Community Services # 1

It was a pleasure to welcome Thomas Emerson MLA to CS#1 today. Tom chatted with our CEO Simon Bennett and heard about our end of year activities including the food hamper and gift appeal and then paid a special visit to our Social Groups Christmas party where he addressed the gathering. Thanks again to Tom for taking the time to visit us and to hear how CS#1 is helping hundreds of families and individuals across Canberra this Christmas.

Last Thursday was a special day at CS#1 as we gathered to thank our long serving team members for their dedication and hard work over 10 or more years - and in Rosie's case an amazing 20 years! These are the people who turn up week after week to care for and educate babies and young children, to provide support through the facilitation of social groups for clients and to run transport services to assist clients to get to important appointments, social groups, grocery shopping and more. The work they do is important and impactful. They give more to the organisation than they probably know and are valued for much more than for just the years they've devoted to making our organisation thrive. On behalf of the CS#1 Board, Executive and everyone at CS#1 a huge thank you for your unwavering service. #teamwork #dedicatedtotheteam #gratitude #educators #supportworkers

We are thrilled to welcome two incredible women Sonya Blondinau and Gill Savage FARPI CRPS to our Board of Directors.   Gill and Sonya bring with them extensive skills and experience across a broad range of industries and share a deep commitment to social issues and the community sector. Together they will bring fresh perspectives and valuable leadership to the organisation.   Our CEO Simon Bennett, Board Chair Jason Duarte and the rest of the CS#1 Board and Executive would like to extend a very warm welcome and look forward to working with them both as we move into 2025. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank outgoing Board Members David Cullen and John Dicer who both played valuable roles in their time with the organisation. #Leadership #CommunityImpact #BoardMembers #Welcome #NonProfit #SocialGood #volunteerboardmember

Community Services #1 (CS#1) and Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Services provide support for thousands of families and individuals across the Canberra region. This Christmas we’re working together to ask for your help to provide food hampers to a growing number of people going without in the community. If you can donate to this great initiative, please drop non-perishable Christmas type food before the 16th of December to CS#1 head office: 63 Boolimba Crescent, Narrabundah, ACT. Together CS#1 and Winnunga will create and distribute food hampers to the people who need it most. #givewhereyoulive #kindnessatchristmas #christmasgiving #christmashamper #christmasfooddrive #organisationalcollaboration

The AGM is done and dusted. Thanks to our volunteer board members for your support and in particular our Board Chair Jason Duarte who conducted proceedings. Thank you for the support and service of board members David Cullen and John Dicer who today stepped down. We also welcomed two new board members to be announced soon. Pictured: CEO Simon Bennett with Jason Duarte, Karen Pollard, Juliette Spurrett and Rhonda Maher.

The Rotary Sundowners of Canberra have delivered yet again. This time with a load of 30 beautiful handbags full of personal items such as shampoo, moisturisers - all the basic necessities. There will be many happy clients at CS#1 this Christmas as we distribute these fabulous gifts. Thank you to the continued support of the Canberra Sundowners and to President Mitra Rawan (CPPM) pictured here with and Rotarian Helen who dropped the bags off to CS#1's Romney Kelly. We're continually grateful for the support you bring which in turn helps a great many local Canberran's. #rotary #rotarysundowners #givewhereyoulive #costoflivingcrisis #christmasgiving

Our Emerging Leaders team jumped on the CS#1 bus to take a tour of our Early Childhood Education and Care Centres earlier today. The group, accompanied by our Executive Director of Community Serivces, Karen Pollard, will meet with staff, observe a variety of learning environments, and deepen their connections with teams across the organisation. #staffdevelopment #leadershiptraining #emergingleaders

Sometimes it's easy for us to see why we keep turning up to run activities to support our clients, and yesterday's Art Exhibition Launch was one of those times. Over the past two years members of the art group have been gathering each week to draw, paint, talk and learn. At yesterday's launch, group members spoke about the transformative effect the group has had. One group member said that attending the classes had 'saved her life'. The impact doesn't get much more powerful than that. #arttherapy #socialsupport #socialimpact #changinglives #transforminglives

A big thanks to our Community Partner - The Rotary Club of Canberra Sundowners - for their generous donation of $600 to kick start our Christmas Food Hamper Appeal. This year we're expecting to provide more than 300 hampers for local families and individuals, so this donation is going to be a great help in achieving this. A special thanks to President Mitra Rawan and Tara Pullen for making this happen. Your hard work across the Canberra community continues to impact so many people and is valued and appreciated by CS#1.

We were delighted to hear high praise for Hands Across Canberra at its annual charity lunch at the Australian National Gallery yesterday. The keynote speaker Ian Bird who heads up Community Foundations Australia, said that achieving a connection across a community was an achievement that shouldn’t be underestimated. “More than 350 charities cultivated a relationship…many of you are here. You think that’s just happening in every community around Australia and around Canada? It’s not,” he told the audience. Community Foundations Australia is the peak body for Australia's network of community foundations, with 40 now established across the nation. Community foundations are designed to provide permanent support through a perpetual endowment fund, which gives regular grants to those in most need. Federal law reforms are expected to make that process easier. And Australia was likely to follow the lead of Canada, at least in growing the available pot of money, encouraging ordinary people to give where they live and trust that their donation will help those in the local community. Hands Across Canberra, like its counterparts in Canberra, could also teach nascent community foundations in Australia about the power of working together. Community Services # 1 is a proud partner of Hands Across Canberra. [The above is partly a direct excerpt from today’s Canberra Times article ‘Hands Across Canberra ‘an example to all Australian’s’] Picture: Ian Bird 'The future of philanthropy is in collaboration'