Annual Report 2014 - 2015
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Berni Palings<br />
best example of this being Awareness Day at<br />
For me as family support coordinator the past<br />
year saw some very positive developments in a<br />
few ways.<br />
Several members of our Caboolture peer<br />
support group have had their trials with guilty<br />
verdicts and felt they could move forward with<br />
their lives now that the trial was in the past.<br />
They felt they no longer needed the support<br />
group. Another member knew that there<br />
would not ever be a trial to see justice for her<br />
loved one, but she had very happy events in<br />
her life that brought her in a place of doing<br />
very well. As a result the Caboolture group has<br />
been shrinking, and we saw its meetings go<br />
from monthly to bi-monthly.<br />
We then decided to combine the Caboolture<br />
peer support group with the Maroochydore<br />
peer support group, the first combined<br />
meeting being the Christmas lunch we had a<br />
few days ago. I have many members in both<br />
areas and the Christmas lunch proved the<br />
perfect transition to the combined group we<br />
will have from <strong>2015</strong> onwards. We had the<br />
opportunity to discuss how we wanted this<br />
group to move forward, and I have good hopes<br />
that the peer support group that will grow<br />
from this lunch will be a coherent, safe and<br />
compassionate one. February <strong>2015</strong> will see the<br />
first “real” peer support group meeting take<br />
place.<br />
Kawana Shopping World, where we had also<br />
been last year. We received great support<br />
from contingents of the Sunshine Coast District<br />
Crime Prevention Unit, SCOPE (Sunshine Coast<br />
Outreach Prevention and Education) –<br />
Resource Development, Domestic and Family<br />
Violence Service, and Crime Stoppers, as well<br />
as Brian Beck from Mental Illness Fellowship<br />
Queensland. Several members came out in<br />
support of QHVSG, selling butterflies, talking to<br />
the public, and catching up with each other<br />
and with me.<br />
I would like to thank my team leaders at the<br />
Sunshine Coast, Cheryl Thorpe and Peter Lane,<br />
for their dedication to the peer support group<br />
meetings. They have been facilitating the<br />
group alternately with passion and<br />
compassion. We will continue to be a great fit!<br />
It has been sad that this year, too, many new<br />
members joined our group. As we often hear<br />
people say, it is a group no one would ever<br />
expect or wish to be a part of, but once they<br />
do it is my aim to be with them every step of<br />
the way as well as I can. It is so humbling to<br />
see that bond and trust grow, and to have<br />
them share their story with me and allow me<br />
to walk part of their journey with them. Once<br />
people feel they are in a safe space they feel<br />
they can share and through this they can start<br />
to heal and it is my aim for <strong>2015</strong> to continue to<br />
provide that safe space for my members old<br />
and new.<br />
Another very positive development is the great<br />
relationships that have been forged further<br />
with the community of the Sunshine Coast, the<br />
13 <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2014</strong>-<strong>2015</strong>
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