Youth and Family Focus Inc

Janine Phillis from Youth and Family Focus Inc came and spoke to our meeting. Janine with her two kids moved from South Australia where she was a professional cook. In Tasmania she was retrained as a drug and alcohol counsellor to complete her island-change. She worked as a counsellor and health promotions worker in a range of alcohol, drug, youth and family related services and organisations. Currently she is project manager of the Mersey Respectful Relationships Project.The program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs ( FaHCSIA) under the Gender Equalities for Women Program.

The primary focus of the project is to provide education to young people ( particularly males) so they can develop the skills they need to conduct healthy ,respectful relationships. The initiative uses a three stream approach in the Community, Schools and through an Alternative education stream. The program used in schools is based on a program called 'Relationship Things' developed by the YWCA in Canberra. The school sessions look at: Diversity and Uniqueness, Respect - what it is and how to earn it, Communications and fighting fair - how to effectively communicate and resolve conflict, Gender bias, Looking after yourself and others and Peer education . There is also a special focus to deal with electronic communications amongst young people.

Next weeks is YWCA week without Violence. It runs from 17-23rd October and includes all sorts of activities from public forums to photo competition. Launching the program under the banner of "world family" the YWCA Week Without Violence will be launched with a symbolic laying of flowers for all the past and present victims of violence in Tasmania at the Magistrates court on Sunday 20 October at 1pm. All welcome, please bring flowers!

As part of the week's activities a forum is held at the East Devonport Recreation Centre with Dr Stephanie Dowrick which is free for all people working and living in relationships. It will cover respect in professional and private lives.

Janine, pictured below, hopes the project gets funded again next year!


Janine Phillis from Youth & Family Focus Inc.

Also at our last held meeting;

Remember Lion Sam takes the cake. Every member of our club should try and find an outlet for at least one box of Lions Christmas Cakes. Just order them with Sam and he will make sure you will be stocked up in no time!

Our new shed in  Spreyton is making great process. Bill successfully lobbied for and received $5000 from the Lions Fundation! Next Saturday morning from 8:30am till noon the steel walls are going up. A working bee will be held at the shed the following Sunday morning. Find the shed near the pony club in Spreyton,  the driveway past the tip.

Youth of the Year: If we can all start approaching colleges for candidates we will get a good field of youths to choose from. Alert Lion Rob with possible candidates.

Taste the harvest: Geoff Phillips is the new chairperson again. Held on the the 13th of March this year. Council funding is in the process of being applied for. A new website look is under development - Ian has been working on it with the council. Tuesday 9 November next committee meeting.

Over 90s party: Received over $500 from council. George Russell is still looking for more qualifying elderly people. All aged care facilities have been assigned a member of our club.  The event will be held at the Senior Citizens Club in Devonport on 7 November. The Devonport Times and The Advocate have been notified. Jenny will write a nice invitation. The Mare has been invited and  has RSVP'd. Jim Pearson is create a certificate for the honoured Devonporrt citizens. A commemorative special pen has been made and a special card both paid for with the council grant.

Pink Ribbon Day: Monday 25 October Lions volunteers will be in The Rooke Street Mall near the Hub Arcade from 9am-3pm collecting money for breast cancer..

Lion Garry came back from 3 weeks of holidays in the Kimberleys. As it happened he ran into the 2010 Broome Lions Pearl Convention in Broome on the long weekend from 24 to 27th September.  The Lions descended on Broome for their 45th Lions International District Convention.An impromptu Ellenbrook Lions Club banner exchange was arranged with the 4 representatives from that club. Lion Garry enjoyed meeting 120 Lions from 51 clubs from District 201 W1Our own Lions Tasmania Convention (District 201 T1) is from 12 to 14 November in Burnie, and is hosted by the City of Burnie Lions Club. 

Sam our memberships chair says we need to bring new blood into club!

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Adopt a Highway



Although the official Adopt-a-Highway signs are not up yet, we did get a certificate of appreciation from Conservation Volunteers Australia for our cleanup held in April this year. Soon we will plan another cleanup day to keep our stretch tidy!
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Walk like a Lion on the Catwalk!

Lion's President Jenny strutting on the Lionwalk, ahum catwalk.
LOCAL women tore up the runway early October as part of the Devonport Zonta Club's Fashion with Flair fundraiser. Zonta members modelled a range of fashions for summer from casual to evening wear. The fashion night was held at the Devonport Football Club to raise money for various women's causes within the local area. Read more [here].
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The Advocate's top 120 Inspirational Coasters

In the Advocate: Who are our 120 most inspirational coasters? A 32-page special feature in the Advocate (Friday October 1, 2010) commemorated the120th birthday of  The Advocate Newspaper. Readers were asked to nominate Coasters for the honour and a special judging panel came up with the final 120 from the nominations.

Not surprisingly we found quiet a few names well known to us City of Devonport Lions. They included people as diverse as King O'Malley and  Joseph and Enid Lyons to more current personalities such as Norma Jamieson, Kath Medwin,  Julia Butler-Ross,  Betty Hite, Elsa Kat and our own Lady Lion Judy Wild, Lion Walter van Praag!

Click on the below images for a bigger view!









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Sight first Program

Extracted from the Lions Clubs International Foundation Newsletter for September 2010:
......
Just last week I attended the Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia Regional Games in Warsaw, Poland. There, we celebrated the 10th year of our Opening Eyes partnership with Special Olympics. At this event we screened the 200,000 athlete. Isn't this an impressive accomplishment in such a short time? This partnership is giving hope-hope for a brighter tomorrow and hope that these athletes will run faster, jump higher and throw farther.
At this event I took great pride in fitting a pair of glasses onto the smiling face of Tomasz, a badminton player from Poland. All of us experience what we call "the touching moments in life." You know what I mean. For me, one of these moments was to give these glasses to Tomasz. Due to the tremendous cooperation of Lions Clubs International and Opening Eyes, Tomasz's new glasses helped him score gold in Doubles Badminton and a silver in Singles Badminton.
October is also Lions World Sight Day, an opportunity to celebrate our many accomplishments through our SightFirst program. We've restored sight to 7.6 million people through cataract surgeries. Every one of these individuals has an improved quality of life, thanks to you. But we aren't content to stop there, are we? We must ensure their children and grandchildren will also have improved vision and the chance at a better life.
Lions, I ask you to join me in making a commitment to continue, and expand, our efforts to save sight.
With my cordial regards,
Eberhard J. Wirfs, Chairperson LCIF
Press release [here]. Also see: SightFirst program.


Climbing Mt Kinabalu for CF

City Of Devonport Lions Club are extremely proud to have as their own Lion, Walter van Praag, in his own right the recipient of an OAM and one of the North West Coast's 120 Inspirational People "The Advocate, Friday 1st October, 2010".

Lion Walter addressed the Lions Meeting, 23rd September, 2010 (picture below featuring:- Walter & furry friend compiling his address).



Lion Walter spoke of his recent adventure climbing Mt Kinabalu in Borneo (some 4095 m) to raise awareness (and funding) for "Cystic Fibrosis". Walter has never let anything stop him attaining his highest achievements, "even with only 50% lung capacity".

At 45 Walter is one of the older people with Cystic Fibrosis and continues to raise awareness for the need of organ donors - as most people with CF will require a lung transplant at one stage. Walter's routine includes daily, or twice daily, aerobic exercise, at least 3 injections, 2 nebuliser treatments and dozens of pills and potions. That not being enough he is always eager to test out any alternative health products and has several favourites such as home made kefir and organic apple cider vinegar.

If you like to help Walter attain his goal of $4095 for CF Tasmania please visit www.coughing4cf.com or go direct to the donation page [here]. Or turn up to make Lamingtons at 10 James Street, 1030am Saturday 9 October!
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