MDS is pleased to announce the development of its new fitness program for people with a disability – Gym Buddies. The program will focus on maintaining or increasing fitness levels through exercise and swimming for people with a disability who are 18 to 25 years of age. The program is funded by The Foundation for Young Australians.

“The idea is to get people with a disability out there in the community doing more physical activities,” says Clare Thorn, co-founder of the project. “Each service user will be matched with a voluntary worker of similar age, who will provide support, encouragement and friendship. Hence the name Gym Buddies.”

“There is evidence that people with a disability are physically more frail and have limited mobility because their fitness levels are generally lower,” says Rob Moran, co-founder of the program. “By increasing people’s fitness levels, we can help prevent the worsening of their conditions and improve their mobility.”

The program will be conducted at Fitness First in Campbelltown and has contracted the services of Scott Buck as an instructor. Scott has a wealth of experience and expertise in the fitness industry and working with people who have a disability.

The Gym Buddies program will commence early July 2004 and will involve a weekly gym circuit session at Fitness First (Wednesdays 12:00 – 1:30pm) and an Aqua-Aerobics session at Bradbury Pool (Thursdays 12:00 – 1:00pm).

To receive further details or a referral pack please contact Rob at MDS on 4621 8400. More details will also be available on the MDS website shortly.

Macarthur Personnel, a division of MDS, has been in partnership with Macarthur Group Training since October 2003 in an attempt to secure Traineeship opportunities for people with a disability. Macarthur Group Training is a group employer of apprentices and trainees and they handle recruitment with Campbelltown and Camden Councils.

Campbelltown Council is now committed to providing two Traineeships per year to people with a disability. The first two trainees were recruited late 2003. Sharifa was one of the successful Macarthur Personnel service users to be employed at Council and has become a very valuable trainee since commencing in February 2004.

Lee Packer, Sharifa's supervisor at Campbelltown Council, couldn’t be happier with her progress. "Sharifa is a valued employee who has more than successfully settled into her traineeship," says Lee Packer.

Sharifa had not been in paid employment since finishing her HSC in 2002. During 2003 she studied retail at TAFE, but found that she preferred office and administration work. Based on this preference, Macarthur Personnel prepared Sharifa for her interviews, and she eventually secured a traineeship in Office Administration and Business Studies, Level II. After only a few months the traineeship was upgraded to Level III as a result of her excellent progress.

“Sharifa's success at Council is a perfect example of what people with a disability can achieve in the workplace once given an opportunity,” says Patrick Vasquez, Marketing Coordinator at Macarthur Personnel.

To top it all, Sharifa was nominated by work colleagues for the Rotary Club of Macarthur Sunrise Pride of Workmanship Awards 2004. During the Gala Presentation night in early May, Sharifa was awarded Runner-Up in the Apprentice/Trainee category.

Macarthur Personnel and Macarthur Group Training are in the process of negotiating two further Traineeships at Camden Council with the view of commencing in early 2005. By this time, two new trainees will also be recruited at Campbelltown Council.

MDS is pleased to be working in partnership with Macarthur Group Training and local Councils to improve employment and training opportunities for people with a disability.

It has been very exciting to get the Gym Buddies funding from The Foundation for Young Australians. This is an innovative program to address health and fitness for people with a disability. It will also look at developing ongoing lifestyle changes to maintain fitness and other active participation in the community.

While I am on leave in June I will be attending an international conference with a focus on health and fitness for people with a disability. I will be visiting a group at Montpellier University to find out what they do and hopefully form some links between the Montpellier group and Gym Buddies. I’ll report back on this next Newsletter.

“We aim to make the person strive for rewards as a result of good behaviour, rather than being punished for bad behaviour,” says Sandra Dalton, one of the developers of the program from the BISS team.

Reward systems are captured on video camera and by photos to enhance the client’s communication and memory of his adventures.

This is the first time MDS have implemented a comprehensive program created by the BISS team. For the last four months, the dedicated team at College Road have put a lot of time and effort into ensuring the program is a positive outcome for everyone involved.

“It’s been a rewarding challenge to implement this program and the effort by all involved has paid off to see such a dramatic change in the client’s behaviour,” says Jody Haynes, team leader at College Rd.

External respite services have also been involved in implementing the BISS program, as well as client’s family at home.

“We train all people and services involved in the client’s program, getting them to work in the same way,” says Sandra Dalton. “It’s important that the program is consistent for the client across all settings.”

Michael Clark has become BAW’s first Worker of the Month, a new rewards program to acknowledge the hard work and high achievements of service users. Each month’s winner will have their photo displayed at Broughton Street (on the Workers Wall), on the MDS website and in the MDS Newsletter.

Michael has been doing work experience at the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute (EMAI) and the placement is going extremely well. Michael is enthusiastic and has a

great work attitude. He enjoys being given new tasks and has proven to be a hard working trustworthy employee.

The staff at EMAI are friendly and supportive, they provide a lot of encouragement for Michael and have made him feel part of the team.
Michael celebrated his 20th birthday during the placement, and he was presented with not one but two homemade chocolate cakes!

Michael enjoys the variety and the responsibility he is given at work experience. Some of his tasks include:
- Filling boxes of pipette tips (pictured);
-Stacking and unstacking the dishwashers, autoclaves, heat room and oven;
- Plugging pipette tubes (long glass cylinders) with cotton wool. He gets to use a groovy machine, which he learnt to use independently very quickly. He then gets to flame the ends using a Bunsen burner.

Michael’s work experience been a tremendous success thanks to his great attitude, hard work and the supportive and friendly staff at the EMAI. Congratulations Michael!

The Inbetweens and the Scaredy Cats surprised themselves with the rides they were prepared to try. Some people had to overcome big fears to get on certain rides. Douglas managed to conquer his fear of heights to go on the Ferris Wheel twice.

One of the favourite and most frequented rides of the day was the dodgem cars, very fun with all three groups present. Everybody had a great day.

Service users and staff from North Steyne Road recently enjoyed a great outing to Toronga Zoo. Luckily it was a day when the animals were not too shy to please their audience; baby tigers, chimpanzees, gorillas and lions were in full view.

Although the reptile house was quite dark, MDS service users were able to spot many snakes, lizards and turtles.

One of the many highlights was hand feeding the giraffes. Many service users were enthused to discover that giraffes have blue tongues. The bird show was entertaining and informative, featuring a galah that collected money and returned it to its owner.

“As Quality Coordinator I spent most of the four days with the auditors being asked a lot of questions and tracking down documents for evidence. It is a different experience to be the ‘auditee’ and not the auditor for once.”
This year MDS received a total of 8 observations (suggestions that do not have to be undertaken).

No improvement requests (requests that must be implemented) were issued this year, a marked improvement on the previous year’s debut audit where MDS received a total of 24 improvement requests and 3 observations. This fantastic result demonstrates that MDS is providing quality services with continuous improvement across the board.

Once again the Benchmark auditors were impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm of all MDS staff and emphasised how well MDS compares to other disability services.

“MDS continues to have in place systems and resources that provide a level of service that well meets the needs of the clients,” says Peter Burton, lead auditor from Benchmark. “Procedures continue to be reviewed for effectiveness and efficiency.”

Amanda expresses her appreciation to MDS staff, consumers and the internal audit team for their ongoing efforts towards Quality Assurance. “This type of result makes all those internal audit reports (or more affectionately known at MDS as Blueys) worthwhile,” Amanda adds.

MDS will now continue with internal audits to ensure that the current quality of service provision is maintained and to meet the requirements of the next external audit due in April / May 2005.

MDS Broughton St
1. Angela 541 pins
2. Jamie 466 pins

MDS Jibbon Place
1. Daniel 569 pins
2. Sokea 533 pins
3. James 505 pins

MDS College Rd
1. Peter 503 pins
2. Jovan 491 pins
3. Suzie 488 pins

Results supplied by Charlyn Rashleigh - Programs & Events Coordinator at NSW Sports Council for the Disabled- South West Region.

8 September
14 October
9 December
22 December

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• telling us what you think about Macarthur Disability Services;
  
• answering surveys about Macarthur Disability Services.