Across the Spectrum - Issue 75 - Autumn 2012 - Spectrum Care

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Thomas wows ’em at his first exhibition! Thomas Tolley’s first photographic art exhibition took place on Saturday-Sunday 21-22 April at the Corban Estate Arts Centre in Henderson. It was hugely successful and the launch was attended by a large group of enthusiastic visitors. Thomas describes his passion for photography: Hi, I’m Thomas and I live in Glendene. I love photography and have been working at my craft for more nearly four years. I have autism, but I love life and love getting out in nature and capturing my own view of the world. I love colour and try to take photographs that reflect the vibrancy and contrast of my environment. I love precision, too, and work hard to create sharp imagines, which I handframe in black with materials donated from my local picture framers. A number of very positive comments have been received over the past week, which are profiled below: First of all, I want to thank Jamie Shirlaw again for all the support he gave us, including his great MCing. Many houses came on Sunday and Thomas’ parents came four times with their family and friends. Actually, today a mother of his former carer came to Adriatic (because she missed the exhibition) and bought two photos. So, all in all, 30 photos were sold and there are also some orders Thomas needs to do. It was really a successful exhibition and we’re all proud of Thomas, and thankful to those who supported and believed in his capabilities. We hope he can buy his new camera soon, with the help of the proceeds from the exhibition. On behalf of Thomas Tolley, we’d like to thank you all for supporting Thomas with his photography exhibition last weekend. This event has really made a big difference in Thomas’ life. Thank you also to those who bought and ordered his art. Achieving this goal is really a huge step towards achieving his dream and you are all part of his success. Once again, thanks so much. Mary Pineda – House Leader Thanks again Mary The event was a credit to yourself, Nirmal, Nora, Jamie and the rest of the Adriatic team and, especially, Thomas and his family. Thank you for all the efforts that you collectively made to support Thomas towards this very impressive achievement. It’s been a great journey for me to witness the transition from Thomas’ interest in metal to a budding interest in photography, supported and mentored by Nora to the significant engagement with the community through the input of Jim Ellis, Homestead Picture Framers and the Corban Community Arts Centre. The culmination of all the support to partner Thomas in this wonderful photography exhibition is testimony to the shared focus on real Outcomes for the people we support. Chris Harris – Chief Executive ‘Thumbs Up’ To Cranmere, Salisbury, Sturges, Garden Court and Fran Moore, who have given their efforts to bake cakes and pastries for the opening day of Thomas’ photography exhibition. ‘Thumbs Up’ to Hemanthi, too, who unselfishly gave her extra time to support arranging and decorating the venue, plus being present at the Corban Estate for two days. We appreciate all your efforts to support the Adriatic team and, most especially, Thomas Tolley. More power to you all! The Adriatic team
Help sought to sell Pippa’s cards for Christchurch Pippa Bjerga is a young lady with cerebral palsy from Kumeu Aspirations centre. Ever since the Christchurch earthquake in February last year, Pippa has been working hard to raise money for the people of Christchurch in her own unique way. “Yesterday, it was a year ago that the earthquake hit,” says Pippa. “Since it happened, I’ve been making cards to sell to help raise money for the people of Christchurch. “Once I had enough, I went to the bank and put it in the Christchurch relief fund account. “I’ll continue making cards to raise more money for Christchurch for as long as I need to.” Pippa is dedicated to helping the people of Christchurch in their time of need and is always looking for more places to sell her cards. If you know of anywhere that would be happy to display some of her cards for sale, please contact Kumeu Aspirations centre on (09) 412 9884. Pippa Bjerga and Ben Ward – Kumeu Aspirations centre Hollywood make-over for Heather and Donna On Tuesday 20 March, Heather Bell and Donna Garwood of Buscomb House enjoyed a pampering at a local nail salon in the Westfield Mall. They enjoyed a ‘Hollywood makeover’ as a promotional special from the salon – including manicure, pedicure, hand and arm massage, and Heather had a brow wax too! They’re now on the mailing list and will receive regular reminders and specials in the mail. They’re hoping to make this a regular monthly girls’ day out and pampering session. Jan Simmons – CSW Norman hits the gym with his personal trainer One of Norman’s Outcomes goals was to join a gym and we’ve been working hard to put together an opportunity which would allow this to happen. We tried the local community gym, but Norman found it all too distracting and couldn’t focus on his exercises. We then hired a treadmill from Body 4 U so Norman could continue his exercise regime at home. He did very with the treadmill initially, working his way up to 20 minutes at a time, but then he started to become bored with doing the same thing all the time. The House Leader, Norman and the Service Coordinator discussed having some personal training with someone who had experience working with people with disabilities, and someone with whom Norman would be confident. Our former Transitions Coordinator, Troy Cleave, is now a personal trainer at Velca, so we took the opportunity to put Troy and Norman together in a small studio with no distractions. Velca was also offering a discounted membership rate, which was an added bonus! The initial session was free and Norman got to talk about what he wanted to get out of the personal training. His blood pressure and weight were taken, along with his medical history. Following this, Norman was given his first workout – which also was free. Free bottled water was given to drink throughout session and Norman was given some exercise tasks to do at home before the next training session. Norman thoroughly enjoyed it, as you can see from the photo above. He picked up the exercises easily, and his self esteem and confidence grew throughout the session. The personal trainer phoned Norman the next day to ask him how he enjoyed it and Norman said he loved it. He also spoke to staff who said the same. We see the personal training as a step towards Norman achieving his goal of becoming a member at a community gym, as he’ll have an understanding of how exercises should be done, how to keep focus and his confidence will have grown. Christine Cleave – Service Coordinator
Page 1: across the spectrum for the people,
Page 5 and 6: Sensory group a stimulating success

Across the Spectrum - Issue 75 - Autumn 2012 - Spectrum Care

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