Foundation GSE Programme

GSE Team Arrives in Australia

Photo of team and some of the welcoming committee taken on arrival. They landed on time
today at Hervey Bay at the Southern end of our District. All were in really good spirits
but looking forward to a bath and sleep. Ray’s luggage did not get to Sydney and BA
are trying to track it down! DG Greg bailey is fourth from the right.
 

GSE Team Leaves for Australia

Pictured are members of the GSE Team leaving from Manchester on April 18th.
Left to right: Team Leader Ray Lewis, Helen Murphy, Jackie Robinson, District 1220 Governor Roger Pursey,
Helen Barley and GSE Officer Terry Leivers.
Fourth member Kerry Price will join the team at Heathrow.

Their journey will take almost 48 hours and four flights –
via Heathrow, Singapore, Sidney and the final flight to Herbey Bay in Queensland.
I am sure we all wish them well

 

Group Study Exchange Team from District 1220 to
District 9570 Queensland, Australia. April 18 2008 to 19 May 2008

The team comprises:

The Team Leader:

Rotarian Ray Lewis, Rotary Club of Beeston

Ray is married to Margaret and they have three grown up children. After 16 years in electrical engineering Ray changed career teaching Maths and English in schools and colleges as well as providing guidance on careers. This was followed, six years prior to retirement, by managing Government projects for large scale redundancy programmes in both the coal industry and private companies. During all of this time Ray was involved with amateur dramatics and has worked on radio and numerous television series as an extra.

After retirement Ray decided to turn his hobby of magic into a new venture and became a professional magician! He now performs regularly and is a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Ray has been in the Rotary Club of Beeston for five years and three years ago he received an Individual Grant from the Rotary Foundation to spend 2 weeks entertaining children in South African townships in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Kirstenbosch, Cape Town.

Whilst there he saw that they had very few books and Ray has since organised annual collections for books locally which are then crated and transported to Rotarians in Capetown. Tens of thousands of books are now being used by township school children thanks to Ray’s dedication.

Jackie Robinson

Hi my name is Jackie Robinson, I’m 34, single and I live in my own home in Nottingham with my 2 cats (Tess and Tilly) and I have recently acquired a cocker spaniel puppy (Rosie) from a rescue centre who has crashed into my life like a tornado.

I work as a community nurse for the NHS on the Intensive Home Support Scheme. I am also trained as a Complementary Therapist and I am setting up a social enterprise to provide holistic therapies for people with cancer and their carers. I’m currently studying at Christie’s Hospital in Manchester for a Diploma in adapting complementary therapies in cancer care.

I am an only child and am originally from Nottingham and now live 10 minutes from my parents. I trained as a Nurse at Sheffield University 10 years ago and since then I have also lived in London and West Yorkshire. I have worked in many different areas such as Plastic surgery, Gynaecology surgery and Oncology.

I have varied interests including: going to the theatre, walking (the dog!!), dancing, yoga, music, meals out, reading, cinema, shopping (Shoes!!) and obviously travel. I’m a very social person and love spending time with family and friends I’m very flexible and am just as happy meeting a friend for coffee or dancing the night away! I also love exploring new places, experiencing new things and meeting new people!

My friends would probably describe me as the life and soul of the party (no one ever believes me when I tell them I’m actually quite shy). They would say I have a quick wit and am a great story teller. As a Gemini I am bit of a chameleon, one minute I’m a shoulder to cry on and the next I will have you laughing (usually at me!).

As a team member I am quite maternal and try to look after people (always have a supply of hankies and pain killers!) I think one of my strengths is that I’m versatile, can pretty much get on with anyone and find some common ground, I try to look for the good in people and enjoy bringing people together.

I am so excited about this trip – I have already made 4 new friends, which I’m sure I will have for life and I relish the chance to meet many more. I would like the opportunity to thank the Sherwood Sunrisers for sponsoring me and the Australian hosts for welcoming us into their homes and lives. My experience of Rotarians so far is that they are diverse, generous, welcoming and charitable groups of people – and that is my kind of people!

I have no food allergies (I can be a bit allergic to some dogs – don’t worry will bring antihistamines anyway), I enjoy most foods and will generally try anything (Except oysters or mussels).

Whilst in Australia I would like the chance to spend some time at the Great Barrier Reef and see the fabulous marine life, I would also love the chance to visit more rural areas and compare our landscapes, I love animals so would enjoy anything that involves them although terrified of spiders and not too keen on bugs generally. Mainly I would like to spend time getting to know the people I will meet and learn about their lives, cultures and customs. I am very excited about the vocational exchange as I am aware that complementary therapies are more widely used in Australia than in the UK and I have already talked about why I am particularly interested in this.

If at all possible I would like to have the chance to visit my best friend who is living in Sydney she is now a full time resident and had a son earlier this year – so if possible I would like the chance to meet her for a day or two.

RESPONSIBILITIES IN MY JOB

My job involves working as a community nurse for the Intensive Home Support Service. The scheme is for people over the age of 60 and we provide intensive nursing, medical and therapy support to patients in their own home.

Generally our patients fall into 3 categories: - They are recently discharged from hospital and need support back in to their home environment. We support them at home with intensive treatment when otherwise they would need admitting to hospital.

We provide end of life care for people wishing to stay at home.

Working in the community requires excellent communication skills and the ability to liaise with all members of the multi disciplinary team. I provide physical and emotional support working as a facilitator in intense periods of change.

I am responsible for managing staff, workloads and resources. I spend time assessing patients, obtaining a holistic picture of their life and look at ways in which the scheme can help them. I write plans of care and implement and evaluate them – this is used as a tool by other members of the team so they know what their roles and responsibilities are for each individual patient.

I work closely with the medical team, informing them of any changes of a patient’s condition and making plans of care. I work to prepare patients for discharge which can involve getting care packages set up, liaising with District Nursing teams, pharmacists, Macmillan nurses and GP’s to name but a few.

We work as a team in partnership with the patient and their family to provide the best possible outcomes for our patients. I use my medical knowledge and experience on a daily basis, as well as my intuition. At the moment I am trying to integrate complementary therapies into my nursing practice, and I am hoping that this exchange will give me skills and knowledge to enable me to do this.

I also have a dream of setting up a Holistic therapy centre for people affected by cancer (either personally or as a carer) where they will be able to receive free therapies. Since embarking on this project I have completed a course on being a social entrepreneur, a palliative care course and am currently undertaking a course at Christies Hospital in Manchester for integrating complementary therapies in cancer care.

I have been responsible for setting up a board of trustees, I have won 2 local bids for funding and have raised in excess of £3000 to research and set up the project. I have spent time giving presentations to local cancer groups, networking events and rotary clubs.
It was starting this project that introduced me to a great friend who is the president of my local rotary who has encouraged and nurtured my idea as well as encouraging me to apply to GSE.

Helen Barley( Call me Helly!)

My name is Helen Barley. My friends refer to me as ‘Helly’, ‘H’, ‘Barley’ or other terminology that I’m too polite to type! I was born in Cornwall over 27 years ago, and have been living in Derbyshire for almost 3 years. I am an Emergency Planning Officer for Derbyshire County Council. My job is to work closely with the other emergency response organisations such as the Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance Service and voluntary organisations, to produce multi-agency plans to enable a more effective joint response to emergency incidents. Our responsibility is to the welfare of the population of Derbyshire, responding to incidents involving evacuation, temporary accommodation, mass casualties/fatalities etc. So, in terms of vocational experiences anything emergency response related would be marvellous!!

I live in the old mill town of Belper in Derbyshire which is part of a World Heritage site. I have a little green Volkswagen Polo called Lil, and a 2 bedroom semi which is referred to by my friends as the ‘helipad’! My day job can be quite doom and gloom, always looking at the worst case scenario, so after a heavy day at work I will go home and cook and bake to my hearts content, or if we are blessed with some nice weather, I’ll pootle in my garden until late into the evening.

I am a member of Belper Players Amateur Dramatics group. We produce and perform up to 4 plays per year. Apart from cooking, eating, gardening, acting the fool, my main love is travelling and exploring other countries and cultures. I have done a fair bit of travelling and get itchy feet if I don’t jump on a plane every now and again! Out of all of the countries I have explored, I have lived and worked in New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Australia. I travelled around Australia on the working tourist visa back in 2003-4, and really feel in love with the diversity of the country. Queensland was the one state that I spent the last amount of time in. Although good to experience, I try to shy sway from key built up tourist areas when travelling, and hence spent more time over in the West of Australia. I would like to learn more about Queensland apart from the Gold Coast.

I’m a healthy chick, but have never been fit – which means please don’t ask me to run as I won’t get very far without turning into a heaving breathing beetroot! I have my Padi diving qualification that I got in Cairns back in 2004 during a cyclone. Needless to say the visibility was shockingly poor and it would be lovely to see the Great Barrier Reef in it’s true glory. So if I can squeeze a dive into the trip that would be magic!

I don’t have any addictions, but I do have a great ‘reliance’ on tea and cheese. So that everyone knows well in advance, I drink my tea black and hot and from mugs that may to some resemble a bucket! In my world, the day has not begun without tea!! I love food and drink, and will give anything a go once – and if I like it I may go back for more! There are very few things that I will not eat, and even fewer that I won’t eat if they contain cheese!! Did I say I like cheese? I like a cold draught beer out in the garden on a hot day, a chilled glass of wine on the veranda in the evening, and fruity glass of red with a meal – oh, and tea, have I mentioned that?

I am the eldest daughter of Bob and Gill Barley, who reside in my home town of Camborne in Cornwall with my sister. I have 2 siblings: an irritatingly jammy brother called Andrew who is 15 months younger than me – 6ft 5” of good looks and he knows it; and a sister called Sarah 5 years my younger training to become a teacher and will only call me when in need to some literary guidance or some emotional advice! My brother escaped to the Midlands to drink beer and milk his youth to the limit, but has now found love with his lovely girlie and now owns and house and writes lists of DIY jobs for his friends to come around and complete! My sister studies hard in the week, slogs through a sales job at the weekend, and then spends her hard earned cash with her lovely bloke Dave – you’ve gotta love a Dave!!

I like walking in the rain, watching my feet disappear in the sand as the waves roll into the shore, long lie-ins on a winters morning whilst snuggled up to someone special, listening to the rain on a tent roof, looking up at the stars on a clear night, and a jolly good cup of tea.

I dislike people cutting the grass in the rain, wasting food, people who always look at the negative and fail to see the positive, packet mashed potato, being late for things, breaking promises, and music that you can’t sing or dance to.

I don’t have any allergies that I’m aware of, however, any milky/creamy alcoholic beverages do make me very sick very quickly, so I just won’t go there!! There are very few things that I will not eat – packet mashed potato, mustard, McDonalds, things that are too sweet and milky!

Kerry Price

Born and bred in Warsop, a small sleepy village in the heart of Sherwood Forest, I always dreamt of the bright lights of London, which is where I now work as a Human Resources Officer for the National Housing Federation, a not-for-profit organisation for social housing landlords. I provide a generalist service to our employees with an emphasis on learning & development, ensuring that all my employees have the knowledge and skills to perform their roles. This includes training needs analysis; training delivery; reports & statistics; control of budgets and maintaining our Investors in People accreditation. I am also a project adviser on our ‘Liberating Talent’ project this year, which focuses on learning outcomes; establishing skill gaps; reviewing our core competencies; a better understanding of the behaviours’, skills and knowledge required to achieve organisational aims and a strategy to get there; ensuring that our organisation is an exemplary place to work; developing an empowered workforce; and to have a reputation for being an employer of choice. I am also an Associate Member of the Chartered Management Institute.

I have been involved with Rotary for some years now and have also been a member of Rotaract where I held a number of posts including President. During my time in Rotaract, I was invited to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award programme which after completion, I slept for 17 hours!

Working in London has also given me the opportunity to continue my charity work where I am a leader of the charity “Ashtead Learning Difficulties Action Group” (ALDAG), which involves working with youngsters with learning difficulties and I am also a Radio Lollipop volunteer at Great Ormond Street Hospital for sick children. I recently walked the Inca Trail for the Alzheimers Society and have also taken part in a number of other charity walks and events including an abseil for the British Red Cross, which was absolutely fantastic!
My family and I have been involved in charity work for a number of years – my Mum has held many coffee days at our home; my Dad has run numerous marathons and I have entertained the local community with my electronic organ concerts. My brother is also a great support too. I enjoy working with and helping people and am happiest when spending my spare time helping others less fortunate and hoping that I can make a difference to their lives.

When I’m not working or doing my charity work, I enjoy going to the cinema; have an interest in health & beauty and photography, enjoy swimming, walking & cycling; and going to pop concerts and the theatre. I have a love of music and at the tender age of 10 years old, was accepted into the Nottinghamshire Music School for talented musicians, where I sang and played the clarinet and recorder. I absolutely love Robbie Williams; anything pink and unfortunately have a sweet tooth. What I don’t like (apart from vegetables and salad) is walking home alone in the dark. I have just one allergy to elastoplast so don’t worry, I carry my own plasters!

During my visit, I’d like to have an insight into social housing and also understand more fully, cultural differences, prejudices and work/home balance in a HR context. I would also love to visit Radio Lollipop in Brisbane; visit a charity for people with special needs; meet up with my friend from Melbourne who has asked to fly up and meet me with her new baby; and learn all there is to know about Queensland. It would also be wonderful if possible, to visit the Great Barrier Reef; the Whitsundays and the outback, to which a visit to Queensland wouldn’t seem complete.

Diet: I have a rather naughty dietary requirement in that I don’t eat many vegetables or salad. I do eat the following: potatoes, rice, pasta bread, meat, fish, soup (smooth), sauces (smooth), Chinese without vegetables, Fajitas – no veg, curry, baked beans, cheese, cereals, margarine – not butter, jam and marmalade, tomato ketchup, sausage rolls, eggs, mushrooms, shellfish – not oysters, fruit but not pears, plums or grapes, yoghurts, ice-cream, most puddings, chocolate, biscuits, crisps, fruit tea – no coffee, semi skimmed milk, fruit juices, water and WINE!!

I don’t want to be any trouble you and please do just ask me to cook dinner for you – I will be delighted!

Helen Murphy

I am 28 years old, single and I still live at home with parents until I can afford a nice place of my own. I have a younger sister who lives with her boyfriend about 10 minutes drive away.

Mum is Dutch and came to UK to work for year but ended up meeting my dad and getting married a year later! Mum is from a family of 5 and I have my grandma and many aunts, uncles, cousins over in Netherlands whom we visit at least once a year. As a result of this I am fluent in speaking, reading and writing Dutch.
Dad has worked as a barber in Derby since he left school and he has his own shop.

My hobbies include art, drawing and I enjoy going out to historical places like castles and stately homes. I love going to walks in the countryside and nature trails and often manage to drag my mum along too!
I am trying to take up knitting, although this has not been successful yet, and am good at cross-stitch. We take part in various activities as a family and mum and I make various craft things for the local Christmas Church fete in November.

I play the folk guitar at the local church we attend and we have set up a little group of musicians to play at Masses every 2 weeks or so. We enjoy being part of the church and go to concerts and learn new songs every week!

I enjoy visiting new places and have so far been city hopping with my family to Prague, Rome and Barcelona. I would love to see the nature side of Australia as well as perhaps trying to snorkel and see some of the wildlife under the sea as I have never done this before!

I would also love any opportunity to take pictures and perhaps, if had time, try and paint or draw some of the new things I had seen!

My job:
I am an Administrator for a sector skills council called Skills for Care, which aims to support employers in improving Social Care standards (we mainly look at Adult Social Care).
I work within a small admin team based in Derby but we have many home based workers across the East Midlands region. Our East Midlands region covers Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire.

I help organise meetings for these projects, from booking the venue to taking notes and presenting the findings in a report form for the project lead.

We also arrange and attend larger events for both social care organisations or care homes and users of social care in general, the aim being to find out what works well or not well in social care and improve this service across the board.

We deal with many projects funded by the Department of Health, concerning training and development, workforce planning and workforce intelligence. Various project boards are made up of service users, education and training organisations, care staff associations, as well as adult social care departments and private and voluntary sectors.

Projects on hand at moment which I deal with include:

• Learning Disabilities and People who use services on board and we have meetings to ensure that people who are currently using social care services are listened to about what they want to see in future. These people are also notified of other meetings so they can attend board meetings and have input into the service as a whole.
• NMDS-National Minimum Data Set for Social Care, basically a series of questionnaires which are to be filled in by all care homes, council owned homes etc anyone dealing with social care or home help etc. This sets out what employees are at that organisation, what skills they have, how long they stay, if they leave where and why do they leave. This allows us to see what the trend in social care is and what we can do to keep people in this sector, ie better pay, better training etc.
• New Types of Worker- This is a way of going round organisations and finding out what they are doing differently to other places and why this works well. If this is a successful venture it will be shown to other organisations to see whether it could be adopted within social care as a whole.
• Workforce Planning- this is what each council/local authority is asked to do to show what work they have on at moment, where they want to be in future, what problems or changes are happening or predicted to happen in future which need to be implemented into the plan to accommodate this. Each sector also has to do this, so Skills for Care have to produce their own for Social Care in the region. We are trying to set up planning events to link all these plans together so the whole sector is working towards the same goal.

I feel it would be beneficial for me to see the way that social care is funded and worked on in Australia and see whether there are any similarities between the difficulties faced and how we can overcome these.
There may then be chances for us to share information about how social care is viewed and how to improve services for all people whether in the UK or in Australia. Perhaps by visiting social care organisations- perhaps more like ours who ‘support’ social care homes across the region or who ensure that people have the right training etc, or some sort of authority who have responsibility over various care homes.