MAY MEETING 2014

Next Meeting at
Crestmead Community Centre
MONDAY May 26th 6.30pm
Following meeting June 30th
Speaker Bob Walker from Office of
Fair Trading talking about scams
and how to protect your identity
online and in everyday situations
 

PCYC BLUE LIGHT DISCO’s
June 13th 6pm—8pm

DEAF LIGHT DISCO 23rd May 6pm—
8.30pm

GREY LIGHT DISCO 30th May 6—9pm

2014 May NEWSLETTER

Message from The Area Coordinator
I would like to thank our speaker for April Ross Thompson from the Qld Homicide Victims Support Group who gave a very inspiring talk regarding One Punch Can Kill and the ramifications of taking that one silly step that could lead to life long changes. Not only are people killed from a bad choice of action but the victim could end up needing life long medical support and the costs that ensue, and also the offender could be affected by a criminal record which could prevent them from many things such as not being able to obtain a passport, employment and insurance restrictions too. So the way to
avoid the terrible results would be to walk away - be a Hero and live for another day.
Also remember that the impact affects so many people - the “ripple effect” - and this spreads out to your family, friends and colleagues. Currently the group supports about 4000 people and they receive no funding from government - so if you are interested in helping out financially or perhaps to volunteer the web site is www.qhvsg.org.au or look up on www.facebook.com/DaisyChainFoundation There is a 24 hour helpline also - free call 1800 774 744
We have no speaker for this month but in June we have Bob Walker from the Office of Fair Trading. Lots of information regarding scams, how to avoid being “had” and what your rights are - come along and join us for a cuppa and we will welcome you to our group.
Domestic and Family Violence Awareness month is held in May. If you are (or know someone who is) affected by this dreadful abuse, you can obtain help from several different sources. Of course there are many forms of abuse - domestic violence can be physical abuse, emotional abuse, elder abuse,
verbal abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse, social abuse, stalking, spiritual abuse and cultural abuse.
Don’t let concern become regret - phone 1800 811 811 for confidential domestic violence support and advice or go to www.qld.gov.au/makethecall Freecall DVConnect Mensline - 1800 600 636 Uniting Care Community Elder’s Abuse Helpline - 1300 651 192 between 9am and 5pm M-F or the Seniors One Stop info line - 1300 135 500 (same hours) Womens Info Link—1800 177 577 8am to 5pm (M-F) or visit www.women.qld.gov.au or email info@women.qld.gov.au
For youngsters there are the Kids Help Line 1800 551 800, Brisbane Youth Services 3252 3750, Bravehearts 1800 114 474 or WAVSS 3808 5566.
For those from non English speaking backgrounds the interpreting service is available on 13 14 50, Immigrant Womens Support Service 3846 3490, ACCES Services Inc 3412 8222 and Multilink 3808 4463.
DO NOT LET DV OF ANY SORT CARRY ON—YOU CAN DO SOMETHING TO HELP
We are currently organising a HIGH TEA to be held on Saturday October 25th at Crestmead Community Centre. Plans are progressing well and we hope to serve 100 people with a variety of sweet & savoury goodies, teas & coffees of course in proper china cups & saucers!! Raffles, giveaways & a fun time is assured. Please note your diary for this event as the proceeds are for Cancer Research particularly breast and gynaecological cancers. More information in later newsletters and we hope to have a good support from you all. If any of you wish to donate prizes for our raffle please contact by mail or email addresses overleaf and in advance many thanks to you for your generosity.
We hope to have a speaker later in the year regarding prostate cancer, and we may be able to arrange a daytime meeting if that suits people better for those who are not at work during the day or do not like to come out to evening meetings.
Finally don’t forget WALK SAFELY TO SCHOOL DAY ON May 23rd and FATALITY FREE FRIDAY, on May 30th. Ideally we should all aim for every day to be Fatality Free but please take care when out and about. You not only have to drive to the conditions but also to anticipate those other road users who are not as competent in road skills.
Just a note from our VIP friends at the police station, a JP is available at the following times: Monday 3pm –5pm, Wednesday and Friday 8.30am –12.30pm and Safe PL8 screws are available at those times also –may fit in better with commute times. Thanks VIP’s! Thanks also to all the volunteers out there—Volunteer week in May salutes you all
Take care Geoff

APRIL MEETING 2014

Next Meeting at
Crestmead Community Centre
MONDAY April 28th 6.30pm
Speaker Ross Thompson Qld
Homicide Victims Support group
talking about
“ONE PUNCH CAN KILL”

PCYC BLUE LIGHT DISCO’s
May 9th and June 13th 6pm—8pm

DEAF LIGHT DISCO 23rd May

GREY LIGHT DISCO 30th May

2014 April NEWSLETTER

Message from The Area Coordinator
Thanks to all of you who supported the book sale on March 15th and unfortu-nately the Neighbour Day event on March 30th had to be postponed due to the rain. We intend to hold it again on Sun-day April 13th weather permitting!! Thanks go to Geoff and his team at Kensington Fair bakery for donating the bread for our sausage sizzle. Logan City Council for donating food and giveaways for the event and thanks too for Hasina for her colourful face painting work. We hope that all who attend will have had an en-joyable time meeting new neighbours.
As a follow up to the comments in our March newsletter regarding pool inspections we also have the name of another inspector who lives locally - contact Col Myers on 0411 619 223.
Thanks to Donna our speaker from PACT for the informative talk at our last meet-ing. Just to let you know that PACT helps out with child witness support programs, therapy and child advocacy. More infor-mation from PACT - 3290 0111, or email pact@pact.org.au Our next meeting will have Ross Thompson from the “ONE PUNCH CAN KILL” campaign and I urge you to come along and find out how we can all learn from this and help to spread the message.
In addition to our Bunnings sausage sizzle on June 8th we have been invited to have another one on Sunday August 24th so the funds raised will help towards our Road Safety Expo on Sunday 14th
October. We have big plans for this event & a lot of interactive displays will be available for young and old.
A current complaint is regarding the scooters, dirt bikes and other unregistered vehicles that are causing a lot of bother on Crestmead
roads at the moment. Please be advised that Crestmead police in conjunction with Logan City Council are taking action on these bikes and have identified a few of the riders and enforcement action WILL be taken. If you see any of these offenders please note the time & date, type of vehicle, clothing of rider & colour of bike so that they can be identified when po-lice lay charges. If you are able to get a photo/video even better. A lot of the problems seem to be in Coffey & Carinya Parks but wherever they are contact Policelink on 131 444 or the hoon hotline 131 4666.
I hope that you all remembered to replace your smoke alarm batteries on April 1st - if you forgot do it now. A smoke alarm with dead (or even worse missing) batteries is of no use at all so do the right thing. People die from SMOKE inhalation before the FIRE can KILL them.
Anyone who wants to order an Entertainment Guide please contact crestmeadnhw@hotmail.com or go to our secure on line page to order a book or digital membership - yes you can download onto your smartphone and have all the vouchers at hand with no excuse that you have forgotten to take your book with you. They are $65 each and are valid to 1st June 2015. order at:
www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/22s6325
I look forward to seeing you at a future event take care Geoff
As many of you have commented there is a lot of anguish regarding fireworks being let off - of course frightening for animals as well as people. Please note the following from the Department of Natural Resources and Mines website.

Illegal fireworks
It is illegal to possess or use fireworks in Queensland without a licence. Fireworks can only be bought, stored, transported and used by properly trained and licensed professionals who understand the hazards and risks. Information on illegal fireworks activities should be reported to the Explosives Inspectorate, or to the police.
The following people all must be authorised:
fireworks supplier, manufacturer and/or importer
fireworks contractor
fireworks operator
fireworks transporter (if relevant), and
fireworks storer (if relevant).
If the fireworks contractor is an individual, the con-tractor must also be an authorised fireworks operator. If the fireworks contractor is a corporation, the corpo-ration must have a nominated licensed fireworks op-erator who otherwise qualifies as a fireworks contractor.
Far too many injuries are caused by these illegal fire-works so if you like them - go to a proper event don’t take a chance and don’t upset your neighbours and animals who really do get very scared by the noises.

2014 Neighbour Day

Neighbour Day

is on this

Sunday April 13th

between

11am and 2pm

at

 Brabham Park,

on

Brabham Street

Crestmead.

MARCH MEETING 2014

Next Meeting at
Crestmead Community Centre
MONDAY March 31st 6.30pm
Speaker from P.A.C.T.

COMMUNITY BOOKSALE Saturday
15th March 9am—2pm

Logan West Library

Grand Plaza Drive

NEIGHBOUR DAY

30TH March

11am to 2pm 

Brabham Park, Julie St, Crestmead

PCYC BLUE LIGHT DISCO
March 14th 6pm—8pm

2014 March NEWSLETTER

Message from The Area Coordinator
Busy month ahead with the book sale at Logan West (Grand Plaza) library on March 15th and the Neighbour Day event in Brabham Park on Sunday March 30th between 11am and 2pm. Come along and meet some new friends. We hope this will encourage people to look out for one another and put a bit of the community spirit back into our own and others lives.

Responsibility for Australia’s annual cele-bration of community, Neighbour Day, was assumed by Relationships Australia from 1/1/2014. It brings together the people next door or across the street for a beer, a barbie or just a cuppa.

Held on the last Sunday in March every year, it’s the perfect day to say thanks for being a great neighbour and for being there when I needed you most. Our event will have a prize draw where you can nominate someone you regard as the per-fect neighbour—a great prize is there for the winner. There will be a sausage sizzle, face painting and drinks available plus some exhibits to help us all enjoy our local community.

REMEMBER THE COMMUNITY YOU WANT STARTS AT YOUR FRONT DOOR

If you have any particular concerns you would like covered at future meetings please email crestmeadnhw@hotmail.com

What a wonderful meeting we held last month with Andrew Plint from Hannah’s Foundation speaking about his journey following the death of his daughter & how he has progressed to helping others. We were also joined by Michael Pucci MLA who gave infor-mation & resuscitation charts for those with pools & these will be available at both the Neighbour Day event & next meeting. All new swimming pools require a building approval - a state based pool safe register operates in Qld. Failing to register your pool can result in an on the spot fine of $220 or a maximum penalty of $2200. All inflatable pools & spas capable of being filled with 300 mls or more of water, have a volume of more than 2000 litres or has a filtration system are affected by the new laws. They must have a pool fence, be registered and obtain a certifi-cate from a licensed building certifier that the pool complies with the pool safety standard. If a swimming pool is included as part of a rental property the maintenance should be covered in the special terms of the tenancy agreement. The tenant is generally responsi-ble for everyday maintenance such as clean-ing leaves from the pool etc. The lessor must have a pool safety compliance certificate from a licensed pool inspector prior to renting the property & should include a copy with the ten-ancy agreement.
Pool owners have until 30/11/2015 to comply with the pool safety laws or earlier if they sell or lease their property before this time. Andrew is a qualified pool inspector and can help with advice.
For more information contact Andrew 07 5465 2000 or www.hannasfoundation.org.au
There is of course much more to be considered for a pool safety checklist such as the type of gate, what is around the fence, whether a CPR sign is on display, whether there are climbable items which need to be removed from near the fence etc. You can contact mypoolinspection.com.au or ph 1300 86 64 63

Our next meeting will have a spokesperson from PACT—Protecting All Children Today and we hope you will find this useful for yourself or others you know may need assistance. PACT’s mission is to enhance child protection by reducing trauma experienced by children (aged 3—17) and young people who are required to give evidence in the criminal justice system as victims or witnesses.

We thank Michael Pucci who has agreed to come along to another meeting in a couple of months time to answer specific questions you may have about our current laws etc. He is always willing to speak to residents at his offices at Hillcrest but if you would like to nominate any particular question to be raised with him please contact NHW either by mail—PO Box 1121 Browns Plains 4118 or email crestmeadnhw@hotmail.com and we will raise the matter with Michael. Do you have a specific query with law and order or the motorcycle gang laws? Do you think the laws regarding late night drinking need to be reconsidered? Anything you wish to raise (keeping your language reasonable please) will be put to him at a future meeting, and he will bring along information for our use.

I look forward to seeing you at a future event take care Geoff