively with MAC, OTs, other services and the clients to reach the desired outcome.

Our peak body, MOD.A, Home Modifications Australia, keeps the department informed on our issues around MAC and the new referral process and advocates on behalf of its members for changes to the system.

o Data Exchange (DEX) Data Exchange is the new reporting system for clients aged over 65 and is now reported every 6 months. Our first reporting period for the year was Jan 2016 to June 2016.

o NDIS Home Modifications & Maintenance is one of the major KNC services now straddling the change from our historical funding and models of care to the new requirements of the NDIS and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). With the introduction of NDIS for young people aged under 18 years in our region, many families with a young person with a disability are waiting to be transitioned to the scheme and receive their personalised funding. This change brings with it a challenge for the service but more importantly challenges for the families undertaking their first support plan under the scheme. We have identified the need to provide information and facilitate access to available services. The shift to the NDIS will affect all the under 65 community at the end of June 2016. Home Modifications & Maintenance are endeavouring to ensure that we can remain responsive, current and competitive for clients in the new world.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe acknowledge the death of our Service Co-ordinator Ruth Ley. Ruth was a passionate and committed builder in

the home modifications sector, and worked in the service for 20 years. Ruth was a great friend and colleague and will be sadly missed.

We acknowledge the outstanding contribution of our contractors, Ann Adams Occupational Therapist and all our specialist trade people. Their reliability and their understanding of the needs of our clients is greatly appreciated.

The service could not function without the outstanding work and excellent communication skills of our trade staff, Scott Melville and Steve Duncan. We acknowledge the contribution made by Scott Melville to the service over the past 11 years and that he will be missed.

Our casual handyperson, Tom Redmond, has provided excellent service for our clients’ maintenance requirements.

We acknowledge the immense contribution made by Barbara Cuthbert in the Aged Care Quality Review process.

We thank the KNC manager, Kath Harrison for her excellent support over the year and to Sue Jaques for her invaluable financial supervision. n

Michael Bleasdale, Dave Schmidt, Ruth Ley , Ron Rademaker, Megan Kavanagh, Gary Farrell, Scott Melville, Steve Duncan (The Home Mods team at large)

After

Before and after photograph illustrating the construction of a safe ramp and rail in place of a more temporary and less safe structure.

Before

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RememberingRuth

uth Ley joined the Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre in 1996 as the licenced builder, in KNC’s

Home Modification & Maintenance Service. Ruth’s role in Coordinating HMMS for 20 years enabled many people who are frail aged & people with disabilities to live safely and more independently in their own homes for longer. Many lives have been enriched by her work leading the Blue Mountains Home Modification Service and teams of staff over this time.

Ruth always ensured the highest quality and integrity of service and care to individuals and families of the Blue Mountains. Her tireless work to ensure the best possible standards of service and outcomes for clients has been recognised for many years by the NSW Home Modifications State Council.

State Council acknowledged her leadership, talent and integrity on multiple occasions:-

The Award for Social Conscience & Commitment to the HMMS Industry

Trade Appreciation Award and most significantly,

The Alan Meldrum Perpetual Award for Excellence in the HMMS Industry

When Ruth decided to retire in February this year, we knew many people would want to join with KNC to celebrate and honour her. Ruth’s farewell from KNC on 25th February 2016 was a wonderful, colourful, event full of music, stories, humour and celebration. The hall was decorated by dozens of colourful dragonflies (her favourite) - created by the children from KOOSH & Ruth’s work collegues.

Ruth had amazing personal qualities - her intelligence, compassion, humour, skills as a leader and organiser, her superb relations with clients and co-workers, her passion for music and her many musical abilities, her humanity and empathy for others and her deep understanding and appreciation of our landscape and environment. She was a Renaissance woman of outstanding integrity, character, strength, love and joy for life. We have been honoured to have her stand with us through the years. n

R

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KATOOMBA OUT OF SCHOOL HOURS(KOOSH) Incorporating Before School, After School and Vacation Care

Vasant DemelloCoordinator

Co-Ordinator/Nominated SupervisorVasant de Mello – 38 hours per week

Certified SupervisorJenna Cosgrove - 32 hours per week

AdministrationBarbara Cuthbert – 15 hours per week

Child Care WorkersTaylor Brisbane- 30 hours per week (Taylor completed her Traineeship on April 24 2016)Isaac Sherring-Tito – 30 hours per week (Isaac is the new KOOSH trainee)

Casual Child Care WorkersHunter De Groot, Louise Bender, Belinda Lopez, Georgia Morris-Gardiner, Isaac Sherring-Tito, Olivia MacPhail

VolunteersDawn Wigg

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Article 31:“Parties recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.”

At KOOSH we strive to put each and every child and family that comes to our service at the centre of our thoughts and interactions. By valuing each child’s individuality we become a positive influence on their journey through life. Our primary tool is play.

Service AimsKOOSH offers centre-based care for children aged 5-12 years for Before and After School Care during school term and all day during the school holidays in Vacation Care. KOOSH’s purpose is to create a safe, stimulating and caring environment where children can be cared for while parents/carers work or study and where children can freely choose from the programme of activities.

Funding Koosh is predominantly funded by fees for service, however the service receives a minimal amount of funding annually from the Department of Education and Communities for our Vacation Care programme.

Service ProvisionKOOSH continues to deliver a high quality care and activities program for 5-12 year old children needing Before School Care, After School Care and Vacation Care. We have provided care to 58 children for Before School Care; 196 children for After School Care and 184 children for Vacation Care over the 2015-2016 reporting period.

Service Targets• To operate as close to full capacity as possible (30

children each morning and 45 each afternoon).

• Maintaining the required staff-to-children ratios (1:15) and exceeding this staffing ratio when able, in a bid to deliver an even higher quality service.

• All staff at KOOSH have continued in their efforts to provide high quality care to the diverse range of families within the area.

• To maintain our compliance required under the National Quality Framework, and strive to enhance and improve the quality of service provided to children and families.

Service Activity• KOOSH staff and children had the privilege of creating

multiple crafty/arty dragonflies for Ruth Ley’s farewell event which were also reprised, sadly, for Ruth’s wake at the old Katoomba Library. Ruth loved the dragonflies and it was an absolute pleasure for the children and staff to create them.

• Jenna, our permanent child care worker, organised a raffle to raise money to fund a new mural that was designed and painted by our artist in residence, Isaac Sherring-Tito. We now have a superb new mural on the walls of our KOOSH rooms.

• Taylor Brisbane completed her traineeship and has moved on to employment at an OSHC on the Central Coast.

• Isaac Sherring-Tito is the new KOOSH trainee and commenced his traineeship in June 2016.

• KOOSH has continued to access the Inclusion Support Subsidy through the Department of Social Services. The subsidy enables KOOSH to employ extra staff to provide a high quality of care to several children with additional needs.

• Our relationship with the Blue Mountains Aboriginal Culture & Resource Centre’s KOORI playgroup continues and it is gratifying to see families gathering at KOOSH

“Childhood is not adulthood; childhood is

playhood and no child ever gets enough play.” A.S. Neill author

of Summerhill.

Isaac’s mural at KOOSH

KOOSH

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each week. The space at KOOSH has also been used to host a variety of community activities and events, including book club, meetings, volunteer group supervision and monthly family lunches.

• Further remediation work has been carried out by Council on the playground and we are hopeful that this work is nearing completion.

• The old cover over the sandpit was dismantled and a new shade sail was built with plans afoot to spruce up the sandpit in the near future.

Our vacation care program continues to attract positive feedback from children and families, and it is very gratifying to see that we have a large cohort of children (who do not use the service for BSC and ASC) who regularly use our

vacation care service. Over the past twelve months, we have enjoyed stories and a workshop by story teller extraordinaire John Hockney; had an excellent Hula Hooping demonstration and workshop; enjoyed another fun-filled, magical experience at Jenolan Caves; went ten pin bowling at Penrith; did a mandala workshop; got up close and personal with reptiles; had a performance and workshop with giant slinkies and were enthralled again by Hands, Heart and Feet; made some music and lots of noise with a drumming workshop and got creative with a puppetry workshop, plus many other activities. The following tables show the number of individual attendances and number of children booked in and paid for, for each of the three KOOSH services, as well as the percentage of available places utilised.

VACATION CARE Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Attended 261 256 308 302 269 0 0 Scheduled 276 263 319 313 278 0 0 Capacity 68% 83% 88% 86% 77% 0% 0% Total Attended 1396 Total Scheduled 1449 Total Children 184 Average Daily Attendance 34.90 Average Daily Scheduled 36.23 Average Capacity 80.00%

Attendances

Attendances

Attendance

BEFORE SCHOOL CARE Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 265 373 305 413 360 0 0

276 390 305 428 372 0 0 17% 21% 16% 23% 21% 0% 0%

1716 1771 58

8.80 9.08

20.00%

AttendedScheduledCapacityTotal AttendedTotal ScheduledTotal ChildrenAverage Daily AttendanceAverage Daily ScheduledAverage Capacity

Attendances

Attendances

Attendance

Volcano making at KOOSH

Drumming with Hands, Heart and Feet, and ‘Knights’ at KOOSH

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AFTER SCHOOL CARE Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Attended 878 1501 1288 1385 857 0 0 Scheduled 996 1697 1457 1573 987 0 0 Capacity 61% 91% 77% 83% 56% 0% 0% Total Attended 5909 Total Scheduled 6710 Total Children 174 Average Daily Attendance 29.55

33.55 Average Capacity 74.00%

Average Daily Scheduled Attendance

Attendance

Attendance

AcknowledgementsKOOSH would like to thank all the businesses that kindly donated prizes for our raffle: Bendigo Bank, Scenic World, Katoomba Leisure Centre, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, United Cinemas, Mount Vic Flicks, The Family Hotel, Wentworth Falls Country Club, The Blue Mountains

CHILDREN’S QUOTES:

“KOOSH has fun stuff and we get to play games and go outside and we get to use chalk outside as well and we get to read books and draw stuff.” GABRIEL aged 7

“It’s fun! The staff make it exciting and give us good food and you make a lot of friends here and it’s just a fun place to come after school and during the holidays.” GRYFFYN aged 11

“I like reading at KOOSH because there are better books than at home.” MADELINE aged 8

“It’s the most joyful and happy place I’ve been in my entire life. I have friends here.” ROAM aged 9

“There is lots of fun equipment to play on outside and lots of good books.” GRACE EMILY aged 11

Co-operative, Afternoonified, Louise Holmes, Blue Mountains Pet Resort, Bellezza Beauty Therapy, Big W Katoomba, Coles Katoomba, Discount Books Katoomba, The Carrington Cellars, Stall holders at Glenbrook Markets who kindly donated, Fusion Boutique, Cortado Lawson, Claude Hay, Cooking With Caustic, Josophan’s Fine Chocolates, Livonne Imagination, UpBeet Espresso café, The Buttery Bakery, That Candle Girl, The Metropole Katoomba, Colless Foods, The Natural Candle Company, Moontree, No Nasties Food, Gossip Girls Cleaning, The Chocolate Factory, The Paragon Café, Go Vita Katoomba, Thunderbird Café, Euphoria Hair, Stingers Tattoo/Jeff Rhodes, Sibby Georgiou Cello Lessons, Empire Rolande Graphic Design, Mother Goose/Bryan Cutts and Mount Vic and Me Art. n

Cid doing finger knitting at KOOSH

Christmas playdough fun at KOOSHKids artwork at KOOSH

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COMMUNITY VISITORS SCHEME (CVS)

Felicity TonksCoordinator

CVS is an Australian Government initiative funded by the Department of Social Services

Coordinator: Felicity Tonks

CVS Volunteers for 2015 – 2016: Elizabeth Bowe, Antoni Cornado-Cornet, Keith Davies, Betty Evers, Christine Franklin, Denise Garden, Linda Hemmings, Lesly Jones, Narelle McIntyre, Jim Peoples, Felicity Tonks, Chantelle Wallis, Patricia Woodley, Carol Price, Carolanne Van Leeuwen, Helen Rabone, Lyn Anag, Susan Crick, Peter Aboud, Vivian Handley, Jenny Ingram, Matthew Tonks, Maria Gibney, Rachael Pilley, Patty Pye, Hilary Maginnis, Chloe Mahr.

SERVICE AIMS The Community Visitors Scheme (CVS) aims to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life for isolated residents living in residential aged care facilities (ACFs) and for those living in their own homes supported by Home Care Packages, by matching them with volunteers who visit on a weekly or fortnightly basis for social support. The CVS also provides volunteers to aged care facilities to help facilitate small group activities to further increase the residents’ connection to the community.

SERVICE TARGETS The performance of the program is measured and reported to the Department of Social Services based on the number of Active Visitors in service. An ‘Active Visitor’ is defined by the program operating guidelines as someone who visits a resident 20 or more times per year. CVS Upper Mountains is funded for a target of 25 visitors for the one-on-one

residential aged care visits and funded for a target of 10 visitors for the home one-to-one visits. The CVS is also currently funded for a target of 5 ‘Group’ visits in Residential aged care facilities.

SERVICE ACTIVITY Looking at the year 2015 - 2016, visitor numbers were reported as being slightly down on target, with 22.25 reportable active visitors for the Residential one-on-one visits (aged care facility visits) out of a funded target of 25 (an aggregate figure). There were 27 visitors registered across all of CVS this year, some visitors seeing more than one resident. We had 5.85 reportable active visitors, again an aggregate, (visiting 7 residents), out of the target of 10, for the residential Home Care visits, and we are endeavouring to build the numbers to reach our Key Performance Indicators. We have 3 groups out of the target of 5 running currently in local aged care facilities, and hope to build to 5 during the next reporting period.

Although CVS does not report on hourly outputs, we do report on the number of visits. Over 2015– 2016, there were 473 visits to residents in aged care facilities. We can calculate that we are required to have a total of 500 visits made by volunteers every year, by multiplying 20 (visits

required per year by one visitor), by the 25 volunteer target. Calculated this way, our CVS would be very close to fulfilling the target number of visits. ie: 473/500 = 94.6%. The DSS’s calculating tool, which collates visits slightly differently, arrived at a figure of 90%, which does meet our KPI’s for the residential one-on-one visits.

HIGHLIGHTS• OnTuesdaythe26th April 2016, Blue Mountains City

Council hosted their annual Seniors Week Recognition Award Celebration at Springwood Community Hub. Our CVS volunteer, Betty Evers, received an award, as did her dog, Princess (see picture) for her 15 years of volunteering. Betty has been with the CVS since 2001, and continues to visit weekly at Anita Villa today.

• Onthe6th May 2016, Vision Australia came to Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre to train some of our volunteers and staff around the issue of working with people who are living with vision impairment. 10 people attended the session, including two residents who were pleased to be able to give their input from first-hand experience. Volunteers and staff found the session enlightening.

• OurVolunteerWeekcelebrationthisyearwasheldatEverglades in Leura on the 25th May - a beautiful local environment to come together in to say ‘thank you’

and celebrate our volunteers. Volunteers across the services of KNC attended, as well as KNC staff.

•OurSeniorsWeekeventonWednesday the 6th April was also a success. Organised by KNC, largely by Marlene Churn, our KVHV Coordinator, along with contributions made by KNC staff members and volunteers, The Beatels, a very convincing tribute band, played at The Carrington. This was attended by many residents from our local aged care facilities, as well as volunteers

Betty Evers and Princess receiving their two Volunteer Awards

CVS

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and seniors from the general public. It was good to see so many people dancing, despite some limitations in mobility – a testament to the quality of the performance, and the positive energy created by the event.

• StaffDevelopmentandtraining-onthe24th March 2016, Felicity attended and completed her Statement of Attainment in ‘Provide First Aid HLTAID003’, alongside several other KNC staff members. Knowledge in this area is a valuable asset to the neighbourhood centre and instils a sense of confidence in the staff. It is good to have the opportunity to participate in this kind of training in the workplace, and is much appreciated by staff.

• Onthe16thofJune,asmallgroupofCVSvolunteersmet at The Paragon in Katoomba for morning tea and a tour of the Chocolate Factory. We appreciate, as a neighbourhood centre, our local businesses taking an interest in us as a community organisation, and like to encourage local people to support, in turn, these businesses.

Welcome to new volunteers:During the 2015– 2016 year, we have been fortunate to have new volunteers join the CVS, and we welcome them wholeheartedly.

Jenny Ingram, Matthew Tonks, Maria Gibney, Rachael Pilley, Patty Pye, Hilary Maginnis, Chloe Mahr and Susan Crick. I would like to acknowledge Maria Gibney for her wonderful work at Anita Villa, visiting on a weekly basis, running the Bingo and having meaningful conversations with the residents there. I would also like to acknowledge Keith Davies, whilst by no means a new volunteer, he has been involved in running the book circle at Morven Gardens for many years, and for Jim Peoples, who, as well as visiting individuals at Martyn Claver, has begun a new group – a group for men, where robust conversation can be had.

Visitors who retired during the year:Thanks to Patty who volunteered as a Home visitor during 2015, and who has moved interstate - I wish her well for her

life in her new community. Thanks also to Rachael Pilley, who began as a volunteer with the CVS at Anita Villa, but found work there as the Lifestyle Coordinator. Thanks to Susan also for giving it a try as a home visitor.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI would like to thank the following Aged Care Facilities and their staff: Richard Adams, Rachael Pilley and Kerry-Anne Coxhedge at Anita Villa, Colleen Watson at Bodington, Nellie Campbell at Morven Gardens, Anna Hottwagner at Martyn Claver, and Lucia D’Alessandro at The Ritz. Thanks also go to Margaret O’Malley and Zachary Reay at Uniting Care for your support in referring Home Care clients to the CVS, and also to Kiery Pascoe from Southern Cross. Your assistance in identifying the residents who are most in need of social support has been an integral part in ensuring the success of the CVS scheme. Thanks also go to Michael Farrell-Whelan for supporting KNC’s staff and volunteers with our volunteer and staff supervision and our orientation. I would also like to acknowledge the support of KNC at large – its remarkable staff, management team and volunteers who demonstrate an enormous amount of enthusiasm and collective purpose. n

Hannah and Helen enjoying an outing at Blackheath Park

Total number of visitors registered

Number of ‘Active’ visitors in aged care facilities (aggregate)

Number of ‘Active’ visitors for the CVS Expansion Home Care and Group visits (aggregate)

Number of

groups

Number of visits

27 22.25 3.1 for groups 5.85 for Home Care

3 473

Combined KNC Volunteer Events and Training

Event Vision Australia

Workshop

Volunteer Week Celebration at Hana Japanese Restaurant

Clinical

Supervision

Volunteer Week

Celebration at Everglades

Seniors Week

No. attendees 10 21 23 120

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Volunteer

Table 1: Reportable visitor numbers

Table 2: Events and Training

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KVHVKATOOMBA VOLUNTEER HOME VISITORS (KVHV)

Marlene ChurnCoordinator

Funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health, Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP)

Volunteer Visitors: Warren Windred, Antonio Cornado-Cornet, Heather Jansch, Narelle McIntyre, Bronwyn Hay, Robyn Fairbairn, Diane Stebbings, Bernadette Power, Biruta Latta, Wayne Airth, Joy Constantine, Suzanne Kuhn, Korey Gunnis, Greg Rich, Rhea Ellison, Matthew Johnson, Rexann Maxwell, Gwen Meehan, Sharon Shaw Pat McCullough

Coordinator: Marlene Churn

Sessional Worker: Korey Gunis - Katoomba Film Society

Writers Group and Bookclub Facilitator: John Hockney

Clinical Supervision Worker for Staff Supervision and KNC Volunteer Group Clinical Supervision: Michael Farrell-Whelan

AIMS OF THE SERVICE• The service aims to support frail-aged people and

people of all ages with disabilities by providing services which enable these people to remain in their own homes rather then moving into institutions.

• To empower people to remain as independent as possible within their communities as long as it is safe to do so

• Provide opportunities for ongoing social connection and inclusion for older people and people living with a disability who are isolated within their communities

Social Inclusion Groups• Writers Group

• Bookclub

• Katoomba Film Society and Sci Fi Group (Sessional Worker Korey Gunis)

• Male Carers & Men’s Group Workshops

• Out and About - Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex (LGBTQI) Monthly Social Group

• People Living with HIV & AIDS (PLWHA) Wednesday Lunch Group

Regular Community Events• Seniors Week Events

• Carers Week Events

• International Day for People Living with a Disability

Individual One-to-One Social SupportThe service’s volunteers provide individual one-to-one social support for clients of the service who are often the more vulnerable members of our community living in isolated situations.

HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTSOver the six months from January to June 2016, the Katoomba Volunteer Home Visitors service’s 20 volunteers visited our clients on 170 occasions, and spent a total of 361 hours with our clients.

Seniors Week April 2016Seniors Week events kicked off with “Ageing with Altitude”, a fantastic mini seniors expo held at the Mid Mountains Neighbourhood Centre in Lawson. The event was organised by Blue Mountains Lithgow Integrated Neighbourhood Network (BLINN) and funded by Seniors NSW. The Department of Family and Community Services provided a showcase of services and information on how to access them. There were also displays and stalls about the activities and interests groups available to seniors in the Blue Mountains including exercise programs, social groups and technology ideas. Trish Doyle, Blue Mountains State MP, opened the day, followed by guest speaker Graham

Long, from the Wayside Chapel. His talk provided both inspiration and practical ideas on what is possible to do in the community, with a focus on the importance of the human story, and personal reflections in relation to his time spent working at the Wayside Chapel. The day was a free event open to the public and was promoted mountains-wide, targeting seniors, carers and the general community. 116 people attended this event. Guests were provided with an opportunity to speak to the various organisation representatives and exhibitors plus enjoy a fabulous lunch.

Also a great success was KNC’s annual Seniors Week Concert with tribute band, The Beatels, playing to 120 seniors in the beautiful surrounds of the Carrington

Above: The Beatels play at The Carrington for Seniors Week. Below: Robbie from KNC’s Out and About Group as Batman! At Winter Magic 2016.

Photo by Marty Walker

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Hotel’s Grand Dining Room. It was fantastic to see so many people up dancing and enjoying themselves. Awards were given out at the event, including to long-term Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre volunteer David Armitage for his outstanding support work and an award to The Carrington Hotel, accepted by Michael Brischetto and Michaela Murry on behalf of the owners, management and staff for their many years of outstanding community support.  

Seniors Week festivities continued with a morning tea and screening of The Front Page and Young at Heart (a short film) held at The Paragon Café in partnership with the Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre’s Katoomba Film Society social group. Many thanks once again to The Paragon Café who

kindly donated and hosted the morning tea and the use of their beautiful venue.

Events like these are only possible with the outstanding support and passion of the staff and volunteers of Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre, our local business partners, supporters and community. A huge thank you to my co-workers Felicity Tonks and Korey Gunis for being a major part of putting this event together.

Mardi Gras 2016 with Out and AboutOut and About and PLWHA social group members were invited to attend and join in the parade at this year’s 2016 Mardi Gras celebrations, on board the Xanadu double decker bus with the Sydney based group Mature Aged Gay Males (MAG). It was an honour to be asked to join them in the Mardi Gras parade - the excitement and freedom I witnessed in the preparations for the parade and during the parade was fantastic. The attendance for the group was significant in the current climate around growing support for marriage equality and broader community support for better understanding the many issues still faced by the LGBTQI community and movement towards a better understanding, tolerance and learning.

Challenges for the Year Ahead To stay energised and focused and work in collaboration with my co-workers, volunteers and other service providers, and maintain these links as we move towards Consumer Directed Care and the NDIS. To continue to grow

Below: John from KNC’s Out and About, and the lovely Suzie Wong at Mardi Gras 2016

KNC Social Group Sessions Number of Sessions/Events Total AttendanceMale Carers & Mens Group Workshops (Monthly) 7 35

Out and About (Monthly) 11 70PLWHA Lunch Club (Weekly) 35 209

Writers Group (Monthly) 11 81Bookclub (Monthly) 11 61

Classic Movie Club & Sci Fi Movie Club (3 times per month) 12 196Classic Movie Club Bus Outing 2015 1 5

Left: David Bansept on Piano at Ruth Ley’s Farewell. Below: John from Out and About on the Mardi Gras bus.

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Niki Shepherd.

David at a Mens group outing.

Volunteer Activities (targetting KVHV & CVS volunteers) Number of Sessions/Events AttendanceKNC Volunteer Orientation (Combined) 4 18

KNC Clinical Supervision (Combined) 4 31KNC Volunteers Remembrance Tree Planting 1 25

KNC Volunteer Celebrations 2 44KVHV Volunteer Get Togethers 3 23

and promote the service and actively engage with clients and carers with an approach of working alongside them to achieve as best as possible what their hopes are - to put into action “how someone may like their week to look”.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ruth Ley who I miss very much. Our fantastic Katoomba Volunteer Home Visitors, wonderful KNC Staff and Volunteers, John Hockney, Michael Farrell-Whelan, The Blue Mountains Gazette, The Carrington Hotel, Michaela Murray (Carrington Hotel Functions Coordinator), Paragon Café, Marty Walker, Prue and Blue Mountains City Council, Trish Doyle MP, Suzie Van Opdorp, Sherron, clients of the service, their family and friends, The Katoomba Men’s Shed, Community Care Forum members, United Cinemas (The Edge Cinema), Coles Katoomba, Big W Katoomba, Teddy Sinclair (Leura), Blue Mountains community, Euphoria (Katoomba), Megalong Books, The Joan (Penrith) The Family Hotel - Katoomba, Bunning’s (Valley Heights), Bygone Beautys (Leura), Zest Café and Restaurant (Leura), Rotary, Nepean Belle Paddlewheeler, The Beatels and their Road Crew, Southbeat Entertainment and my family. n

Below: John Hockney and The Beatels at Seniors Week.Below Left: Volunteer Joy, and Fran enjoying an outing with ‘Suzy’ the Guide Dog.

Photo by Marlene Churn

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KATOOMBA FILM SOCIETYKorey GunnisSessional Worker

Katoomba Film Society is a social inclusion project of KNC which currently screens matinee and evening films three times each month at the Paragon Cafe in Katoomba. Matinee screenings of classic films are shown on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month, and sci-fi and cult films are screened on the 3rd Friday of each month. Katoomba Film Society currently has approximately 40 members, and brings people in the community together who share their interest and love of great classic films. Members also help choosing films to be screened.

About 36 films have been shown during the last financial year, and some special events of Katoomba Film Society have also occurred, such as a free devonshire morning tea and film for Seniors Week. Some bus outings were also held to Lithgow Valley Community Cinema to see classic films such as the African Queen starring Humphrey Bogart, and provided members with opportunities to meet new people and engage with meaningful discussion about classic movies.

I would also like to give a big thanks to Roxanne and Robyn at the Paragon Cafe for their continued valuable support to Katoomba Film Society by providing a wonderful space for our regular film screenings and for continuing to support the ongoing function of Katoomba Film Society. A big thanks also goes to Greg Rich for his continued valuable support as a volunteer for facilitating evening film sessions and as a back-up person when needed, as well as for his amazing knowledge and insight about films. Valuable support has also been provided by other KNC volunteers including Sue Pears and Martin Kirkwood. n

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Katoomba Film Society - July 2015 to June 2016 Ma�nee and Evening Film Event A�endees

Katoomba Film Society - July 2015 to June 2016Matinee and Evening Film Event Attendees

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BOOK CLUBThe 7 year old Book Club continues to strengthen each year. Places are quickly filled when someone leaves, usually due to illness or leaving the mountains. It is a democratic club allowing each member to pick a book of their choice for the year. As the group is restricted to 12

members the method works to everyone’s satisfaction. 

The members who never knew each other prior to joining the group are now good friends, organising their own poetry readings and lunches in the park in summer. 

YOUR LIFE -YOUR STORYA monthly workshop for members interested in writing about their lives. Each month assignments are given that are read at the beginning of the session in the following month. It is surprising how memories are remembered when individuals read their personal experiences. Each workshop then includes a topic discussion leading to the next month’s assignment.

It is up to each individual what they want to share, and the group’s honouring of each other’s stories ensures that these deeply personal stories remain within the class.

How people write and what they write about their lives is an amazing experience. Through stories we realise, “There is No Such Thing As An Ordinary Person.”   n

BOOK GROUP & WRITERS GROUPJohn HockneySessional Worker

Left: John Hockney. Above: Writers Groups Workshop at KNC with John Hockney

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Katoomba film Society -Special Events 2015 July to June 2016

Katoomba Film SocietySpecial Events July 2015 to June 2016

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Clockwise from top left: KNC staff outside No. 10; Tracey helping prepare for the Family Lunches; Creative Lego at KOOSH; John Hockney and Aunty Carol Cooper at The Carrington for Seniors Week; Volunteers at Everglades, Staff in KNC’s reception; Ageing with Altitude with guest speaker, Tiriel Mora; Flag making at KNC’s Open Day.

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Clockwise from top left: David with Robbie - Big Issue vendor, Seniors Week at The Carrington, Volunteers at Everglades for KNC Christmas Celebration, Marlene, ‘Vasanta’ & Laurie at KNC, Megan and Claire, at KNC, Isaac at KOOSH, Jessica at David McNally’s Tree Planting day, Kath Harrison - KNC CEO, Josie Vendramini, KNC staff and CWA ladies outside KNC.

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Clockwise from top left: Rhea and Alan at Vision Australia workshop, Volunteers and staff doing first aid course with Survival First Aid, Lego building at KOOSH, Jenny outside KNC, Jim at Ruth’s Farewell, Laurie, David, Vasant, Neil & Korey - White Ribbon Day at KNC, Korey at Vision Australia workshop, Jenna, Felicity, Helen, Evonne and John - ‘Ageing With Altitude’, Kath Harrison, Trish Doyle and Evonne - ‘AWA’.

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VALE STREETTHE VALE STREET CENTRE FOR SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL WELLBEING

Bren SherringCoordinator

FUNDING BODY: Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District (NBMLHD)

SERVICE COORDINATOR: Bren Sherring

STAFF: Melanie Van Kessel (Project Worker), Amos Tito (Bus Driver), Tracey Johnson (Temp/Casual Trainee)

PARTICIPANT VOLUNTEERS Desley I, Lesley P, Heather N, Mark O, Craig H, Garth C, Diane G (Wednesday Lunch Club), Hanna W (newsletter), Peyton R (newsletter) and Judy C for her relentless devotion to keeping the letterbox free of snails.

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS & COLLABORATORS John Hockney, Peter Chrismas (BMCC), Tanya McLean (Blue Mountains Wildplant Rescue Service), Passion Rodziewicz, Selena Seifert (WildArts Eco Park), Karen Hayward, Pamela Nash & John Tweedie (St. Vincent De Paul Community Welfare), Kathy Powell (St. Hilda’s Anglican Church Community Chaplain), Earth Recovery, ‘My Choice Matters’ NSW Consumer Development.

THE VALE STREET CENTRE’S VISION”Our vision is to support you to achieve

and maintain recovery from a mental illness.We will do this by helping you recover your confidence,

your dignity, your identity, your sense of self, your independence and your self-expression, and enable

you to rediscover a meaningful life supported by your peers in a safe and supportive community

environment, free of judgement or discrimination.”

THE VALE STREET CENTRE’S MISSIONThe Vale Street Centre will enhance the capacity of individuals living with and/or recovering from a mental illness. We will achieve this through the provision of a safe and accessible space where individuals are provided with opportunities to learn new ways of self-expression, new skills, education, peer support, and activities encouraging social inclusion and enjoyment.

In this place with the help and support of all participants and staff, individuals can improve their confidence and their independence, build a better life for themselves with more choice, earn and improve acceptance within their community and achieve and sustain recovery from mental illness.

SERVICE DESCRIPTIONThe Vale Street Centre programme offers a broad range of programmes to support the social, emotional and recreational needs of people living with or recovering from a mental health issue.

The Vale Street Centre is open Mondays & Wednesdays from 10:00 am – 3:30 pm. Programmes and activities have been designed to support the diverse recovery needs of people who attend the service, developing new skills and maintaining existing ones.

We acknowledge that all areas of a person’s life and wellbeing can be negatively impacted by periods of mental ill-health, and in recognition of this, we aim to provide practical supports for people experiencing other forms of social disadvantage such as advice and referral to other support services (eg. Drug & Alcohol counselling, Accommodation & Housing services, One-on-one support services such as the Aftercare/PIR programmes); The Blue Fringe Art & Literature Awards; liaison with GP’s, Mental Health Team, OT’s and other clinical health care providers; the use of laundry, kitchen and showering facilities; phone, fax, broadband computer and other infrastructure access to support people in administering their own lives.

Throughout the 2015-2016 reporting period, we have continued to run a free bus service between Katoomba and Lawson to support participants of the Centre who have difficulties accessing public transport.

Scrapture with Amos at Vale Street

Kath Harrison, KNC’s CEO and Bren Sherring, Vale Street

Coordinator

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“Coming to Vale Street means I am meeting people and am not just at home being isolated. I enjoy the

Wednesday lunch and helping to prepare it. My favourite day is Pizza & Movie Day…only

five dollars for a pizza and two dollars for popcorn, ice cream and a popper (good value). I find the

programs very good also.” - Lesley

“I love coming to Vale Street. It’s a great place to come to. I love Bren and Mel.

They are great girls.” - Diane

“Vale Street Centre gives me an outlet where I can share my illness with people who are

understanding. It also gives me something to do with my time. Time spent in activities is great – it gives me an outlet for my art interest.” - Desley

“I like coming to Vale Street because I mix with good friends.” – Tony

“I come to Vale Street because…good coffee, good music, and good people…” - Greg

ACTIVITIESThe Centre runs three streams of programming:

The ‘SAFE SPACE’ programme, which allows people to access the Centre and infrastructure in an informal and supportive environment. This includes free use of the Centre’s resources including computers, free wi-fi; resource & lending library, tea & coffee, kitchen, laundry and shower facilities, information & referral services, pool table, ‘Open Access’ art studio and supplies, games, wide-screen tv and meeting spaces. This is an opportunity for people to meet and relax as part of a safe and non-judgemental community.

REGULAR PROGRAMMES are run weekly, fortnightly or monthly. These programmes have no start or finish date and people can join in at any session.

• Gentle exercise

• Weekly Pool Competition

• Guided meditation

• Journalists @ Heart Newsletter group

• Men’s Bushcare

• Vale Street Lunch Club

• Pizza Day & Matinee

• Participant’s Meetings

• ‘Make Art With Melanie’

• ‘SeedSavers’ wildplant rescue group

• Gardening

SHORT COURSES have a specific start and end date, and will usually run for 6 – 10 weeks. The courses will have planned outcomes and people are encouraged to attend every session in the programme as each session builds on the learning of the previous sessions.

• ‘Mosaic Magic’

• Mandala Making Workshop

• Blue Fringe Literature Development/Microphone Training

• Blue Fringe Group Artwork

• Christmas Gift & Jewellery Making

• ‘Teeny-Tiny Treasures’ Workshop

• ‘My Choice Matters’ NDIS Planning & Goal Setting

Scrapture Workshop at Vale Street’s Open Day

A horse comes to visit on Vale Street’s open Day

Michael entertaining on guitar at Vale Street

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SPECIAL EVENTS are one-off activities usually developed in response to addressing an identified need or specific request from the participants of the Centre.

Gerry’s Memorial. When our much-loved friend Gerry passed away in late June 2015, people felt that they would like to come together and remember him in the safety of the Vale Street Centre. Approximately 20 people (including Gerry’s mother, Yvonne) came to share our stories; honour our friend and support each other in our loss.

Drumming Workshop (Aftercare)

Blue Fringe Literature Awards Night and Book Launch

Blue Fringe Art Awards Day and Exhibition

‘My Choice Matters’ One-Day NDIS Workshop

‘Mysteries of the Music Box’ Performance & Picnic Lunch. Peyton, Hannah and Abbie wrote, produced and performed in their own original theatre piece. The regulars at the Centre were privileged to see the development of the performance from concept to the final dress rehearsal, and we were honoured to be invited to the opening performance at Lawson Mechanics Institute. Well done to all three of these talented young women for their hard work and creativity.

Vale Street Christmas Party & Lunch.

Vale Street Centre Open Day. On May 18th, 2016 over 60 of our closest friends showed up to celebrate the Vale Street Centre community. Highlights of the day included a delicious barbeque and salads prepared by Mark, Sue and Craig, ‘Scrapture’ sculpture workshop, Yoga & Relaxation Workshop hosted by Diipali and a special guest appearance by ‘Gunn’--the horse-next-door who very nearly made it through the front door in search of carrots!

Mental Health Commission of NSW Yulefest Dinner. No sooner had we finished cleaning up after our lovely Open Day than The Mental Health Commission of NSW approached the Vale Street Centre to host a function for them as part of their ‘Living Well In The Blue Mountains’

promotion. The people of the Vale Street Centre voted to have a ‘Yulefest’ themed dinner and entertainment to celebrate winter in the Mountains. 100 tickets were booked and people turned up in near-freezing (literally!) conditions to enjoy a delicious three-course meal including

champagne and canapés on arrival. We were entertained by speeches from Aunty Carol Cooper, Trish Doyle and Julie Robotham, Poetry Readings from Tom Coley and Brian Bell, and video screenings of the MHC’s comedy event ‘No Offence’ and our own Vale Street production ‘Under the Vale’.

SERVICE TARGETS AND SERVICE ACTIVITYThere were 118 registered clients in the 2015/2016 reporting period, an increase of 16 new registrations.

There were 12 attendances by new participants not yet registered.

Data for this financial year covers 90 operating days over 48 weeks. There were 1,316 recorded instances of contact throughout this period. Of these, 24 were phone-in contacts from participants who were unable to attend on the day, but still wanted to keep in touch with friends and staff. This is an important new development, as it shows that people feel a real connection to the Centre and its community.

THANK-YOUS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSTrish Doyle MP, Suzie Van Opdorp; Maurice Brady (BMCC); The Mental Health Commission of NSW, Kath Harrision, Sue Jaques, Neil Smith, Anna Tardent, Barbara Cuthbert, Laurie Strathdee and all the staff of Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre, Inc. for their ceaseless support, ‘Dobbo’, Marnie, Jay, Cath & the staff of the Gearin Hotel, Katoomba; Bernie, Darren & Gunn (for continuing to be the best neighbours ever), Kathy O’Hara (Scrapture), Diipali (Yoga), AfterCare & PIR workers, Gerard Nolan & the rest of the Community Mental Health Team, ‘The Blue Fringe’ Art & Literature Awards Committee, Aunty Carol Cooper, John Hockney, NBMLHD, and over and again... The People of The Vale Street Centre. n

Mental Health Commission of NSW Yulefest Dinner

Cooking a wholesome lunch at Vale Street

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BLUE MOUNTAINS COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROGRAMME (Formerly Blue Mountains Home and Community Care Programme)

Claire GroverCoordinator

FUNDING BODYThis Programme is funded by the NSW Community Home Support Programme (CHSP) under the Department of Family and Community Services – Ageing, Disability and Home Care

Service Coordinator: Claire Grover

Service Administration/Intake: Korey Gunnis

Intake: Brenda Sherring

SERVICE AIMSThe Blue Mountains Community Home Support Programme is funded to provide care in three key areas: Domestic Assistance, Social Support and Transport.

This Programme is an initiative of the Blue Mountains Lithgow Integrated Neighbourhood Network Consortium (BLINN), with Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre as the Lead Agency for the programme. The programme is administered from Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre in partnership with: Blackheath Area Neighbourhood Centre, Mid Mountains Neighbourhood Centre, Springwood Neighbourhood Centre Cooperative and Lower Mountains Neighbourhood Centre.

The programme aims to help maintain the independence of people who are older and frail but still living at home. The services provide assistance to carry out essential everyday activities, and supports people to live independently in their homes whilst maintaining access to their communities. There are eligibility requirements for

BMCSP each of the key areas.

The Domestic Assistance Service provides assistance tailored to help maintain independence in the home through help with housework, cleaning and shopping, and identified domestic tasks where the client requires assistance to enable their independence. We are also able to provide a specialised service for people with more complex domestic cleaning needs where an initial one-off large clean may be required with specialist follow up at negotiated intervals rather than regular visits.

The Social Support component of the programme encompasses various social support opportunities for individuals and supports a diverse range of Support Groups operating up and down the Mountains for community members to access. These groups encourage social interaction, community involvement and connection, and are diverse in the types of support they offer and specific interest groups or special needs groups they cater to.

The Transport aspect of the programme mainly provides social transport to and/or from the Social Support groups, but we are also able to offer subsidised transport for short trips to members of the community identifying a priority need.

HIGHLIGHTSHighlights this year have included the establishment of a functioning and effective Central Intake Service for aged care programmes operating out of the Neighbourhood Centres - including the Blue Mountains Community Support Programme. This Intake service has become the first port of call for the My Aged Care Government service that refers clients regularly. This has made services more accessible to new clients, and lifted some of the administrative load off Coordinators, effectively allowing them more face-to-face client time, and higher quality service provision.

The Domestic Assistance Programme has continued to provide high quality in-home services to an ongoing full client base throughout most of the year, including larger spring cleans and waste removal. The subcontracted

agencies of Wendy’s Home Care and Metro CM Pty Ltd continue to operate at a highly professional level with regular training sessions for all staff to ensure up to date practices and optimal client satisfaction.

In December 2015, the Blue Mountains Community Support Programme underwent an external quality audit by the Australian Government Aged Care Quality Agency. This saw the program, along with several others, meet, and in some areas exceed, all identified outcomes of the three overarching Common Care Standards, including: Effective Management, Appropriate Access and Service Delivery, and Service User Rights and Responsibilities. Both the program and Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre received high praise from the auditing body.

Other highlights have included the ongoing delivery of the diverse and popular social activities running up and down the Mountains. Examples of these activities are:

Harmony Friendship Group: an open, friendly social group. Its calendar of activities covers music, poetry, book reviews, quizzes, guest speakers, outings and much more. The group is self-directed and is supported by the Lower Mountains Neighbourhood Centre. The group meets every Wednesday from 10am to 12 noon at the Blaxland Community Centre in Room C. New members are always welcome.

The Lower Mountains Over 50s Social Club: established in 2003, the club has flourished and become a vibrant group of local residents who have recently retired and/or are living on their own. Membership has remained steady at 30 and the most important aspect of this membership is the social connections that have been formed and maintained. The group meets weekly and provides an open friendly environment for members to enjoy affordable lifestyle activities such as keeping fit, outings, bus trips, short break holidays and regular education sessions on a wide variety of topics. The Club is also a vital link in providing a variety of activities aimed at improving the safety and wellbeing of its members. Meets weekly on Thursdays, 10am to 12 noon, at the Lower Mountains Neighbourhood Centre.

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Clak’n’Yak is a group for people interested in craft supported by the Lower Mountains Neighbourhood Centre. Knitters and quilters seem to dominate and the ‘yak’ is universal. This group hosted a ‘Sew-in’ for the Wrap with Love Project in 2012 and intends to make this an annual event. Participants sew knitted or crotched squares into wraps. No particular level of skill is required for this informal group and new members are always welcome. The group meets every 2nd and last Friday at the Blaxland Community Complex in the Sharon Burridge Hall from 10am-12noon.

Katoomba Film Society is a group for lovers of classic films and cult sci-fi films. Matinee films are held at the Paragon Cafe, 65 Katoomba Street, Katoomba at 11am on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. Evening films are also held at the Paragon Café on the 3rd Friday of the month at 7pm. Film entry is by annual membership, $10 concession or $15 non-concession for 6 months, and $15 concession or $25 non-concession for 12 months.

Book Club -The Book Club is a literary group who meet to read and discuss books on a monthly basis. There are no costs involved, except when the month of your book choice arrives. It is agreed the member whose book choice is selected supplies morning tea for the group. That works out to once a year. The group meets on the fourth Thursday of the month at Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre from 10.30-12.30 in the Community Meeting Room.

Writing Group - The group meets to create and improve their own personal style of writing. There are many genres including poetry, fiction and personal stories. Assignments are given on a monthly basis with your personal creation read to the group at the beginning of each session. No costs are applicable. The group continues to meet on the fourth Thursday of the month at Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre and is facilitated by local author and storyteller, Mr John Hockney.

Male Carers and Mens Group Workshops - The group started in 2004/05 as the Male Carers Workshops - a joint project between Katoomba Volunteer Carers, Lawson Volunteer Carers and Blue Mountains Community Options. In 2009, KNC relaunched the group with a name change to the current Male Carers and Men’s Group Workshops. The change of name came about because it was recognised that for many of the male carers over time the person who they had been caring for had passed away and some members were not sure if they could or should continue attending the workshops. Carers expressed that this was the time that they needed the group the most. Members of the group have shown great support for one another, an opportunity to mentor, a chance to be understood and they are now driving the direction of the group and the types of workshops held. The group meets on the third Thursday of the month usually from 10.30-12.30 unless otherwise advised. The workshops are normally free unless a contribution is required towards the cost of the outing or event.

Out & About & PLWHA - People living with HIV and Aids (PLWHA) is a group run by the members with support from KNC to provide a place that encourages meaningful social meetings in peaceful surroundings that are non - discriminatory.  The group meets weekly on a Wednesday at Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre to share a meal and connect with others. A contribution of $2 is asked to assist with the cost of the meal which is often prepared by the members.

School For Seniors - School for Seniors gives seniors from the Blackheath community access to fortnightly social outings. The group visits various places around New

South Wales throughout the year. From enjoying a roast at the country pub in Oberon, to Fish & Chips by the sea at Bundeena, to Devonshire Tea amongst the daffodils in Rydal. The wisdom shared amongst the group is invaluable and welcomed into the history of the Blackheath community, showing a true reflection of where we live. An essential part of the Blackheath Seniors Community served by the School for Seniors initiative is to stay connected or meet new friends and share stories well into their senior years.

Community Café – a weekly group that gets together on a Thursday Morning for a pop up cafe at Mid Mountains Neighbourhood Centre in Lawson. What started out as a come-together group for a cuppa and cake for a predominantly senior clientele is now joined by school children in school holidays, the occasional walking group, and local mums who pop in after dropping the kids off to school.  We also have an increase in interest on special occasions such as Community in a Teacup, Christmas in July, Christmas in December, Seniors week celebrations and any other excuse to celebrate being together.  

Ladies at Springwood Neighbourhood Centre’s Knit and Yarn group

49

Knit and Yarn- The Knit N Yarn group gathers every second Wednesday morning in the boardroom of Doug Cameron’s office. This setting has been ideal as it houses a very large table and comfortable chairs which allow for the knitters’ projects to be displayed as articles of knitting and crochet grow. The knitters knit various items for different causes, including knee rugs, baby blankets, trauma teddies, scarves, penguin jumpers and a ‘temperature quilt’. As knitters work they quietly share their interests and concerns with the other members of their group.

Vision Impaired People (VIP) - VIP meet on the fourth Monday each month in Springwood for conversation, support and to discuss any relevant changes to their situation. This last year has seen a lot of ill health and the passing away of members which has had an impact upon the VIP Group.

Open Door - Open Door members gather in the small Presbyterian Church hall in Springwood each Tuesday from 9.30am to 11.30am. Each of the Tuesdays of the month offers a different social activity which is enjoyed by those who attend. The first Tuesday of the month is games, often Bingo. The second Tuesday of the month is an invited speaker, the third Tuesday of the month is an organised bus trip which is open to all members as well as clients of Springwood Neighbourhood Centre and the fourth Tuesday of the month is a ‘show and tell’ morning. Open Door has a group of long-standing members, however new members are always welcome.

Friday Social Cards Group - Friday Social Cards members are very active, keen, with light-hearted competition but still supportive in teaching new members the intricacies of card and board games played. The Social Card members gather at the Presbyterian Church hall in Springwood every Friday afternoon for cards, conversation, board games and peer support. Friday Card members are also keen to take social outings in the community bus. Social Cards meet from 1.30pm to 3.30pm every Friday.

These groups provide much needed regular support and community access for those who attend, and many of these groups have been able to take advantage of the

Transport funding to incorporate exciting day trips and regular outings into their schedules.

An example of this was the Out and About Group’s trip to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, where they were able to hire a bus and participate in the parade - a fun and memorable experience for the members of that group.

SERVICE TARGETS AND ACTIVITYOver the past year the Blue Mountains Community Support Programme delivered many hours of social inclusion and domestic assistance, as well as enabling clients of the five participating Neighbourhood Centres to take advantage of the social transport and take many trips.

As a prerequisite of our funding agreement the Blue Mountains Community Support Programme is required to report service activity quarterly against established output targets for each of the three arms of support: Domestic Assistance, Social Support and Transport.

Outputs for Domestic Assistance and Social Support are measured in the amount of hours of service received by each client in the financial year. The measurement for Transport is the number of transport trips taken by clients in the financial year.

BMCSP provided 2,600 hours of domestic assistance. This figure is slightly under the target of 3,000 hours due to a decision to quarantine a percentage of funding and hours to support larger forensic cleans for priority identified clients where this intense focus will then enable domestic assistance maintenance on a longer term basis.

BMCSP delivered 8,640 hours of Social Support through our diverse social inclusion activities. This figure only takes into account individuals registered for social support and not clients who attended social groups sporadically. It is expected that this figure would exceed the target if all clients were registered and able to be reported. BMCSP provided transport to a great number of clients up and down the mountains totalling 2,793 trips. This arm of the program will be further developed and expanded over the next 6 month period.

LOOKING TO THE FUTUREGood News! The Blue Mountains Community Support Programme under CHSP and along with other CHSP funded programmes has received ongoing funding until 2018. This means that Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre together with partner Neighbourhood Centres will continue to provide these vital services and look after the needs of our local community.

Moving into the next financial year the concentration will be to increase outputs across the board for all three components of the programme and to work collaboratively with all partner Neighbourhood Centres to create more exciting opportunities for Social inclusion groups and day trips.

We will also look to build numbers for domestic assistance and increase the scope of domestic services we can offer. The BMCSP Coordinator will continue to work with Blue Mountains City Council around tackling issues of extreme domestic neglect and waste removal and will also network with other local services to ensure community needs are met.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe fantastic staff at Wendy’s Home Care and Metro CM Pty Ltd for their support and hard work this year and timely delivery of much needed and appreciated services.

All the staff involved in the CHSP Programme from the participating Neighbourhood Centres: Octavia O’Brian and Blackheath Area Neighbourhood Centre; Marlene Churn, Korey Gunnis, and Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre; Eva Regitz , and Mid Mountains Neighbourhood Centre; Anne Snowden and Springwood Neighbourhood Centre Cooperative; Niki Read and Narelle Mackander and Lower Mountains Neighbourhood Centre.

All the volunteers who assist in the facilitation and ongoing provision of the Social Support groups.

All the staff of Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre who support one another and go above and beyond to assist their community in so many different ways. n

50

ABORIGINAL FLEXIBLE RESPITE PROGRAMME

Claire GroverCoordinator

FUNDING BODYThis programme is funded by the NSW Government under the Department of Family and Community Service, Ageing, Disability and Home Care.

Service Coordinator/Caseworker: Claire Grover

Service Caseworkers: Irene Wardle (Healthy For Life), Tilly Elderfield (Healthy For Life)

Financial Administration Relief Worker: Carole Williams

SERVICE AIMSIn late 2015, at the request of the Department of Family & Community Services, Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre became responsible for the coordination and management of sixteen Aboriginal Flexible Respite Packages. The project partnered with the Blue Mountains Aboriginal Healthy For Life Team, operating out of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network (an Aboriginal identified community based health programme), and the Blue Mountains Aboriginal Culture and Resource Centre.

Respite is an important service which provides carers and families with a break from their caring responsibilities while also providing a break for the person with a disability through a range of activities and positive experiences.

In response to a call from carers for greater flexibility and choice in managing their respite services, the NSW Government’s Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care developed the Flexible Respite Programme. This provides people with a disability, their carers and families, with much greater choice and scope when selecting

AFRP services and actions to respond to their varied and often complex needs. This includes culturally appropriate community and recreational activities, and options that are respectful of family background and values that support family and cultural needs including respite involving return to country.

The aims of flexible respite services are to provide:

• Planned short-term breaks in order to support and maintain the primary care-giving relationship through providing flexible and responsive service delivery in line with the needs of individuals, families and carers;

• Positive experiences for both the person with a disability and their carer by engaging them in meaningful activities and enhancing quality of life;

• Connection to services that build resilience and reduce the potential for the breakdown of the informal support network of the person with a disability and enable carers to continue on in their primary care role.

These flexible respite services may be provided in a client’s own home or in a range of community settings - including recreational or cultural activities away from home where the primary purpose of the service is respite.

Respite has a dual focus in that both the carers and the person with a disability are the clients of the service and both should benefit from respite services.

HIGHLIGHTSThe major highlight of this programme was the diverse and varied activities that all families were able to experience and benefit from due to this funding. This included: family holidays, emergency childcare respite, educational courses and equipment, respite from household duties including in home and garden care, community access activities, return to country, and rehabilitation services. In many cases these experiences would not have been possible if it weren’t for this funding.

Another highlight of the programme was the successful partnership between Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre

and the Blue Mountains Aboriginal Healthy For Life Team. This collaborative approach ensured timely and culturally sensitive service provision where families were assisted to meet their goals and benefit from leisure and respite activities by utilising their funding via a client-centred methodology, with the best interests of the family always at the forefront.

SERVICE TARGETS AND ACTIVITYA requirement of the funding for this program was that KNC report on service activity on a quarterly basis and aim to meet service target outputs. The outputs for the program are measured in hours of respite received per family per quarter.

The target output for the financial year 2015 -2016 was 1,849 hours of respite received which breaks down to 43 hours of respite received per client per quarter. All clients met this target and all clients expended their full allocation of funding for the financial year.

Whilst four of the packages are non-recurrent and will not be expected to receive ongoing funds, 12 have received funds for the first quarter of the financial year 2016 -2017. Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre will continue to work with the families to ensure beneficial outcomes and high satisfaction amongst the package recipient clientele.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThank you to all families involved in the program for working with us and allowing us to assist them through this process.

A big thank you to KNC finance department – Sue Jaques, Neil Smith, and Carole Williams for all their hard work in making sure that package funds were effectively distributed.

Very big thankyou to Irene Wardle, Tilly Elderfield, Rebekkah Kovacs and Dianne Usher, along with the whole Blue Mountains Healthy For Life Team, who put in many hours of effort and always with client interests in mind, often going above and beyond to ensure quality outcomes for the package recipients. n

51

Treasurer’s Report 2015 - 2016

Tina NapierTreasurer

Treasurer’s Report 2015-2016

KNC continued to receive funding this financial year from a range of government departments including NSW Family and Community Services (FACS), NSW Department of Ageing and Disability & Home Care (ADHC), Commonwealth Department of Social Services, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Australian Department of Education plus short term grants from other sources. Our overall grant funding increased this year, allowing the KNC Board and Management Team to position Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre more strategically in the face of challenging funding changes including the transition to the NDIS, significant proposed changes to funding received from FACS, the transition to the My Aged Care system and its impact on our service provision to clients aged 65 years and over, and has allowed the KNC Board to support the new Quality Improvement and Manager Operations staff positions until June 2017. While donations and fundraising revenue have also increased in this period, revenue from fees and charges for services has decreased. KNC continues to review operations to ensure all projects remain viable.Significant events over 2015-2016 include:

• Receiving $17,000 in transitional funds for HACC funded services to support a centralised intake & client management service;

• At the request of ADHC in April 2015, KNC agreed initially to manage 5 recurrent and 2 non-recurrent

packages. This increased to 12 recurrent and 4 non-recurrent, a total of $100,631 in recurrent and non-recurrent individual Aboriginal Flexible Respite Care packages;

• At the request of ADHC in March 2016, KNC agreed to manage funding for the Older Persons Carers respite programme to provide individual packages and case management services. This funding was transferred to KNC from 1st June 2016. It will be $171,239 per annum.

• The restructure and extension of the Home Modification and Maintenance service to commence in 2016.

I would like to thank Chief Finance Officer, Sue Jaques, Neil Smith, and our casual, Carole Williams for their continued high quality work, as well as David Arnett who resigned as treasurer in December 2015. n

Sue Jaques, Chief Financial Officer, at KNC’s 2015 AGM

TREASURER’S REPORT

52

Finance Report for year 1/7/2015 to 30/6/2016

Sue JaquesChief Financial Officer

Financial Administration - Neil Smith

Relieving Finance worker - Carole Williams

INCOMEIncome for the financial year ended 30th June 2016 was $1,906,829 (after excluding internal KNC charges for management & shared administration).

Sources of grant funding were:• NSW Department of Family & Community Services

(FaCS) $267,562 Neighbourhood Centre, Community Builders.

• NSW Department of Ageing Disability & Homecare (ADHC) $117,598 for Social support, home modifications, maintenance, flexible respite packages and flexible respite support for older parent carers.

• Commonwealth Department of Social Services (DSS) $781,632 for (people over 65 years of age) Home modifications, maintenance, social support & social transport, community visitors to nursing homes & one to one residential visits.

• NSW Department of Education $8,610 for vacation care activities for children aged 5-12 years.

• Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District $89,687 for Vale Street Social & Wellbeing programme.

• Ministry of Police & Emergency services $44,433 was paid on completion of the Community Resilience Innovation Programme, $11,145 was c/fwd from funds

received in January 2015.

• Home Mods State Council/MOD.A. Funds received in 2015 to access Occupational Therapists to provide reports for Home Modifications, $15,804 was expended in this financial year.

• Department of Social Services Commonwealth Home Support Programme Transition Support funding $17,000 to assist in transition of services from HACC to CHSP programmes.

• ADHC Aboriginal Flexible Respite programme $11,000 (additional two non-recurrent packages were reallocated from another organisation to KNC)

• Lithgow Uniting Care $11,137 - ADHC Aboriginal flexible respite packages reallocated to KNC.

• Inclusion Support funding- for special needs children in Out of School Hours Care $12,851.

• Department of Health - HACC funds from surplus in 2013-2014. Approval was received in May 2015 to carry over funds to be expended by 31st October 2015.

• NSW Department of Family & Community Services - Community Building Partnership grant $24,100 was received to upgrade Melrose Park, North Katoomba. These funds received in June 2016 are shown in Balance Sheet liabilities 30/6/2016. Blue Mountains City Council is arranging the upgrade of equipment in Melrose Park.

• Department of Infrastructure & Regional Planning $7,433 grant towards the installation of air-conditioning in both Neighbourhood Centre buildings was received on 20th June 2016, this is shown in Balance Sheet as a liability at June 30th2016. Air-conditioners were installed in July 2016.

Other sources of income were:• DEEWR childcare reductions $149,360. These payments

are paid to KOOSH based on individual parents’ income level and the daily fee charged. This is an increase of

3% on last year.

• Fees received for services were $223,677. This is an overall DECREASE of $24,889 on the previous year. Childcare fees received $153,131 (13% decrease), Home Modifications & Maintenance $41,624 (6% decrease), Domestic assistance $9,906 (increase of 133%, as this service only commenced in April 2015) use of KNC facilities & rooms $14,076 (19% decrease)

• Donations & fund raising $11,834

• Interest & Dividends $24,876 (5% increase)

• Long Service Corporation - Building Industry long service leave payments $11,581

Miscellaneous income includes reimbursements from other organisations for services provided or programmes operated through KNC on behalf of another organisation. Big Issue magazine sales (by private vendors) have increased by 46% over the previous year, showing the interest by local community in purchasing the magazine.

EXPENSESTotal expenses for financial year was $1,934,820 (after excluding internal KNC transactions for management charges & shared costs)

• Employment expenses (wages, superannuation, travel reimbursements, training, workers compensation insurance) $1,243,820. This was an increase of $127,421 on previous year – due to a range of factors including 27 pay days occurring in this financial year, employment of staff to support & coordinate additional services (flexible respite packages & Older Parent Carers support respite packages), SACS ERO annual increase, national wage increase, additional hours required in establishment, training, data entry (eg My Aged Care, PNYX Client management software, DEX reporting) and quality improvement and preparation for third party accreditation.

• Programme expenses $121,301 (equipment, programs, social support, volunteers, materials)

FINANCE REPORT

53

• Administration $127,578

• Contractors, consultants (including domestic cleaning, electrical, plumbing, social support, data analysis, occupational therapists, business consultant) $310,129. This was an increase of 20% on previous year – due to “one-off” additional funds available from approved retained surplus funds from 2013-2014 for domestic cleaning and building contractors.

• Flexible respite packages (12 recurrent, 4 non-recurrent) $103,124

Net LOSS for year ended 30th June 2016 was $27,991

This year’s Profit & Loss statement includes a provision for HACC surplus funds of $30,012 from 2014-2015 that may be required to be repaid to DSS, as the HACC programme ceased on 31st October 2015. The Financial Accountability Report for Commonwealth HACC Program 2014-2015 acquittal is still to be finalised by the Department of Health. These funds were included in the Combined Net surplus recorded for year ended 30th June 2015.

After the inclusion of the provision of $30,012 expense as HACC Surplus to be repaid, the Profit & Loss statement shows a Net Deficit of $58,003.

Financial details per programmes:

Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre - Community Hub operating expenses $431,414.NSW Family & Community Services, Community Builders program funding $267,561. These funds support management of the Neighbourhood Centre, community development activities, provision of facilities and meeting room spaces for other community activities and support groups. This funding covers the employment of KNC CEO, Community & Cultural Development worker, Operations Coordinator and a portion of hours for Manager Finances, Financial Administration, Service Support worker and Quality Coordinator.

We acknowledge the continued support of Blue Mountains City Council, local business and individuals who provide

support to KNC activities and programmes. Donations to support monthly community lunches were received from Blue Mountains Food Cooperative, Megalong Books, Leura Pharmacy, Katoomba Fine Flowers, Leura Newsagency, Circus, Café Landseers, Hatters Café & Hominy Bakery, Rotary Upper Mountains & CWA Leura. These donations have enabled KNC to establish a small community support fund for emergencies. A new project “Christmas Connect” raised funds to provide a program of activities at the Neighbourhood Centre over the Christmas and New Year holiday period. Additional donations, specifically for this activity, have been received. As at 30th June KNC is holding $990 towards a similar activity over the Christmas 2016/ New Year 2017 period.

KNC auspices “Friends of Melrose Park”. As at 30th June, KNC holds $500 on behalf of the group, in addition to the NSW Community Building Partnership grant of $24,100 which KNC was successful in obtaining for the refurbishment of Melrose Park, North Katoomba. Blue Mountains City Council will be responsible for the management of the expenditure of these funds for the installation of equipment and upgrade to park facilities.

Community Resilience Innovation Program (BSAFE) - a joint initiative with Springwood Neighbourhood Centre, Charles Sturt University (School of Policing & Emergency Services) - to research community connections, resilience and vulnerability. Ministry of Police & Emergency Services provided a grant of $88,868 (half was paid on commencement of the research in January 2015, with the balance paid on completion of the report in 2016.) This project has now been completed.

Katoomba Out of School Hours Care (KOOSH) operating expenses were $330,914. The only direct funding received is $8,610 from NSW Department of Education & Training for the Vacation Care programme. Before and After school care receives no direct funding. Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations (DEEWR) provides childcare benefit assistance to parents to reduce their fee level paid for OOSH. The amount depends on the individual

family’s income. Average attendances in After school & Vacation care sessions were lower than the previous year resulting in an overall decrease of 6% ($19,284) in income received from fees and CCB payments. Childcare staff hours were reduced in line with reduced attendances.

Funding has been received from the Inclusion Support Programme to assist with the cost of an additional childcare worker for children assessed with special needs.

Playground remediation has been an ongoing issue all year, with further asbestos and glass fragments found in the soil. BMCC asphalted the area between house and the playground equipment soft-fall and returfed the playground slope. KNC has replaced the sandpit roofing, with a shade sail reducing the direct flow of water onto the playground and also repaired the lower section of playground under the trees. $7,400 expenditure on playground remediation and replacement of sandpit roofing has been deducted from the $10,000 provisions made at 30th June 2015, $2,600 remaining in these provisions at 30th June 2016. Air-conditioning has been installed in KOOSH.

Community Visitors Scheme operating expenses $58,715.Department of Social Services grant $57,813 includes funding for community visitors to nursing homes residential one-to-one visitors, group volunteers and expansion of service to cover one-to-one Homecare visits.

Vale Street Social & Wellbeing programme operating expenses $96,154. Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District grant $89,687. Donations $757, Community Lunches $1,454, net loss for year was $4,047.

Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP), previously Home & Community Care programme (HACC) to 31st October 2015. KNC receives funding for Home Modification & Maintenance Services, Domestic Assistance, Social Support & Social Transport.In 2014, KNC was the lead agency in the joint funding application by five Blue Mountains Neighbourhood Centres (Blackheath, Mid Mountains, Springwood, Lower

54

Mountains and Katoomba). Funds were received for Domestic Assistance and an expanded Social Support programme and Social Transport. Social Support and Transport were divided between the five Neighbourhood Centres, with outputs reported to KNC (by the other four Services) for KNC to report to MDS/DEX. Domestic Assistance is coordinated by Blue Mountains Community Support Co-ordinator based at KNC.

KNC established a central Intake service to process all requests from the My Aged Care (MAC) portal for Domestic Assistance, Social Support, Social Transport, home modification and home maintenance services in the Blue Mountains. KNC has continued to work with the designer of “PNYX” a cloud-based client documentation system to improve the use of the software and ensure its compatibility with the DEX reporting system.

One-off grant from retained surplus funds from 2013-2014, $75,035 to be expended 2014-2015. However as the approval was only granted in May 2015, expenditure was extended to 31st October 2015.

Activity to be delivered included:

• Domestic assistance to clients requiring large one-off house cleans prior to commencing regular services.

• Home Modification work for clients (delayed because of 2013 bushfires)

• Implementation of a cloud-based client documentation system for HACC clients across Blue Mountains services.

Some of these activities were commenced in May 2015, with $7,750 being spent to 30/6/2015. The remainder of activities and $67,285 expenditure was completed between 1st July and 31st October 2015.

Domestic Assistance (HACC/CHSP funds) covers approx. 40 regular clients. When the service was established in 2015, clients were referred by each Neighbourhood Centre across the Blue Mountains LGA to the Home Support Coordinator who assesses the clients’ needs and organises

the approved cleaning sub-contractors. The cost of large “one-off” house cleans – prior to commencement of regular cleaning - has been funded from the carried forward surplus approved. The Profit & Loss report shows an increase this year of $51,125 in contract cleaners. This is due to the domestic assistance service being fully utilised in 2015-2016 as well as $31,781 in contractors being funded by the retained surplus funds from 2013-2014 year.

Since the commencement of the MAC portal in July 2015, KNC Intake workers take the referrals from the portal.

Katoomba Volunteer Home Visitors (KVHV) service provides individual and group social support activities - funded by NSW Department of Ageing Disability & Homecare (ADHC) $6,550 and Commonwealth Department of Social Services (DSS) $104,404.

Blue Mountains Home Modification & Maintenance Service (HMMS) funded by NSW Department of Ageing Disability & Homecare (ADHC) $24,342 and Commonwealth Department of Social Services (DSS) $317,927. Fee income (less cost of materials) was $17,926. Profit & Loss Statement for the year ended 30th June 2016, shows a net loss $33,478, this includes $19,656 in expenditure from 2013-2014 surplus funds approved to be carried over and expended by 31st October 2015.

HMMS State Council / MOD.A grants received in 2015, $15,804 was used this financial year for Occupational Therapist services.

Aboriginal Flexible Respite packages Department of Ageing Disability & Home Care approached KNC to coordinate and manage flexible respite packages. The project partnered with the Blue Mountains Aboriginal Healthy For Life Team, operating out of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network (an Aboriginal identified community based health programme). In this financial year, this increased to 12 recurrent packages and 4 non-recurrent packages. All clients expended their full allocation of funding for the financial year.

Older Parent as Carers – funding for case management,

co-ordination, flexible carers respite packages: ADHC approached KNC to take on the responsibility for this programme in the Blue Mountains. Funding was transferred to KNC from 1st June 2016. $7,164.86 remaining from the June payment has been shown in Balance Sheet as Recurrent grant c/fwd.

55

KATOOMBA NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE INC.

ABN: 59 334 227 797

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2016

CONTENTS

AUDIT CERTIFICATE

PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENT

BALANCE SHEET

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