Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at G61!!
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Issue 13 2019
Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year
from all of us at G61!!
We wish you all the very best of health, happiness, luck and light for 2020!
A year in review
We have had quite the year this year at Group61. We have said hello and goodbye to some wonderful staff and
incredible students. We launched our Companions and expected
to launch our Youth program, while we have had to put Youth on
freeze for now, Companions has been building steadily over the
year and is going strong. This year also saw us commence work
looking at NDIS membership and the year closes with us se-
curing our first NDIS registration. (If you are receiving NDIS
funding and would consider including Group61 in your package
please contact Kat in the new year to discuss this further;
kbhathena@wmq.org.au / 3621 4362). Group61 also moved this
year! From our cosy office in the St Luke’s building to our very
own cottage which we fondly refer to as The Group61 Hub. It
has been lovely to feel like we have our very own home.
We have had an incredible year of fundraising and we would like
to acknowledge and thank all our fundraising superstars, from
our G61 Bridge to Brisbane team, to our Bunnings BBQ Volun-
teers, our Grill’d supporters, and our incredible ongoing support
form Lucia Balzano and committee of the Festa Paesana Madon-
na delle Grazie. Combining all these events this year we have
raised around $5000 for the Group61.
(Continue on Page 2)
Like, follow and share to get the latest updates on what’s happen-
ing at Group61 as well as information on free events from the
Northern Suburbs down to the Gold Coast. If there’s something
you’d like to share with our community, send us a Facebook inbox
message so we can post it for you!
Find our page by searching “Group61 WMQ” on Facebook!
1
A New Year In Review
(Continue from Page 1)
As you know all of us at Group61 love to socialize and won’t say no to a party! This year we; danced and laughed at
May Joy, enjoyed a lovely dinner with our ACs to acknowledge volunteer week, celebrated our 3rd anniversary in July
with Origami, poetry and Theatre. As part of the theatre project we workshopped at QPAC and during Mental Health
week at 9th Brisbane Mental Health Expo, after 5 weeks of rehearsal we our performed as Everybody Theatre
Everybody Art at The HeARTlands Festival which launched Social Inclusion week in November. G61Companions
had two excursions with guided tours this year, to Rainforest in Maleny and to Southbank to GOMA. We had a won-
derful close to the year with our members Xmas lunch which saw around 70 of us making each other Baubles and
singing to the music of the Brisbane Bells and our final event, our volunteers Xmas drinks and canapes, where we
were honored to receive a welcome and talk by gallery owner, incredible artist and first nations elder, Birrunga.
As you will know most if not all of our events are organised and hosted by our amazing staff team on top
of the general running of the day to day program, this includes finding new and different places to visit /
event themes, arranging catering and transport and usually includes either organising or providing a talk /
tour / activity or entertainment. So I would like to offer a special thank you to our staff, you work tireless-
ly with so much compassion and commitment to offer our members opportunities to connect with each
other, to have fun, to learn and to feel special and spoilt! I hope you know how much you are appreciated,
respected and loved by everyone!!
2 key piece of work we imple-
mented this year were; a new
Area Coordinator Mentoring
Process and our first Friend
Evaluation. We have now
graduated three new ACs
through this process and cur-
rently have five new ACs in the
process, we hope this process
provide better support and
guidance to our new ACs, that
they are confident to stay on
and build their regions. Results
form our Friend Evaluation are
currently being analyzed and
we will also be following this up
with an annual survey to all our
volunteers in early 2020. We
hope that in our first newsletter
next year we will be able to
feedback to you with some of
our successes, challenges and learnings and how we intend to use all your feedback to improve the pro-
gram experience next year. Thank you to everyone who has so far participated and thank you in advance
to those of you who will participate in the new year – your voice is essential to us being able to learn and
improve and ensure we are providing you the best experience we can!!
I wish you all a wonderful end of the year, I hope you can make time to relax, rest and recuperate for
2020. I look forward to seeing you all at some point next year either at our events or training.
2
Christmas Lunch with Group61!
3
Everybody Theatre, Everybody Art
This year Group61 was successful in securing a grant from Brisbane City Council to run a collabora-
tive community theatre project in partnership with, Communify and Red Cross QLD’s Jeays Street
community centre. The project built on a previous 2016 Theatre of the Oppressed project at Jeays
street and was designed to bring members form all our services together to create a piece of forum
theatre, to be performed during Social Inclusion Week in November.
Theatre of the Oppressed is a form of theatre
that originated in Brasil and its philosophical
framework is built around empowering disad-
vantaged / disenfranchised communities to
tell their common story / social experience of
oppression. This will be a short piece of sto-
rytelling that ends badly for the lead and the
audience are then invited to get active and
interject with offerings, identifying places in
the story they believe the lead could have
done things differently and possibly secured
a different outcome. The project is steeped in
empowerment and strategy learning for the
participants and for the audience, real world
learning of deep-seated social injustice and
the subsequent common social barriers mar-
ginalized groups face.
We commenced by running a series of one-off workshops between June and October that included
workshops at; each of our services, various sector events, a national conference presentation and
workshop, a community stakeholder meeting and, very excitingly, our biggest and first combined par-
ticipant workshop was held at QPAC. At the end of October we commenced our project proper which
saw us meet every Friday for 4 weeks to play various games, learn new skills and build up the essen-
tial trust and rapport needed to pull off the performance. Over our final week we met and rehearsed
our story over three days and finally performed on Friday 22 November at The HeARTlands Festival.
Group61 are particularly excited to note the story
lead was a new member of our Group61Compan-
ions family, Chris, who did a fantastic job and made
us all very proud!!
This experience was so incredible, unique and
powerful, bringing together a variety of souls who
may otherwise never have crossed paths and in a
total of 27 hours this group created and beautiful
and provoking piece of theatre. The feedback has
been wonderful from both participants, facilitators,
funders and audience. Thank you to everyone who
contributed in making this project happen and to
making it such a success. A special thank you to
Brisbane City Council for seeing the value if this
work and funding us so generously and a big thank
you to Tabatha Pashen and Isobel Stankiewicz
without who the project would probably never have
got off the ground!!
4
Pics From Theatre Workshops
What a fun time! Beautiful people!
So excited to see the story form!
I’m nervous but I know I’m well supported!
5
A Loving Team at G61!
News
Did you know that G61 has been approved as an NDIS service provider? If you or anyone
you know is interested in nominating G61 on your NDIS service agreement, please con-
tact us on 3621 4362.
If you or someone you know is aged 55 or older and has a home care package, you could
allocate some of your funding towards participation in our Companion Program, for further
information please call 3621 4362.
G61 does not receive government funding, and our service is generally provided free of
charge to everyone in our adult program, so any contribution via NDIS or home care pack-
ages is a great help to us to continue providing our service to the community.
We appreciate your support!
6
Thank you Jan!
Earlier this year we saw the retirement of Jan Hunter, a volunteer with Group 61 for 20 years.
In 2000, John Fox, the founder of Group 61, seeing the need for greater community support for people with mental
health issues approached a group from Chermside Gospel sharing and invited them to attend a meeting to discuss how
and what they could do to help. Jan was the only one who turned up but, undeterred the two of them decided to go
ahead. Others soon joined and the fledgling concept was developed. And so Group 61 was formed and took its name
from Isiah 61 which calls upon people to love and support those in great need.
Soon Jan had her first ”Friend” and then another. They worked together as a team for many years with arts and crafts
being the central focus of their activities.
Over the past 20 years she has lovingly, patiently and with much cheerfulness, faithfully supported those entrusted to
her.
As well as the support given to her Friends, Jan was ever mindful of what was happening in Group 61 and involved her-
self in so many aspects, always there for Volunteer meetings, the bi-monthly BBQs and any other event on the calen-
dar.
She was greatly supported by her late husband, Roy, who became our official photographer recording so many happy
memories of our events.
Many hundreds of volunteers have given their time and effort to Group 61 since 2000 but we must acknowledge the
exceptional contribution of Jan Hunter.
We thank you and we bless you, Jan!
7
Useful Resources
Did you know that there are several places to turn to for free Christmas meals and activities? It is an oppor-
tunity to have some fun with great company in the spirit of companionship!!!
Free Community Christ-
mas Meals Location Date and Time
End of season Feast, Gift and Jeays St Community Centre | 12 18 December 11am to 1pm
Hamper Jeays St, Bowen Hills
Christmas Lunch and hampers, 3rd Space, 505 Brunswick St, 24 December 11am to 1pm
gifts - T: 3254 1144 Fortitude Valley
Christmas Lunch - RSVP on Wesley Mission, ER Hub, 316 St 25 December 12pm
T:3216 1579 Pauls Terrace, Valley
Signal Flare Christmas Musgrave Park, 91 Cordelia St, 8 December 10am – 1pm
South Brisbane
Christmas Lunch Wesley Mission, Wesley House, 25 December 12pm
140 Ann St, City
Wendybird LGBTIQ Found Fam- West End Croquet Club, 91 Cor- 21 December 12pm to 4:30pm
ily Festivities delia st, South Brisbane
Christmas Lunch - RSVP by 19th Bayside Uniting Church, 420 25 December 11.30am to
Dec on T: 3890 2392 Wondall Rd, Manly West 2.30pm
Communify Christmas Lunch - Suncorp Stadium - Gate D 25 December 11:30am
RSVP 16 Dec T: 35102700
Community Christmas Party - 1052 Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Rd, 11 December 12-2pm
RSVP T: 3291 5900 Mackenzie
Christmas Market Day/ Ham- The Newmarket Hall (212 As- 11-Dec
pers - Register T: 31984410 grove Ave, Newmarket)
Christmas Lunch West End Community House - 4 18 December 11:30pm
Norfolk Rd, South Brisbane
Christmas Lunch – OPEN - T: Ozcare, 48 Peel St, South Bris- 25 December 12noon
3028 4350 (Ozcare Residents bane
only)
Christmas Lunch and presents - Brighton Health Campus (free 25 December 10am to 2.30pm
Sandbag - RSVP on 3869 3244 transport from Sandgate Comm
or ghunt@sandbag.org.au Centre)
Christmas Hampers /
Address Contact
Gifts
Communify - Christmas Market 212 Ashgrove Avenue, Ashgrove
Day (11 Dec) RSVP: 3198 4410
Wesley Mission QLD (Toys, Red 316 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude
T: 3216 1579
Bags, Hampers) Valley
Jeays St Community Centre / Jeays St Community Centre | 12
18th Dec | 11am to 2pm
Valley Hearts Jeays St, Bowen Hills
Micah Projects - MICAH clients 162 Boundary St West End
T: 3036 4444
Sandbag Christmas Party 449 Hornibrook Hwy, Brighton
T: 3869 3244
Trinity Welfare Pantry - Tues to Church St, Fort Valley
Fri throughout Dec (9am-3pm),
T: 3852 1635
closed 25th/26th Dec and Jan 1
8
If you need any support during this holiday season,
here are some contacts
Emergency Contacts
Agency and Contact Support Service Contact Details
The Brook Red Centre Brook RED is a peer run community service providing T: 3343 9282 | 9am to 9pm
support for any individual who has a lived mental
health experience.
StandBy Response Service The Standby Response service provides a 24-hour T: 3250 1856
coordinated response to assist families, friends and 147 Gipps St Fortitude Val-
acquaintances who have been bereaved by suicide. ley
QLD Government – Families can access advice / or more hands-on sup- T: 13 32 64
13Family Hotline port and be linked up with their local, community-
based Family and Child Connect service. Support
available for families experiencing issues with family
relationships, budgeting, housing or other concerns.
Family and Child Connect can provide information,
advice and support to keep families safe this Christ-
mas.
Closed 25 Dec, 26 Dec, 1 Jan 2020.
Health, Financial Wellbeing Support Services and ER
Agency and Contact Support Service Eligibility
3rd Space (7 days per Medical services- GP’s, nurses, Anglicare Nurse, acu- Open
week) puncturist, podiatrist, nutritionist)
Financial and Legal Services - Centrelink (DHS),
Drop-in or call HHOT, LawRight Legal Clinic
T: 3254 1144 Outreach and mobile services
505 Brunswick St, Forti- Family Support Services
tude Valley Individual Support Services
Group Activities
Brisbane Youth Service Services for 12-25 year olds. Financial assistance, 12-25yrs
(BYS) transport assistance, emergency relief / meals, drop-
T: 3620 2400 in, Dr Clinic, nurse, food parcels, accommodation.
42 McLachlan St, Fortitude Closing 25 Dec and reopening 2 Jan 2019
Valley Limited staff 27 to 31 Dec.
Windsor House – no closure
Phoenix House – no closure
Sandgate House – no closure
BYS Housing and tenan- Closed 25 Dec and reopening 2 Jan 2019 12-25yrs
cy Team
Winstanley St Carina
BYS Young Women and Closed 25 Dec and reopening 2 Jan 2019 12-25yrs
Young Families team
North West Youth Ac- Closed: 23rd Dec and reopening 6th January 2020. 12-25yrs
commodation Service T: 3855 5233
Inc.
Communify | HART 4000 Closed 25, 26 December and 1 Jan 2020. People who are homeless or
Opening hours 9am-5pm | T: 3004 0100 at risk of becoming home-
less.
9
Health, Financial Wellbeing Support Services and ER
Agency and Contact Support Service Eligibility
Anglicare Southern QLD Emergency relief support for those suffering financial Formal ID with name and
Mental Health and Family crisis. No food parcels, cash or transport available. current address
Wellbeing ER assistance available includes: Proof of current income
Vouchers (Coles / Woolworths, petrol etc). Copies of recently paid / un-
By appointment only paid bills.
T: 1300 114 397 Normal Hours are:
North Park Business Cen- 9am to 5pm | Mon, Wed and Fri
tre: Suite 205A / 6 Babarra
St, Stafford 4053
Nexus Care Closed Friday 23 Dec and reopening 6 Jan 2019 NIL for Fresh Food Start pro-
Fresh Start Food Program and Christmas Parcels gram
151 Flockton Street, ER and Parcels available for collection Mon, Tues ER is appointment only.
Everton Park and Thurs between 10am and 4pm. Residing in specified suburbs
T: 3353 7230 in the Brisbane North and
North West areas
Formal ID with name and
current address
Proof of current income
Copies of recently paid / un-
paid bills.
Reach out Community Select your own FOOD PARCEL of grocery and per- PARCEL must be a minimum
and Family Care sonal items. spend of - $12.00 for singles,
36 Baden Powell St, Handling donations apply. $25.00 for family to receive
Everton Park Normal Open Hours: Tuesday - Friday 9am - 4pm, free supply of fruit and vegies
T: 3355 7444 Saturday 9am - 12noon. for an individual or one fami-
Closed 25 Dec, 26 Dec, 1 Jan 2020. ly.
Micah Projects OPEN 24hrs per day 7 days per week (including pub-
lic holidays).
162 Boundary St, West ‘Home for Good’ housing and support service for peo-
End ple homeless or experiencing a housing crisis.
T: 3036 4444 Brisbane Domestic Violence Service (BDVS) got
BDVS T: 3217 2544 women and children experiencing domestic and fami-
ly violence.
Community Action for Closed from 23rd December and reopening 6th Janu- T: 1800 008 255
the Prevention of Suicide ary 2019.
- Talk Suicide Support Ser- Provides outreach support to individuals 15yrs and
vice over and at risk of suicide as well as families and
friends.
Disability Services Closed 23rd December and reopening 2nd January NA
2020.
Relationships Australia Closed 25th Dec and reopening 2nd January 2020. 159 St Paul’s Terrace, Spring
QLD Hill
Department of Human Closed: NA
Services (DHS) Christmas Day – Mon 25 Dec 2019.
Boxing Day - Tuesday 26 December 2019.
You can use your myGov New Year’s Day, Monday 1 January 2020.
account to access your If you are due to report your earnings or employment
online accounts. You can on a holiday closure date, there are other dates you
also use Express Plus mo- can report. Your payment will be made after you have
bile apps and phone self reported to DHS.
service during the holiday
period.
10Health, Financial Wellbeing Support Services and ER
Agency and Contact Support Service Eligibility
Open Minds – Mental Closed 25th, 26th December, 1st January and reopen- 162 Alfred St, Fortitude Valley
Spring Hill Men’s Shed Final open day 23 December 2020. 10 Love St Spring Hill
Reopening 6 January 2020. Robert Collins - 0413 205
Reclink Closed between 24 Dec and reopening 6 Jan 2019
Metro Community Hub Closed 18 December and reopening 13 January 2020. 22 Qualtrough St
Alcohol Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and T: 1800 22 22 22
women who share their experience, strength and hope
with each other that they may solve their common
problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
This is a program of abstinence.
Narcotics Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous is a non-profit fellowship of men T: 1300 652 820
and women for whom drugs had become a major
problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regular-
ly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of
abstinence from all drugs
QLife Peer based telephone counselling service T: 1800 184 527
3pm to 12am midnight every day
Open Doors Youth Ser- Advocacy and support services for lesbian, gay, bisex- T: 3257 7660
vice ual, asexual and/or transgender, Intersex and
queer (LGBTIQ) young people aged 12 to 24 and
their families
Gay and Lesbian Welfare Peer counselling service for gay, lesbian, bisexual and T: 1800 184 527
Seniors Enquiry Line Seniors Enquiry Line is a state-wide information and T: 1300 135 500
referral service for Queensland seniors, their fami- 117 Gipps St, Fortitude Valley
ly, friends, grandparents and carers.
Closed 24th Dec
Reopen 2nd Jan 2020
Elder Abuse Prevention • The Elder Abuse Prevention Unit (EAPU) is a T: 1300 651 192
Unit 117 Gipps St, Fortitude Valley
Queensland wide program which provides a Helpline
for information, support and referrals to people who
experience, witness or suspect the abuse of an older
person.
• Closed 24th Dec
Red Cross Night Café Closed from 20 Dec to 6 Jan 2019 12-25yrs
The Salvation Army | Pin- Open 24/7 over Christmas period. 28 Quarry St, Spring Hill
dari T: 3832 1491
Men’s Shed Spring Hill Closed 20 Dec reopening 13 Jan 2020
The Salvation Army, Bris- 58 Glenrosa Rd, Red Hill
bane Recovery Services Centre-based: Open 24/7 T: 3368 6376
Centre, Moonyah
Valley Chaplain Watch 20 – 23 Dec: closed Contact Angie Brown (Senior
27 – 30 Dec: Patrols and Rest and Recovery - Thurs Team Leader Chaplain
and Sunday 11pm-3am; Fri and Sat 10:30pm- Watch Inc.) on M:
4am. 0475558000
31 Dec: Patrols starting 9pm and finishing 5am 1 Jan.
Rest and Recovery Centre 9pm - 5am.
3 - 6 Jan: Patrols and Rest and Recovery Thurs and
Sunday 11pm-3am; Fri and Sat 10:30pm-4am.
Like, follow and share to get the latest updates on what’s happening at Group 61 as
well as information on free events from the Northern Suburbs down to the Gold Coast.
If there’s something you’d like to share with our community, send us a Facebook inbox
1124hr Telephone Helplines
Agency Service Detail Contact Details
1300 MH Call Access to mental health information and advice mental 1300 64 22 55
health patients, carers and families, the community, GP’s,
non-government organisations and private health profes-
sionals
Alcohol and Drug Information Service The Alcohol and Drug Information Service (ADIS) is part of 1800 177 833
the national system of information and counselling services
that operates by telephone 24/7.
BeyondBlue Information and support to help people achieve their best 1300 224 636
possible mental health.
Crime Stoppers At its core Crime Stoppers is the receipt of anonymous 1300 309 355
information about suspicious or criminal activity that is then
passed to the Queensland Police Service. It is an intelli-
gence gathering service and contact with our program
does not result in an immediate Police response.
DV Connect Crisis Support Telephone support and counselling to anyone who has Sexual Assault - 1800
been sexually assaulted or abused and for anyone 010 120 | 9am to
who is concerned or suspects someone they care 11pm
about might have been assaulted or abused.
Womensline - 1800 811
Telephone service offering women who are experiencing 811
domestic or family violence 24 hours a day 7 days a
A free, confidential telephone, counselling, referral and Mensline - 1800 600
support service especially set up for men. 636 | 9am to 12pm
Women’s House Domestic Violence Women's House services are run by women and for wom- T: 3391 0005
Support - Woolloongabba en; services are free, and confidential. Women's House
offers: - Short term, secure accommodation at a confiden-
tial address for w omen with or without accompanying chil-
dren, escaping domestic violence.
Gamblers Help Free access counselling and information services concern- T: 1800 858 858
ing problem gambling issues.
GriefLine Supports people experiencing loss and grief, at any stage T: 1300 845 745
in life.
Homeless Information Line Homeless Hotline is a phone information and referral ser- T: 1800 47 47 53
vice for people who are experiencing homelessness or are
at risk of homelessness.
Kids Helpline Phone and online counselling service for young people T: 1800 55 1800
aged 5 to 25.
LifeLine Crisis support and suicide prevention services. T: 13 11 14
MiNetworks Connects you to an experienced mental health worker to T: 1800 985 944
find information and support.
Poisons Information Source of information about poisonous substances, first T: 13 11 26
aid, and preventing incidents of poison.
Police Link Non-urgent incident reporting and general Queensland T: 13 14 44
Police Service enquiries.
QLD Homicide Victims Support Group Offers 24hr emotional support, personal advocacy and T: 1800 774 744
information to all people affected by homicide.
R U Ok Connects you free to 5 crisis information lines such as Life- T: 1800 786 5329
line, Kids Helpline, Suicide Call Back, Sane Australia and
Beyond Blue for free from any landline.
Suicide Call Back Service Nationwide service that provides telephone and online T: 1300 659 467
counselling to people 15 years and over who are suicidal,
caring for someone who is suicidal, bereaved by suicide or
health professionals supporting people affected by suicide.
Family Drug Support 24hr telephone support line providing support to families T: 1300 368 186
affected by alcohol and other drugs.
That’s it from us here at G61 HQ. We hope you have enjoyed this newsletter as much as we have enjoyed
sharing our news and updates. As always if you have anything to share we look forward to your contribution,
email to group61@wmq.org.au or phone us on 3621 4362.You can also read
