The Rotary Club of Belleville

The Rotary Club of Belleville

Group Study Exchange Visit

October 20 – 27, 2010

The Aussies descended upon the Rotary Club of Belleville on Wednesday October 20, 2010 for a week long visit to the Quinte area. The team, comprised of mental health professionals from Rotary District 9750 in Sydney, Australia, included

(clockwise) Dot Hennessy (Rotarian team leader), Matthew Ireland (police officer), Melisa Quig (school counselor), Alyssa Milton (mental health clinic manager), Stuart Balzan (rehabilitation counselor) and Matthew James (mental health nurse)

The Group Study Exchange (GSE) is a vocational exchange involving professionals from another Rotary District who participate in a reciprocal exchange to immerse themselves in their vocations in another country. The intent is to trade best practices with your vocational hosts and to network with other professionals. There is also a cultural component to the exchange aimed at enhancing world understanding and goodwill.

Family hosts were President Sam Brady, Len Kennedy, PP John Cairns, Tracy Bray and PP Karen Baker.

Rotarian Lilly Duffy hosted the team on Thursday October 21^st. They spent the day touring Prince Edward County, having lunch at the Waring House, touring Waupoos Winery and Black River Cheese and Lake on the Mountain.

On Friday the team was greeted by Rotarians Maureen Piercy and Dianne Spencer from Loyalist College. The team spent the morning touring the College and spending time with the College staff and faculty who provide academic and health and wellness support to the students. They also visited with faculty in the police foundations and service worker programs. After a false fire alarm and lunch at the Shark Tank the team took to the 401 for the drive to the District 7070 Conference in Niagara Falls.

Saturday morning and early afternoon had the team attending a variety of Rotary sessions at the Fallsview Resort in Niagara Falls. In the mid-afternoon they ventured outside into the rain for a trip to the Maid of the Mist. Despite very wet, cool and windy conditions, the team was quite taken by the Canadian Falls.

Stuart, Alyssa, Matthew, PP Karen Baker, Dot

(Front) Matthew, Melissa

Saturday’s dinner included a musical revue featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, June Carter and Elvis Presley. The team was seated front and centre for the show and enjoyed the musical stylings and comedy of the performers. Afterwards they ventured to downtown Niagara and the Fallsview Casino for people watching.

    

Matthew, Tessa Bell, Dot                                   Alyssa and Melissa                             Elvis

On Sunday morning, the Team made a presentation to the conference attendees that featured a very unique case study about a young man named Heath. As the case was presented, each team member talked of their professional role in assisting Heath in his battle to acknowledge and then live with his mental illness.

On Sunday evening the team returned to Belleville and enjoyed dinner at Paulo’s Trattoria before returning to their host families.

The team presented to the Rotary Club of Belleville at their regular Monday lunchtime meeting. After lunch they visited City Hall and spent about 90 minutes with Mayor Neil Ellis. It was election day in Belleville and the team managed to get themselves on You Tube as there was a group filming Mayor Neil for the day.

(L to R) Matthew Ireland, Matthew James, Dot Hennessy, Mayor

Neil Ellis, Stuart Balzan, Alyssa Milton and Melissa Quig

After departing from City Hall, the team tried unsuccessfully to see the Belleville Bulls on ice practice in preparation for their Maple Leafs game on November 6^th. The Bulls had finished early but the team did get to wander the Yardmen Arena and see some of Belleville’s recent construction projects. Leaving the Arena, they ventured for the first time over the new Veteran’s Memorial Bridge to Starbucks and the Quinte Mall for a relaxing coffee.

The RC Belleville arranged a Happy Hour Fellowship event at Earl & Angelos for later Monday evening. Many Rotarians dropped in to say hello, including some who dressed up in the spirit of Halloween.

 

            Alyssa and PP John Cairns                                                 Carol Feeney and President Sam

After Happy Hour, the team ventured down

Front Street

to visit the post-election celebrations of Rotarian Richard Courneyea and Mayor Neil Ellis. On both stops they managed to meet many new people including more Rotarians who were supporting friends and colleagues in their election bids.

Tuesday brought day long vocational visits for all of the members of the team. Stuart Balzan and Melissa Quig spent the day at the Hastings Children’s Aid Society with Rotarian Len Kennedy and his staff, Matthew Ireland spent the day with Rotarian Paul VandeGraaf at Belleville Police Services and Alyssa Milton and Matthew James were hosted by Michael Whiteman and the staff at Quinte Health Care. Dot Hennessy travelled to Trenton to spend some time with Quinte Recycling, an area of vocational interest for her. All the team members commented on how much they enjoyed their time with their counterparts in the Belleville area and of the contacts they made and how similarly, yet differently, they practice their vocations in each country.

Tuesday evening PP John Cairns hosted a BBQ for the team. Everyone had a wonderful time laughing and telling stories. Later in the evening, each member of the team carved a pumpkin graciously provided by Rotarian Wayne Dewe. Halloween is not celebrated in Australia so the team was excited to get right into the guts of the pumpkins and carve away. By the end, they were wondering how to get pumpkin seeds to start this annual autumn tradition Down Under.

  

Sadly, Wednesday saw the end of the Aussie’s time in Belleville. They spent the morning packing and saying their goodbyes before heading to Cobourg. Enroute the team stopped at Campbell’s Orchards to grab some goodies and some hot apple cider for the trip.

Arriving in Cobourg, the last item on the Belleville agenda was a presentation sponsored by the Northumberland Hills Hospital Association – a presentation by Bill MacPhee, a schizophrenic who talked about his life pre- and post-diagnosis of his illness and how he has made a success of himself as a survivor of, and proponent for, schizophrenia and as the publisher of SZ Digest, a magazine for and about the disease.

When that was complete, the team was handed off to Mike Parker of the Rotary Club of Cobourg who took the team to meet their next hosts, the Rotary Club of Willowdale.

Mellissa, Matthew, Dot, Matt, Stuart and Alyssa with the Big White Beast (van)

graciously provided to the RC Belleville by Mike Parker of the RC of Cobourg.

For the remainder of their time in District 7070, the Aussie team will be hosted by the Rotary Clubs of Willowdale, Cobourg, Richmond Hill and Whitby Sunrise.

When leaving us, the team said that they had a great time in Belleville and that we are a wonderful and fun group of Rotarians who enjoy our community, how Rotarians connections and what we do for a living. They will miss us all and felt that we have set a very high bar for the remainder of their hosts.

We will miss them.

To continue to follow their District 7070 adventures, follow their blog at http://rotarygse9750.blogspot.com/

District 7070 also has a mental health team in District 9750 in Sydney. Follow their daily adventures at http://www.vttaustralia2010.blogspot.com/

To learn more about the Group Study Exchange, now called the Vocational Training Team, click the following:

http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/fv_global_grants_vtt_participant_application_en.pdf

http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/100608_news_vtt.aspx

The Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise - 14 to 20 November 2010 - No 5

WHITBY SUNRISE – 14-20 November 2010 - BLOG

 

What we did...

Cultural/Social/Hospitality

Sunday - So the journey began with a Whitby, wildly, whacky, warm welcome by PDG Doug Byers – (MD of Fakanal Culture) appropriately ensconced in black stretch limousine, courtesy of Rotarian Rocky Varcoe (owner of this special vehicle and the Class Act Dinner Theatre), champagne, nibblies with Whitby Wisdom flowing freely with flamboyance

Home Hosts met each member at the Class Act Dinner Theatre

Dinner at our home hosts, followed by...

“Welcome to Whitby” Get together at the home of Rotarian Andrew Butterworth and his wife, Helen, President of the Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise.  We were joined by members, wives/partners and families – a great welcome and induction into Whitby Sunrise hospitality

Monday - Social Hour Get Together – AG Brian and Karen Thompson – after our visit to Ontario Shores – also included were those we met during the day also together with our home hosts. 

Dinner at the Mandarin Restaurant for many and their hosts, followed.  There is a chain of these restaurants and the buffet caters is wall-to-wall with every type of culture and food available.

Tuesday - following another busy day at Ontario Shores, Police and Durham School Board we were entertained for

Dinner at “De Siam” Restaurant hosted by Rotarian George Punyaprateep – absolutely delicious

Wednesday - Dinner and Show at the Class Act Dinner Theatre, hosted by Rocky Varcoe – Fund-raiser to Oshawa/Parkwood – home club of DG Ted Morrison.  Great night – lots of laughs

Thursday – dinner at home

Friday – our last was one everybody both our hosts and our team will always remember:  we travelled to the city by GO Train to the 68^th floor of the Bank of Montreal where

PDG Mike Cooksey, Vice-President and Regional Director, Sales, GTA, hosted our team, DG Ted, DGE Bob, DGN Ted, PDG Doug; VTT/GSE Chair Hilary; VTT Team Leader Val; Whitby Sunrise Host PP Linda

Farewell Party - Following lunch we returned to our homes then on to the home of VTT Team Leader Val and her husband Mark Farewell to the inbound team.  The evening was full of much laughter, sharing of the most amazing stories about our experiences, opportunities to further network; chance to catch up with Rotarians from both Whitby and Whitby Sunrise and were entertained by PP Jeff Collery, of Whitby Club - vocal and guitar, just fantastic.

This was a wonderful chance for all  to personally express our special appreciation to those who made our VTT/GSE programs so successful.

The photo tells the story...

        

Vocational visits:

• Ontario Shores (OS) Centre for Mental Health – tour of facilities; welcome by Medical Director and staff about the range of services
• GSE team presented about each of his/her roles/workplace/s.
• OS – Job Sharing with a staff member – 5 of the team were given a 1/1 work-shadowing program through each service applicable to his/her vocation.
• Durham Regional Police Service x 2 days – service operates with OS Nursing staff providing a response service across the DRPS region – Matthew Ireland
• Frontenac Youth Services – this is the workplace of Jill and Brenda who were part of the District 7070 outbound team.  We visited two residential facilities for children; pot luck lunch and had a full day discussing and sharing information about programs and services.
• Durham District School Board - Melissa
• CMHA – Matthew James
• TAMI Project, 40 students from All Saints Catholic Church High School are facilitated by staff at OS to working to develop a plan to “Stamp out Stigma”
• Tour of Sick Kids Hospital, Toronto City

Rotary Presentations:

Whitby Club – meets Tuesdays 7am; approx 40 members, 75 years young and mature; team presentation personal profile about their families, qualifications and their role in the organisation in which they are practising.

Whitby Sunrise Club – 22 yrs young – meets 7 15am – approx 68 members - President does wear a collar - not usual in Canada as it is in Australia; team presentation - the same as for District Conference – the journey of a young man, Heath from diagnosis to ongoing management of his mental illness.

In summary, this, our last week was action packed -  not only amazingly different to but also built on each of the wonderful program specially developed for each of the locations where we were hosted and visited.

Culturally, Vocationally, the hospitality and from a Rotarian perspective, as a Group Study Exchange perspective, the program was exceptionally sound in every respect and exceeded all expectations.  Our reports, presentations and feedback will continue and provide further details where possible.

Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences – 15 November 2010 – summarised by Dot

Tour of Facility by Sandy Ravary – photos to come...

Welcome and Clinical Structure presented by Dr Phil Klassen. Chief Medical Officer

Policing and Mental Health – Ruth Lawrence (Nurse employed by Ontario Shores; Constable Scott Logan – Ontario Police)

Community – Maxine Mann

Adolescent Services – Teresa Sheppard, Cynthia Weaver joined during the presentation an updated current staffing and availability of beds.  Teleconferencing facilities used to assist with access into communities.

LHIN network and demographics explained

Psychology – Dr Pamela Wilansky-Traynor – talked about psychology in OS; quals need to have PhD; different types need to specialise – which foci – children, adolescents, adults, geriatric; mood, disorders, anxiety, etc.

Psychologists v Psychotherapist – people in community re difference; what is therapy?  Fit well with the MD team as OS

Act 1991 – practice defined – assessment etc – see slides

Research is not included in Act.

Service covers number of areas – OS 90% on assessment.

Students have access to range of programs

Research – forensic and adolescent opportunities explained

Nursing and Recovery Initiatives – Joanne Jones, Clinical Educator; mental nurse for whole of career

Large team just under 600 – various levels determined under scope of practice

Practice responsible to College of Nurses and OS practice

CFMHN Standards

Holistic approach, ethical practice

Vision – leaders in MHN – making a difference – differentiating HOPE

Program – Our Shared Journey – Recover and Rediscover was covered by a number of slides which addressed/covered the following:

Mental Health Strategy – Prime Minister initiated research

Report Out of the Shadows at last – 1^st review of MHC in Canada

Lens should have been focus 20 yrs ago

Framework – recovery is peppered throughout whole document

What is Recovery was explained – person can re-cover life without recovering from health

Began...

We had a Dream

Recovery Oriented care

Recovery Education to all staff

To re-discover the passion of our practitioners

Strategic Direction from top down.

Dr Lindsay Oades and Dr Trevor Clodes – UOW have developed a model which has been adapted and adopted into the culture – 18 months to complete to date – March 2012 – Research measures – every 6 months measures are collected and analysed

Collaborative Recovery Model – included non-clinical support staff

Vision

Guiding Principles

Clinical staff 5 days training – see points covered

Non-clinical staff – half day

Research measures

ON-going sustainability plan

Experiential learning around strengths rather than negatives

Rotary Club of Richmond Hill - 8 to 14 November 2010

Richmond Hill – 8-14 November 2010

We arrived at the Bayview Golf and Country club where we were met by Rotarian, Graham Jones who organised the most diverse and relevant program for the team to visit.

We farewelled AG Michael Parker, our fabulous tour leader, host, guide and our ‘people mover’ - the Dalrenmobile. 

Host families – each of us met and travelled to our respective new homes to freshen up for the Evening Rotary meeting and team briefing prior to the meeting commencing.

Rotary Meeting – Chartered in 1954; meets at the Sheraton Hotel, Richmond Hill; 50 members; 27 nationalities; significant community representatives as members; Mayor, members of Provincial and Federal parliament.

Meeting is chaired by Vice President – Gordon Van Dyke

Opened at 6 30 and closed 8pm

President – Binni Rana

DGN Ted Koziel and his wife attended – I have linked Ted with Bill Salter our DGN in Australia

Anthems – O Canada and Advance Australia Fair

Toast to Queen and both Canada and Australia

Grace – for all nations/beliefs

Rotary news – various members provided updates on current projects, etc.

Rotary Minute – each Rotary meeting we attended, irrespective of the tight schedule allowed time for the presentation of a topic on Rotary

Dinner served at 6 round tables with the GSE Team spread around each table

Presentation – 30 minutes allowed – Team did another great job

Fellowship - everyone was involved and having heaps of fun.

Happy Bucks and fines – interestingly different to that we see in our meetings
Very happy group of Rotarians

President Binni & Dot

Fund-raiser - current – TV Auction conducted over 1^st week-end in December – has been conducted for 22 years raised between $75 and 120K.  Joint project with 2 Rotary Clubs and several community organisations.

What we did...

York Centre for Children, Youth and Families, met by the Clinical Director – Dean Rokos his team – see summary below.

The program was very carefully developed and varied to cater for each of our interests over the 4 days and included:

York Region District & School Board – Alyssa and Melissa

York Region Police – Matt Ireland and Dot – 1 day

Addiction Services for the York Region – Matthew James; Stuart Balzan and Dot

Remembrance Day ceremony – all attended in various capacities – Matt Ireland, dressed in his NSW Police Uniform, stood with the Police of the York Region; Team attended with their host families.

McMichael Centre – local art – Stuart, Alyssa, Melissa, Matthew James

Catholic School Board – Melissa

York Community Hospital – Stuart, Matthew James, Alyssa, Dot

York schools - Melissa

Social night at a local pub where food, drink and pool was enjoyed by the team and members – the Aussies challenged the Canadians to pool!

Farewell Dinner at President Binni’s home on the Saturday night – wonderful night, very well supported by Club members and their partners/families and Binni’s family.  Gifts were presented to each member from his/her host family plus we received a special pin from The Hon Bryon Wilfert, RC, MP of Richmond Hill who is also a member of the Club.

Every aspect of the program, culturally and vocationally was so carefully planned for our visit by Rotarian Graham Jones and President Binni Rana supported by the host families and their wives/partners. 

The Rotary Club of Richmond Hill, President Binni, Program Chair Graham, the members of club representing 27 Cultures, really shared with us true Rotary hospitality, service above self and the values of Rotarians. 

We left Richmond Hill with so many very special memories of a wonderful multi-cultural farewell, "pot luck" dinner in Binni's home, joined by our host familes and members of the Club;  treasured memories of our experiences and the opportunity to continue to network and keep in touch

A very special thank you each of you.

 

Our Host families...

More about what we did...

York Centre for Children, Youth and Families – brief summary

Everybody wondered how we would fill in the day from 9am to 4pm.  It was an absolutely amazing experience – we were given the most overwhelming welcome, taken on a tour of the facility plus a comprehensive overview of the services, their relationship to the school boards, accountability and the children, youth and families. 

We spent time with staff in the morning, shared a case study with us and sought our advice/feedback

After lunch taken to both sections:  Matthew, Matt and Stuart to the children’s section and given the opportunity to try to assist with a particularly challenging child called Walton. 

Elissa, Alyssa and Dot spent the afternoon with the youth in each of their sessions – handed out kangaroos and saw the check at the end of the day to summary what had been covered during the day.

The centre is very much about love, trust, care and respect – a great model and one which we must share.

What is even more special is that Rotarian Graham Jones who has organised the vocational visits to RH has been on the board for over 20 years, has been a major driver in fund-raising, getting the services up to the standard where they are through his support and commitment.  There is a plaque in the foyer of the main office in recognition of Graham’s role.

Addiction Services for the York Region - ASYR

There we were met by Louisa Leung, Clinical Director, who had organised the following:

Aurora Office, 15150 Yonge Steet, Aurora – 9 30am-12 00midday

Community Withdrawal Management Program

Outreach Program

Adult Substance Program

Gambling Program

Information of Clinical Orientation

Newmarket Office – 1 30 to 3 00pm

Concurrent Disorder Program

Umbrella Program

Court Diversion Program

Youth Program

Thursday 11 November – York Regional Police - Dot joined Matt Ireland for a day

Michael Fleischaker, Senior Sgt Community Services Bureau – Community Partnerships – was our host for the day.  He called at each of our home hosts’ homes to take and returned us in the afternoon.

We were briefed on...

The Multi-disciplinary Threats in Schools Approach from Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response; view FRTA Training and Protocol with Schools Boards; Overview of YRP Whole of Schools Approached – Youth Programs from Grade 1-12

The sessions were conducted at the York Regional Police village where they bring students from K-12 into the village and teach them a range of skills in fire, road safety, driving, strangers, etc.  The program is integrated into the school curriculum, so that for example every YR 2 student in the region would attend the centre for 2hrs and do a program focused on a particular topic, ie fire safety, the correct number to call, be taken through a real simulation of a residential unit to identify fire hazards, experience smoke and how to safely leave a room, etc.

This facility had a full-time Administrator who manages support staff and a large number of volunteers; has been made possible with donations from the community and businesses, including Rotary, providing programs to over 35,000 school students each year.

We did a tour - see photos to get a feel for this wonderful facility...

Remembrance Day in Richmond Hill

Visited newest police station – did a tour of facilities and cells

York Central Hospital - Friday 12 November – Alyssa, Matthew James, Stuart and Dot

The visit was organised by Dot’s home host, Rick Sulker who is a long-serving of the Hospital Foundation, which had only just raised their largest contributions over $500K the week before.  Three (3) members of the Foundation staff and the sister of a major benefactor joined the group.

A very informative program was presented by:

Merri Chilelli, Team Leader, Adult Services, Mental Health Programs and

Dr Debby Zweig, Team Leader Shaw Clinic, Child & Family Servicers, Mental Health Programs – explained how each of their programs are conducted, in-patient and outpatient, and we did a tour of both facilities.

A tour of the hospital followed provided by Natarlya Movsovich, Head of Education and Surgery.  It is a very well-equipped facility, has an extensive range of services and continues to work towards meeting the needs of the Community.

Rotary Club of Cobourg - 2-8 November 2010 - Visit No 3

Rotary Club of Cobourg – in its 90^th year – 2-8 November 2010

155 Members and growing – this Club truly replicates the importance of being a Rotarian in a town where you are so focused on the community and serving.

Michael Parker met us at Bayview Country Club, we travelled in the ‘people mover’, the Delrenmobile,to Cobourg through the most scenic county, taking back roads rather than Highway 401.

Michael gave us a running commentary throughout out travels and the whole time we were in Cobourg – sharing with us his pride for his craft as one of the leading building companies in Cobourg. 

On arrival in Cobourg, we went to the Town Hall, met the Mayor, Peter Delanty, also a Rotarian.  He provided a tour and explained the history of the building.  He has finished his 3^rd term and chose not to stand for re-election.

Each of the host families met us at the Town Hall and took us to their homes.

Our visit included:

Vocational - 2 days visiting the various community and mental health networks operating in the city.  Everybody we met is passionate, committed and so willing to share.

3 November - Wednesday

Cobourg – Northumberland Children’s Services visit from Melissa Quig -

We began our day at the Northumberland Children's Services Committee (NCSC). Executive Director, Nicola Crow was most informative in explaining the vitial role in which this committe plays in response to the needs of families, children and youth within the Northumberland County. NCSC provides a "one stop shop" as it is committed in facilitating a collaboration of over 30 service providers to achieve the most effective and efficient use of resources, and to achieve the best possible outcomes for the community. Due to this collaboration of services NCSC are able to "wrap around Northumberland" services under one umbrealla of community supports; offer a myraid of services for families, children and youth in need of mental health services and counselling; and share agency resources effectively to achieve and advocate for common goals.

This centalized intake service links families to the most appropriate supports in the community. Such as Rebound. We were joined by Trent Parmenter who introduced us to the Mental Health Court Support and Diversion Program. This program provides assistance to individuals in conflict with the law who are experiencing mental health difficulties. Rebound professionals assist in accessing appropriate mental health diagnosis, treatment, supports and follow up to minimize further involvement in the criminal justice system. Not only do Rebound profesionals faciliate appropriate psychiatric assessment and medical treatment as needed but they also link individuals to crisis program, substance use programs, emergency housing, services for intellectual disabilities, case management , court diversion and release from custody programs.

We then made our way to another service that falls under the unbrealla of NCSC, that is, Northumberland Services for Women. Linda Janzen and her team provide an amazing service to provide a safe, secure, supportive independent living environment that will enable women to make a smooth transition to a voilent free life style within their chosen community. Northumberland Services for Women has beautiful facilities consisting of 18 bedrooms in which Women can also access individual and group counselling services, psychoeducation and transitional support and housing programs.

Before venturing out to other services under the Northumberland Children's Services Committee we were spoilt over lunch at the Oasis Resturant which was hosted by owner and fellow Roatrian Don Owen. Our team enjoyed great food, good tunes and company of Linda and our Rotarian organizer Michael. Then we hit the road again and were greeted by Pam Nickolson and her team at Kinark.

Kinark, Family and Child Services is a not for profit organisation which provides a full range of free and confidential programs and services to children and youth (0-18 years) with mental health issues, as well as support for the families/ caregivers. After a centralized intake process the family and child are offered an appointment within 14 days. Presenting problems may include:

- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

- Anxious, Fearful, Depressed, Sad, Withdrawn, Low Self Esteem

- Behavioural problems at school or at home

- Alcohol/Drug Abuse; Extreme Mood Swings; Aggressive, Oppositional.

- Assaultive, Destructive of property, cruelty to animals, fire setting.

The GSE team had the opportunity to speak to a number of mental health professionals, including counsellors, social workers, nurses, psychologists, and psychiatrists within this organisation who conducted individual, group and family counselling and interventions. 

After a tour of Kinark we were joined by Susan Abell who represented the Office of the Chief Coroner Province of Ontario which lead us into discussion and analysis into the report of the Paediatric Death Review Committe and Deaths under five Committee.

The GSE team were extremely grateful to all the health professionals who lead and faciliated wonderful learning programs and tours of the above organisations throughout the day.     

 

4 November - Thursday - by Alyssa Milton

The team gathered at Tim Horton’s for a quick “cup of Joe” before heading to Port Hope for youth “The Hub”. The Hub is a locally funded initiative that supports youth in any way, shape or form. The design of the “hub” is very interesting; there is a coordinator, Lynn Evans, who speaks with young people who drop in to the centre seeking help or advice. Upon presentation, Lynn connects the young person to the most appropriate service in the local area that will address their needs. The connection is free and takes place without delay at The Hub. This means that the young person does not have to go to the service, the service comes to them. Overall, they report that this model significantly reduces the difficulty of non-engagement. There are 17 organisations that utalise The Hub’s facilities and their support rages from:

v Personal Relationships

v  High School diplomas

v Career Planning

v Job search

v Addictions

v Problems at Home

v Post Secondary Education

v On-line learning

v Health Services

v Depression

v Anger Management

v Parenting

v Housing Services

v Food Supplies

v Sexual Health

v Social Services

The hub network put on an amazing breakfast spread for us whilst we met all the different organizations that utalised the Hub. The Port Hope police liaison officer also gave a moving presentation relating to the need for more services in the community for youth mental health.

W then moved on to Lakeshore Community Mental Health Services who gave us an interesting overview of their service. Alyssa, Stuart, Melissa and Matt completed some home visits to consumers receiving support from the service and saw how LCMHS approaches case management. Matthew and Dot went on a tour of the hospital facilities.

We had a quick bite to eat at a local pizzeria and subsequently moved on to the Kawartha Pine Ridge School Board to hear about new ways of conducting risk assessments and responding to risk related circumstances.

At around 3pm we proceeded to a local venue called “The Mill” where we again got together in an informal setting with all the people we had visited in Cobourg on our vocational visits and also our Rotarian hosts families. This was a great opportunity to further discuss some of the great programs that were up and running in the Northumberland Area.

Rotary - Presentation to the club at lunch-time on Friday 5 November.  A noisy, fun club, very well organised – about 140 attended including two of our new Rotarian friends from Belleville, Karen Baker and John Cairns.  We were made so very welcome and had a wonderful time.

Immediately after the meeting, we changed out of our suits, handed them to Rotarian Rod Baker to have them cleaned over the week-end.  We travelled 2hrs from Cobourg for an overnight visit to the Cottage of Michael and Karen Parker together with Rotarian Ian Lancaster and Jane Wheeler.  The Cottage, specially designed and built by Michael and Karen, is located on Sheldrake Lake – see photo, in the most picturesque setting.

As we left Cobourg, it started to snow and continued for our journey to the cottage, overnight and next morning, had the wonderful experience of waking to see everything white!  Little chilly too..

Mike and Karen has so much organised, 4 wheeling, walking, stacks of food, before leaving the cottage to visit Bon Echo Provincial Park –

we won’t explain how we gained entry to the park, even though the gates were locked!

We then travelled to Toronto, to meet with Paul Sweet and Bill MacDonald to join us for the Ice Hockey game.  The tickets has been specially organised by DG Ted and donated by Rotarians.  It was a great event, thoroughly enjoyed by all.  Dot sat with Bill and we both agreed that the Toronto Maple Leafs needed to get their act together – very disappointed that after leading until minutes before full-time, the game tied, extra time and finally losing by a penalty stroke! 

Sunday, was spent with our host families and a final farewell reception at the home of Bill and Shirley Moebus late afternoon.

Monday morning, to pack, say farewell to our host families, lunch at the Buttermilk Cafe, then aboard the Dalrenmobile, ‘people mover’ which has been our wheels for so much of our journey so far – to travel to meet our next hosts from the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill.

The Cops...

A very special thank you to Assistant Governor, Michael Parker, President Bill MacDonald our host families and all of the Rotary Club of Cobourg.