The latest meeting of the Allambie Auxiliary was held on 25 August. A first draft of the minutes was quickly emailed 9 days later to a number of Sunnyfield Board Directors and then on the following day to all member's email addresses held by the Auxiliary secretaries.
The DRAFT minutes are here.
An email querying the accuracy of the minutes and requesting correction and reissue was sent to both the President and the Secretary who drafted the minutes. That email is here. I believe the minutes are incorrect and misleading.
Heather Milnes has also written asking for the minutes to be altered. That email is here.
If you wish to query please email the person involved or better still 'phone. Alternatively feel free to post a comment on this blog - click the COMMENT button below.
One member has suggested that it might be wise to convene a meeting of the Auxiliary so that the matter may be discussed in an open collaborative and constructive manner. I welcome the chance for this to happen.
In Chris Howell's email forwarded to various people, he makes the statement that "this request has so far been ignored."
ReplyDeleteNote the reply (below) sent to him on 7th September explaining the situation.
From: Robyn Chapman
Sent: Friday, 7 September 2012 7:33 AM
To: 'chris howells'; Neale Parnaby; 'h_milnes@yahoo.com'
Cc: Di Cook; secretaries@sunnyfieldmembers.asn.au; 'h_milnes@yahoo.com'
Subject: RE: Minutes of the 25 Aug meeting
Hello Chris,
I am disappointed by the tone of your email. My voluntary position as co-Secretary of the Auxiliary is one that I have tried to meet the requirements of the position, but am happy to say that my professional training was not as a secretary.
Christine was not able to attend the meeting to assist me with the usual minute taking. I will be more than happy to stand down from this position at the election in November. (Continued)
In the minutes, I do state the names of the people with formal roles and positions at Sunnyfield, including Directors and staff, and only included the names of members of the Auxiliary at the 25th August meeting when they moved or seconded a motion or when Brien stated a financial fact. When I read your letter that you emailed on Friday night, I was very concerned at the effect it would have on the families attending the meeting the next day, and I wrote a few notes as I am nervous when speaking at meetings. My statement was a direct response to the negative statements in your letter. The feedback after the meeting about your letter was not positive.
ReplyDeleteMy statement included positives about the purpose of these meetings to encourage every member to attend and feel comfortable in an open forum without a lot of red tape and rules- most of us have enough of this when dealing with services and government departments for our family member. If my words were not exactly as recorded, I am sure that the majority of families would understand- again I have to say that we are not management of Sunnyfield and not Board members of Sunnyfield.
You were on the Board when all the appalling things were happening for the residents and some of the staff and you should have known then that what was happening so that you could stopped it.
If you had an open families forum back then, perhaps you could have stopped or at least lessened the distress for some of the families and the residents.
I am also disappointed that you used the colloquialism “whinge session for 3-4 families” about very committed and decent parents who want to have the lives of their family members improved with these improvements flowing on to all residents, resulting in the best outcome for most folk of whom you write in your email. If the improvements were made by management in a proper timeframe, then these families would not have to repeat their views. This is precisely why some families have had to go to ADHC to gain information they need.
I get many, many calls from families who want Sunnyfield improved and I send these on to Neale for him to take up. From what families are saying, if you put in all those rules about them having to write down what they want to speak about, they will not attend meetings.
I am happy to insert the exact date of the AGM when the Directors and CEO Frank Francis announced that they would resign if you were re-elected. That was the AGM when Neale had us all doing the ring around to ensure you were supported. The ‘whingers’ included.
I did not have to take minutes while Neale was reading out your letter and this did give me time to look at people’s facial expressions and I can honestly say that many people did not appreciate what you wrote.
With Di’s suggestion of calling a special meeting for accommodation, I think this and the broader issues of more formal and additional rules meetings needs to be voted on at the election meeting in November. Di has taken up a role to support Sunnyfield management as announced at the last AGM by Caroline Cuddihy and families need to have democratic vote on those rules.
Your statement regarding “a few cool heads” is defamatory, and I would suggest that you withdraw it.
Kind regards,
Robyn Chapman
As a non-active member of Sunnyfield due to ill-health, I am alarmed at the going ons as revealed by these emails. I have been very active in the Disability sector for 40 odd years and have seen some good organisations torn apart by the actions of a few.
ReplyDeleteThe usual cause is the desire of an individual/s overcoming the raison d'etre of the organisation ie the thrust for power, personal concerns, self aggrandisement etc being given priority over the aim of the organisation ie the wellbeing and advancement of the disabled.
This needs to be sorted by someone with some commonsense and a more professional approach be taken at your meetings.
Secretary - get a tape recorder.
Reg Hefferan
Another concerned member
ReplyDeleteFrom: "Mary Cowley"
Date: 1 October 2012 11:48:13 PM AEST
To: , "'chris howells'"
Cc: "'Christine Van Drempt'"
Subject: Concerned
Hi,
I am just wanting to express my concern from the recent auxiliary meeting and also the emails from Chris.
Please let, me explain who I am and my experience with Sunnyfield.
I am mother of Darrin who lives in Leinster Ave House at Killarney Heights, Darrin has been in care with sunnyfield for 30 years, not always plain sailing I can assure you, but thankfully very happy in the last 8 yrs or so. Darrin’s Father and myself have been members of Sunnyfield for 40 years.
I come along to the Auxiliary meeting in order to have some contact with other parents and to see the problems etc that they may have. This is what I thought the purpose of the auxiliary was meant to be.
I also feel that having some members of staff at different meeting is very interesting and gives a bit of an insight into how Sunnyfield is run, this also give us the opportunity to chat with them in an informal way.
I have been very impressed with all the committee members and the work that they do, especially Chris and Neil. The partnership between them seemed to me to be brilliant and I am very concerned that this now seems to be falling out. I understand that both these gentlemen do tireless work before during and after auxiliary meetings and I am very grateful for this.
Just a comment about something that comes across to me is that the members with their sons or daughters in care and the members with their sons or daughter at the workshop seem to be in conflict with each other.
I have mentioned at meetings that my son is in care and some members have turned away and seem uninterested. I am sure that one day we would all like them to be in care and surely we can all learn from each other now.
My son is unable to attend Sunnyfields workshop and earn money, he attends a day care centre and he pays for this, however I am still very interested to hear the goings on from all the other members.
Maybe we could have a section of the meetings devoted to housing and support and another section to the workshops, just a thought.
Keep up the good work Chris and Neil and I look forward to many more informative Auxiliary meetings in the future.
Regards,
Mary Cowley
Mary, thanks very much for your complimentary & constructive letter.
ReplyDeleteI have already emailed Neale Parnaby and suggested that this matter be put on the Agenda for the next meeting - clearly there is a difference in the focus of people attending (understandable) but a lack of support from each group for the other (not good news).
This mutual support and willingness to help each other is what made the early Sunnyfield so special and successful for so long. We must all try very hard to get that co-operation, collaboration and good will back ASAP.
See you at the next meeting, keep well