August 2016 – Headspace

As a last minute speaker we were very happy to welcome Sharlane Anderson from Headspace to the group this month.

Headspace is a non for profit organisation that offer a range of services to assist young people aged 12-25 who are going through a tough time. At headspace Capalaba you can get help if you;

• Feel stressed out, worried or can’t calm down,
• Can’t focus and have thoughts or feelings you don’t like or that worry you,
• Are having problems at work or school,
• Haven’t been feeling like yourself,
• Want to talk about gender or sexuality,
• Want to talk about contraception or sexual health issues,
• Would like to cut down or stop drinking or drug use,
• Are being bullied at school or work.

The headspace Capalaba staff and Consortium partners work together to make sure young people have access to a wide range of different services from psychologists to youth workers to housing support.

Shalane offered 7 tips to help with our own headspace:

1. Be prepared – to keep stress levels down in an emergency situation, Shalane suggested that we find out where out closest doctor, hospital, vet and other such services are so that we don’t make rash decisions under pressure.
2. Get the recommended 8 hours sleep a night.
3. Keep fit – incorporate healthy fitness routines in our daily activities
4. Look after our body – eat well “we are what we eat”
5. Be socially active and be connected to our community – we all got a gold star for this as just being at our monthly meeting met this tip.
6. RELAX – a break is as good as a holiday, find an activity that you enjoy
7. Be kind or helpful to someone else

Please remember that if you or anyone you know might need assistance please call Headspace on 1300851274 or visit them at 29 Moreton Road, Capalaba.

July 2016 – Annual General Meeting

It was a meeting of mixed emotions this month as we had to farewell our Bay Belle founders: President, Sarah King and Secretary, Angela Halsey.  For two years they have worked hard to get the Belles up and running, but life can take us on different paths and they must now focus on their family and follow their heart.  We can not thank them enough for all that they both have done.  We wouldn’t be here without them.

We also said goodbye to two former Vice Presidents; Theresa Rolfe and Jacqui Ellis.  We wish them all the best and thank them for all their efforts to keep the Belles up and running.

We had the lovely pleasure of Sue Bailey Chairing the  meeting and swearing in our new Committee.  Please welcome the following members as your new Bay Belles Committee:

President:  Ingrid Sorensen
Secretary:  Deanne Miller
Vice President/Blog writer/photographer:  Kylie Bock
Vice President:  Lizz Bevan
Treasurer:  Mandi Wood
International Officer:  Kate Crossan

June 2016 Monthly Meeting

It’s always nice to share the love with our Sister Group – Friends with Dignity.

Our Belles banded together yet again and  generously donated lots of laundry goods and $300 in vouchers to go towards replenishing their coordinator stocks.

Lovely feedback from FwD:

A Huge thanks to QCWA Bay Belles for their continued and ongoing support to FWD. These lovely ladies made another generous donation at their last meeting of lots of laundry goods and $300 in vouchers to go towards replenishing our coordinator stocks.

Angela, Board member and Gail, Bathroom and Laundry Coordinator for Brisbane South were very humbled to receive these donations on behalf of FWD…. Since our inception, this wonderful group have supported us through donations, voluntary assistance with sanctuaries, running drives in their workplaces and baking yummy treats for our sanctuaries and fundraising bake stalls. A truly wonderful and dedicated group of women whom we are grateful for their support.

And their giving keeps giving as they plan on also doing a craft day to create craft projects to contribute to sanctuaries/crisis packs, there’s nothing these ladies can’t do!!

Thank you again lovely Friends
We are very Blessed to have you with us

💜Team Friends
💜StepUp 💜SpeakOut 💜Support

.

 

May 2016 Monthly Meeting

For our monthly meeting we had four very lovely ladies from the Bethania St Community Gardens come and speak to us about the amazing work they have done in the community garden. They have regular swap meetings so they can share their wonderful produce.  Such a fantastic venture. Thank you so much Soraya, Sandy, Linda and Jenny for coming and speaking to us.

If you have a green thumb then please contact this fantastic organisation and get out in the sun and start planting.   You will find their details under our links.

Celebrating ANZAC day

We had the pleasure of Warrant Officer Chalmers coming to speak to us tonight and share his experiences of serving as an Army Officer.

We know how hard our diggers had it in the past but I think it was an eye opener for us tonight to realise how hard our diggers still have it.  The officers are all treated equally and are tried and tested through every part of their journey to becoming serving officers.  I don’t think Warrant Officer Chalmers had any of us wanting to enlist but he certainly opened our eyes to the hard work and commitment every single service member endures.  But throughout all of his stories he always came back to telling us how he had not regretted a single moment of it.

We thank you Warrant Officer Chalmer for your service to our Country and coming to speak to us this evening.

Competition – Tips and Tricks and celebrating the Belles’ 1st Birthday

Judith Talbot joined us tonight to give tips and hints in what the judges look for in our QCWA competitions.

We had some of our ladies bring in some of their baked goods for critiquing and Judith explained a lot about what was involved to produce a winning cake.

We also celebrated our 1st Birthday and we thank Deanne from Deelicious for our yummy cake.

 

 

Life Experiences and Leftovers with Deirdre Thomson

Deirdre Thomson came and spoke to us about her life experiences and her love of leftovers tonight.

Deirdre’s “go get’em” attitude has enabled her to be the person she is today. 

Members were asked to bring with them their favourite leftovers recipes.  Deirdre mentioned that her family deliberately cook enough to have leftovers.

2016 January – Country Kitchens

What a great way to start the year!   We had a fantastic turn up last night with lots of new faces and lots of returning members all coming to hear the lovely ladies from QCWA Country Kitchens.

Fiona, Renaye, Bella and Chloe gave us some insight into how to make healthier choices with our meals. It’s a great program and they will be travelling rural Queensland to promote these five key points and try turn our Australian-wide obesity problem around:

• Eating more fruit and vegetables
• Eating less Sugar
• Checking your portion size
• Sitting less/moving more

Well done ladies and keep an eye out for the “healthier option” tag at our upcoming meetings.

For more information about this fantastic program or to subscribe to their newsletter for awesome recipes then head to their page at http://qcwa.org.au/countrykitchens/  and like their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/QCWAcountrykitchens.

 

November monthly meeting – Deelicious

Who loves cupcakes???  We do!!!  Especially now they look this good thanks to one of our committee members, Deanne Miller from Deelicious Cakes.

We all got into the Christmas spirit for our last monthly meeting for 2015.  We have had such a fantastic year with many exciting speakers or activities held once a month.  It’s now time for a little Christmas break but don’t worry…when we’re back next year we have a super exciting first six months planned.

Here’s some photos of our members getting creative with their cupcakes.

We hope to see you all at our little Christmas do at Sailor & Walrus on 5 December.

October Monthly Meeting – Friends with Dignity

I think it’s safe to say that our compassionate side came out tonight with even some of our Belles welling up at the thought of being able to help others in need.  These emotions were triggered by Angela and Bianca from Friends with Dignity.

Angela spoke with compassion and dedication to a very special cause.  Friends With Dignity, was launched to address domestic violence through supporting victims while raising awareness of the issue and educating the community.

Friends With Dignity was founded in September 2015 by one of the former founder/director of successful charity Assist A Sista Australia, Manuela Whitford, to support domestic violence organisations, services and refuges to help all domestic violence victims, regardless of age, gender and sexuality.

Domestic violence organisations, services and refuges can contact Friends With Dignity to facilitate the donation, collection and distribution of essential and comfort items required by people escaping domestic violence.

These items include “Comfort Packs” for individuals and families when they first enter and domestic violence refuge, and items to help them set up their new homes such as quality non-perishable foods, toiletries, clothing, furniture and toys.

The sourcing and collection of these donated items is largely done via the Friends With Dignity Facebook page, which currently has more than 2500 followers and an ever increasing reach of more than 40000 people per week.  We urge you all to like their page.

They have already completed their five “Sanctuary” homes filled with all basics and some gorgeous extras to ensure the “family” has all they need and more.

Domestic violence spans all socio-economic boundaries and probably affects someone you know, whether it is someone in your family, a friend or a colleague.

It is the single greatest health risk for women, more so than smoking, alcohol and breast cancer.

It is also the leading cause of homelessness for women and children in Australia.

You can support Friends With Dignity by spreading the word, liking the Facebook page at

http://www.facebook/friendswithdignity and sharing it with your Facebook friends.

Friends With Dignity is also seeking corporate sponsorship and welcomes all expressions of interest.

For more information about Friends With Dignity please visit

http://www.friendswithdignity.com.au/ or email info@friendswithdignity.com.au.