A message from the CEO
Wrapping up another successful AGM and Staff Awards
Last week our annual AGM and Staff Awards, held at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre was well-attended and enjoyed by staff, the Board and the Executive Leadership Team. I’d like to thank those who attended and made it a fantastic event to be present at.
Our 2017 Annual Report was launched at our AGM, with the Board, Council of Governors and stakeholders receiving their copies of the publication. I really enjoy reading the many highlights from the year for the President and CEO report because it serves as another reminder of the impactful work we do. If you haven’t had a chance to read through it, please do so online.
The Annual Report also acts as a way for services from around the state to hear the stories of the incredible work happening throughout the YMCA WA.
It was wonderful to have Alan Good, Bruce Porter and Michelle Shepherd re-elected to our Board at the AGM as we work collectively to expand our mission service growth. I’d like to thank the Board for their ongoing support and their belief in the work we’re doing.
The Staff Awards is a wonderful way to acknowledge everyone’s hard work and dedication over the year, while interacting with staff you may not get to see every day. Congratulations to our well-deserved award recipients;
- Star Award – Shanice Drew
- Leadership Excellence Award – Amber Lee
- Mission Excellence Award – Future Links
- Innovation Grant – Youth Program – Narrogin
Congratulations also to Gerry Nilsson on 15 years of service and Jennie Burns and Merle Thomas on 20 years of service. We are most appreciative of the contribution you’ve made to YMCA WA over all of those years.
Ross Kyrwood
CEO
“It’s that realistic impossibility of needing experience to find work and needing work to get experience.”
Former youth worker turned Youth in STEM Champion at Scitech, Zach Gibson’s focus has always been on young people and their employment opportunities – an increasingly large issue that he and his mates are no strangers to.
“Youth unemployment is the common reality for all young people and it can be a huge barrier to important opportunities,” the 25-year-old said.
“In a group of my mates, one of us is always working hard to secure employment and you can see the exhaustion when you are asking them week by week ‘how’s the job hunt going?’.
“Their answers are a mixture of ‘I can’t tell you how many cover letters I had to write this week for jobs that are expecting 5 years’ experience for an entry level position’ or ‘I think my degree might be useless’,” Zach explained.
It was a combination of Zach’s personal experience and his professional work at Scitech that pricked his interest in YMCA’s Why Not? campaign.
“Young people are that inexhaustible source of contemporary thought and forward thinking, really they need to be the people who are part of the conversations that will shape our future,” Zach said.
“In a lot of ways the Why Not? campaign creates a united and informed forum for discussion that you would have to actively try to ignore. If the voices of young people weren’t crystal clear before, I’m hoping that they can be now.”
Zach expressed his hope that in the future, more of this dialogue can enable changes to be made to policy so that adulthood won’t be the only qualifier for contributing to conversations about our nation’s future. “There’s always been this fear of young people and it’s reflected very clearly on how often they’re excluded from decisions, especially decisions relating directly to or affecting their future,” Zach said.
“They’re refused to be seen as the leaders or innovators of the future, they’re not a part of those conversations when their voice means the most right now, especially with the three issues highlighted in Why Not?.”
As the Youth in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Champion at Scitech, Zach aims to get more youth involved with STEM to make them more equipped to deal with life in general, given how the future is looking.
“In terms of youth unemployment, if nationally we can focus on directing and supporting young people to take transferable skills in to the industries that are growing, we will see them be better equipped to deal with the future workplace and in fulfilling careers,” Zach said.
“As a STEM education industry leader, Scitech continues to seek opportunities to take part in national dialogue, such as Why Not?, where we can be scientific about how we approach issues especially around young people where there’s a clear imbalance. We want to be part of rebalancing the values, giving young people the opportunity to speak up.
Led by 20 years’ experience, supervisor Carmen Mooney and educator Kaylea Frith have set their focus on making the centre far more than ‘just a day-care’ for their children.
“Since we opened we’ve been doing activities to get to know the kids, so they can get to know us too and feel really comfortable while they’re here,” Kaylea said.
“We started off with a Beehive friendship tree, with laminated hand prints and all of the children’s names on it to make the centre feel nice and friendly, and we have a YMCA Beehive puzzle too.
“Every child’s puzzle piece has their name on it with a drawing of whatever they want, the kids all add their piece to the puzzle with the goal of making them feel like part of the community,” Kaylea added.
The personal touches employed to make the centre feel like a home away from home, are complemented by the variation in activities to suit the demand.
“We’ve got a lot of different characters come to the centre and some of the younger kids have shown a real keen interest in science so we’ve done a couple of different experiments with them,” Kaylea said.
“We’ve explained the processes to them, they’ve had guesses about how it works, they write down their predictions and then we go through it together and see what actually happens. They’ve loved it!”
But those who aren’t budding physicists certainly don’t need to fear. Carmen and Kaylea change the curriculum daily depending on if the children have more energy to burn off and want to go straight outside, or alternatively if something more calming is what they’re after.
It seems the flexible approach is doing them no harm.
Kaylea said: “The parents have been talking to other families and saying how great out service is, we also have some of the teachers from the school bring their children here and they’ve said to us it’s great to have us as part of the community.”
The incredible reception towards YMCA Beehive Montessori OSHC so far has Carmen and Kaylea looking forward to further extending their impact in the future.
A busy few weeks has seen many awesome events taking place around all areas of our state. Here’s a quick look at what’s been happening around the grounds.
Narrogin Open Day
To celebrate their 15th birthday, Narrogin Regional Leisure Centre hosted a big birthday bash, and not even a gloomy 14-degree day could keep the attendees away. A strong crowd of 85 people gathered to enjoy the community-focused event that offered bouncy castles, obstacle courses, beach volleyball, a sausage sizzle, the crèche and of course the 28-degree heated pool. Families travelled more than 100-kilometres from Kondinin to spend the day at the centre while others came from Lake Grace to attend. More than 40 show bags were given away and the Swim School received 30 new enrolments. A great day all round!
Stress Less Fest
After the huge success of last year, The Base @ Belmont’s Youth Committee again organised the Stress Less Fest, to raise awareness around mental health. The event was held at Faulkner Park in Cloverdale, and the young people carefully researched how every activity they had on the day could promote positive mental health. The activities included but were not limited to a photobooth, a DJ, a game vault station, inflatable soccer, face painting, a chill out zone, a BBQ, freedom fairies and a library. There wasn't a cloud in the sky nor a single puzzle piece missing, the young people and the Belmont team put on a perfect family fun day.
HQ Mental Health Fest
During Mental Health Week (October 8-14) YMCA HQ played host to an Art and Mental Health Network exhibition that officially opened with a night-time event at HQ. The gallery was then open for a week for the fantastic artwork to be viewed. The exhibition opening was complemented by an all-ages concert, presented by the Youth Mental Health Program. The well-attended free event featured a range of special performers in the gig space and was headlined by Verge Collection. As well as the art exhibition and great music, there was a free sausage sizzle and op shop. Well done to the HQ team for putting on yet another fantastic youth night!
Bub Desk
BubDesk is a service that partners with Australian childcare operators to transform traditional childcare centres into a combination of childcare and parent workspaces. The concept aims to give new parents the opportunity to blend work and life by bringing flexibility to childcare, without the distractions and isolation of home. During the YMCA Ashdale Early Learning Centre’s Open Day, five families visited BubDesk to trial the concept at our service. Then, the following week saw another four families visit Bub Desk at Ashdale ELC as we continue to explore this modern, flexible work arrangement. From these two open days, Ashdale has all but confirmed two part-time enrolments, and will be looking to expand in the coming months.
