Hello everyone, I hope you have all recovered from the silly season!
A few “thank-you’s” are in order for the lovely Christmas gifts we were able to share with our clients. Firstly thank you to our volunteers for delivering them along with the meals and other items… Big THANKS to Armidale Regional Council staff who raise funds every year to purchase these gifts and then to the staff who take the time to wrap them all up for a Christmas Surprise!
We received donated Lions Christmas Cakes again this year—thank you to the Armidale Dumaresq Lions and Ros Brady who organized these for us.
And to the company Renkitt who produce and distribute Glen 20 and Dettol products—they have been generous in their donation of hygiene products since the start of the COVID pandemic and many of you have received their goods previously. Once again, they gifted Dettol Wipes and cans of Glen 20 to all Meals on Wheels services to pass on to their clients (and volunteers) which is a great cost saver to many.
As you may know Meals on Wheels is funded by the Commonwealth government as an aged care provider in the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP). The Department of Health & Aged Care, who manages the program, continues to work through the scope of aged care reforms resulting from the Aged care Royal Commission. The Department recently announced the current CHSP funding arrangements would be extended for another 2 years – through to 30th June 2027. This does provide us with some income security until then but it prolongs the reform process which has been a work-in-progress for several years already.
And finally, a hearty Congratulations to the MOW volunteers (some retired) who received Awards on Australia Day this year. In Uralla, both Phyllis and Col Dade featured in the community awards, as did “King of the Fairies” Alex Sherrin – well done all! In Armidale, Gloria Cook is our Senior Citizen of the Year and our long-serving volunteer & previous President of our Management Committee, Mr Rick Mills was awarded the Order of Australia Medal. Rick’s service to Meals on Wheels was acknowledged as one of his many services to the Community. Well Done Rick (and Marg of course!)
Please take some time to digest the food safety information on the next page. This is becoming a very serious issue for us while we are trying our best to accommodate people’s wishes but we need your help and understanding.
Thank you. Kerryn Williams, Manager