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CleftPALS Australia Inc's National AGM

July 3rd and 4th, 2009

 Sydney, NSW

my version of the weekend - First Day - Friday.

Getting there | First Day | Second Day Pt 1 | Second Day Pt 2

 

So now it's Friday and this is usually "Hell Day" for me.  I serve two purposes on the committee at the moment, that of National Secretary but also that of SA's Delegate.  This means that when I need to stop to add information to the meeting I can't be typing at the same time minuting it.  This makes for a hectic time later when I return from the weekend and I type up the minutes!  I usually send out a call to others who were there to see if they noted any of it and I put their information in with mine to form a clearer picture where needed. I'm pretty happy to say it's not normally needed a lot - so that's something I pretty happy about!

The day starts early - we had a collection time of 8:30AM so I had to be up much earlier to look presentable!! Trust me, that takes ages!

First we had a tour of the Westmead Children's Hospital which is a gorgeous hospital unlike one I've seen before.  It's really bright and colourful and it was so well planned in the beginning with care taken to stimulate children all the time. it's really geared towards kids and looks more like a mall in the foyer than a hospital.  Really puts Adelaide's hospitals to shame - ours are so drab and ugly in comparison - sadly! I thought the use of animals to represent different areas of the hospital was a great idea. In the image right you can see they used a parrot to represent the Speech Pathology centre - a clever use of symbolism and very handy for those that don't speak English - they just look for the picture - they won't have to read words. 

 

This tour went for around a hour and was incredibly informative.  I found out another hospital has a Starlight Room - when will SA get one of these!?! - our kids need this kind of thing when they are laid up in hospital for weeks! They have a gorgeous Reading room too - a library for kids to use when in the hospital (see image to the left).  It's so funky and is a great use of space.  Lovely!

They have a full service restaurant there for parents who want a chance to take a break but don't want to leave their kiddies for hours that it would take going into Parramatta, getting a park, eating then getting back to the hospital, so the special restaurant gives them a chance to be 'together' but not too far from their beloved child.  Amazingly thoughtful!

They also have an incredible playground for the kids as well, which is right beside Ronald McDonald house and is accessible fro children in wheelchairs too.  You can see Neeva had fun there so it's great for kids of all ages!

I love going on these tours in other states but it really brings home the starkness of our hospitals here and the lack of 'things' for our kids in SA.  Anyone who has spent time in WCH and FMC will understand what I mean. And if we have these delights and I'm clearly not aware of them, PLEASE let me know... I'd love to think we are doing these kinds of things for our kids!

So then we get 'down to it'.  We sit around a table, drink copious amounts of caffeine to keep us alert, snack on food that's really not good for our waistlines but oh-so-yummy to eat, while we debate, argue, agree and then propose, approve and second lots and lots of things! I can't get into specifics here - you'll have to wait for the National Newsletter to learn more and you'll only get that if you're a member of SA (or another state).  The National Newsletter is coming out in October this year.  Promise!

This year the NSW team were thoughtful enough to give little gifts of static massagers, you know the acrylic ones that you rub on someone's back to help relieve them of tension.. and BOY, did these little things get a work out sometimes!  Poor Ros was well rewarded with a quick 'stress management moment' courtesy of Mick (see, no way I write that comes out sounding innocent! sorry - but it was!).  We discussed really important but hair-tearing things like the insurance cover - it might not seem much but when you have what amounts to 'mums' sitting around a table trying to understand the idea of Public Liability, Indemnity and Disclaimers not worth the screen their written on, it's hectic!  Luckily we had great information from our Insurance Broker who came and made it all much more clear for us!  At least I understood it by the end so that's an achievement alone for Kris, the Broker! Kudos to Marie for her diligence on this matter and her complete follow through of the situation for us, making CleftPALS Australia Inc and the branches (states) well insured in the coming years.

We discussed the situation of costs for SA - now this was a 'moment' for me.  It took a lot longer to discuss than I first anticipated and I kept apologising to the others but they seemed very supportive of my concerns.  You see, SA works on a 'we pay first and then we get reimbursed' for any costs - provided we keep the receipt!  This has been okay in the past year as we have had the Super Dooper Fundraising Duo on the job and their incredible work has meant I have had 'petty cash' in hand to cover a lot of the costs involved in just keeping CleftPALS SA afloat.    This said, there is now over $1300 in National coffers that effectively belongs to SA and I wasn't sure if we as a state had to start contributing to the cover of state contributions (each state contributes $750 each year to help keep National going (ie - INSURANCE!!).

I think everyone at the table that day got a new respect for that 'contribution' and it's not surprising that we might have to look at increasing that contribution to help keep our states/contact parents etc safe under the insurance umbrella. As we are hosting the next AGM in 2010 it's been agreed that SA should have access to that cash as soon as they have a committee - so come on SA members.. give me a Secretary and we're on our way!!

Another thing we discussed was the very late arrival of the National Newsletter for 2008/2009 - and how it can't happen again.  Oddly enough, I have taken back this duty after handing it over last year as I told the national it was a buggah to get the information in a timely manner.  Now that I know national personally and they know me, I'm more confident of getting that information from them before the deadline of Sept 30th and will have it hot off the press in early October - after a proofread (or two) by the national committee! I'll just hound them until they give me the stuff to shut me up LOL.

We discussed the idea of having a nationwide event during the NCW (National Cleft Awareness Week) and the idea of Caps On For Cleft PALS seemed well received. We are hoping schools will adopt it for the one day but those that have strict hat policies can maybe have a band the kids can colour in and wrap around their wide brimmed hats instead for the day - we're working on it. Another idea I had was "Wear a Bright Tee for Cleft-ees" but I'm not sure if that's a PC statement or not!  It's all along the line of Odd Socks Day, Loud Shirt Day etc. If you are a member with an idea email me to let me know!!!  Note to self - contact Neeva for a couple of their fantastic caps - I'll show them on this site and if you want one, we'll order them for you. 

We answered lots of questions from different states, like Tasmania who have started over with a new committee this year and it seems that they are very eager and have lots of fantastic ideas going forward - it's very exciting! I can really appreciate their situation of not knowing what to do first as I have totally been there.  Least they start with funds in their accounts - they actually have a lot more than many of us realised which is fantastic!  And the delegates were just such 'switched on' women, it's really refreshing.  I'm looking forward to working with them this year. 

Then we discussed the national committee.  As our wonderful and beloved Treasurer, Marie, was stepping down we needed to fill that role. We got a nomination to take into the next day.  Also, we had to persuade our long standing President, Ros, to stand again (hey I offered but no one wanted to be Secretary!!).  She is standing for this one final year and then yours truly is stepping up, with someone already 'learning' the Secretary role through this year to take over next year. 

It was about 6 pm when we left the room - tired, brain-numbed and ready to sit in quiet dark rooms for a while! 

Well, actually, the others went out for dinner apparently but I got back, saw my kids and didn't want to do anything but veg on the sofa - all that typing!!!   We decided to order in - and had Italian for dinner.  Unfortunately for me, it made me sick later in the night and then all day the next day....  which leads us into.. Saturday..

 

next .. the third day there.. Saturday Part 1.

Getting there | First Day | Second Day Pt 1 | Second Day Pt 2

 

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