This year our End-of-Year Lunch was a roast dinner at the Glenview Club. 19 of us enjoyed the delicious meal and a time of sharing with each other. Although it was only the end of November, the decorations that Sue put on the table gave a foretaste of Christmas. Most of us were from Hamilton, but Kay and Neil came all the way from Thames, and Eileen and Cynthia from Kaiaua.

Our Waikato president John Forbes gave us a brief account of the Christchurch Conference. His points were 1) the need to promote the Duncan Fund, 2) the need to align ourselves with other like-minded disability groups, 3) the problems with getting good Orthotics services, and 4) the Conference theme was Shake, Rattle & Roll.

Sue Griffin recently attended a Polio Australia Strategic Planning Conference held in a Sydney convent. Each State organisation sent two representatives, plus Dr John Tierny, a former Liberal Senator who is also Polio Australia’s President and Patron, and other Polio Australia staff.

From the meetings, Sue reported their priorities:
1) Education – both to the medical profession and to the community. This is primarily through publications.
2) Advocacy – lobbying Government. There is a “Parliamentary Friends of Polio” group.
3) Capacity building – i.e. fund raising. This is to support paid staff, media, publications etc. 10% of their funding comes from Rotary. Other evens like “Walk With Me” are sponsored by major companies.
4) Partnership Development – Polio groups in each State. These also help with funding and resources.

Some of the positive outcomes are:
– Health and Wellness Retreats, which seem to be very effective.
– A paid Manager, who has attended conferences in USA and Sweden, and has brought back new ideas.
– There will be an International Conference in Sydney in 2016.