Our first On-Line meeting with a Guest Speaker! ☺(see separate article). President Mario Fairlie welcomed all members. We also had some visitors: Joanne Winwood (our Past President, now member of RC of Byron Bay), Pat Fleming (RC of Ashmore, Steve Garfein (RC of Poulsbo, WA, USA), ), as well as three colleagues of Dr Trent Lipp, Dr David Walker, Dr Sanjay Dhupelia, Dr Sean Lowry. And last, but not least: our "disappeared" fellow Surfers Sunrise member Fred Hamblen, who joined us all the way from Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA. Good to hear you are still around, Fred! You are officially fined $100 for going AWOL - just deposit into our regular club bank account! ☺On conclusion of our Guest Speaker, Dr Trent Lipp's presentation , President Mario invited Jo Winwood to talk about one of her projects of combating loneliness and isolation. This started well before COVID and Jo described it as 'a growing epidemic'. Do you know that it is estimated that 1 in 4 adults suffer loneliness? This then has massive consequences in both mental and physical health. Please see separate article in this bulletin on Jo's Project, which she has asked our club to become involved with. Overall, her project goes much further, but specifically, where Jo would like us to be involved in is for us to write to those people. She named it 'A Thousand Notes of Friendship' - click on this link to go to their website. There is also a PDF on our Download Section - see right side. (Note: this coming Wednesday's meeting, 22/04/2020, is dedicated to discuss this, among other topics). Jo also elaborated on her other project relating to 'Community Friendly Benches'. President Mario indicated that our club is very happy to be involved in this. One aspect of such a project is 'Sustainablity', e.g. that the facility is not only properly maintained, but that it is not ending up as a canvas for graffity or even an overnight sleeping bench. Wheelchair Trust Chairman Larry Murray confirmed that the volunteers are indeed able to build them, however, that finance needs to come from external sources. Jo confirmed that funding would be coming from her sources (Government as well as philanthropists).
Doug Lipp re-enforced Dr Trent Lipp's message that COVID vigilance is all important: Despite meticulously following precautions, one of his friends caught it, most likely from a neighbor who is an airline stewart. So, don't lower your defences!