WA Western Suburbs VIEW Club

Club Outing in April

This was another terrific outing for members organized by our 3 Program officers; this time we went to The Medical Museum of WA. This little hidden gem of a museum is located in the historic Harvey House. Fourteen WSVC members really enjoyed this visit and we learned so much from the 4 volunteers who gave us a guided tour – they also run and maintain the museum. Exhibits are displayed in 9 rooms, so many items, some of which are – 1926 Maternity Ward, Aboriginal bush medicine, an iron lung (with patient!), early dental lab, section of FDS Baron plane and the gorgeous anatomical model Chloe brought back by the ANZACS and in use until 1947!! A very pleasant lunch held in a nearby café completed our outing.

Easter Celebrations In April 2023

Easter was a great fund raiser with the driving force of Margaret behind it and our members responded to the call and purchased 60 packs of hot cross buns. Bakers Delight supplied the buns and each 6-pack sold raided $2.50 for our club. Our thanks to Margaret and WSVC members.

More photos below from Harvey House

2023 Morning Tea At Roseworth 

Child and Parent Centre

Recently, six members were guests at Roseworth where we met and spent a most informative and enjoyable morning with Helen (Manager) and Hayley (Senior Prog Coordinator).  Roseworth is operated by The Smith Family and funded through the Education Dept.

We learnt so much about the Centre and how it works with its multicultural community to improve outcomes for children’s education. It was wonderful to learn what staff at the Centre do with our recycled bottle tops, and donations of crochet rugs and toys and books. The bottle tops end up in Kindy packs made up by staff – 10 tops per pack, 2000 a year needed!! Our massive toy donation in December last year provided Christmas gifts for many happy children. What a wonderful work carried out by Helen, Hayley and TSF!

International Women's Day

March 8^th was International Women’s Day and some members attended IWD luncheons held by other VIEW Clubs. Several photos and a message from WSVC to other VIEW Clubs across Australia, were posted on Facebook to celebrate women and IWD.

March Outing 

Our Club's March outing was also held on International Women's Day. Thirteen members enjoyed a visit to the Claremont Museum which included a talk, museum tour and a look at the special Claremont Speedway historic exhibition.

This was followed by a delicious morning tea and the opportunity to chat with each other on IWD – and to celebrate all amazing women!

Friendship at Meetings

March 2023

Our guest speaker for March was lively and very humorous taxi driver, Stephen Satchel who told us many funny and interesting stories about his life as a taxi driver.

Our meeting which followed was attended by 40 members and 3 visitors. As a lovely gesture of well-deserved acknowledgement and recognition, our President introduced our quiet, behind the scenes members who undertake duties at each meeting to ensure things run smoothly and efficiently – book sellers, morning tea organizers and club hostesses – THANK YOU so much for all your hard work!

Members were told of an invitation from Roseworth Child and Parent Centre to attend a special “thank you” morning tea, to acknowledge our ongoing support and donations throughout 2022 – several members indicated they would be able to attend.

Jake was the winner of the ‘lucky number’ $50.00 – lots of big smiles from Jake! The usual Committee member reports were presented. The Information Snippet showed members how to access the VIEW website and find clubs Australia wide. Another very full and successful meeting.

 Exciting Start to 2023

February 2023

Our initial outing for the year was in February, with a lunch at the Kiosk Café at Floreat Beach, a lovely catch up and a perfect time to relax and chat!

The guest speaker who addressed members prior to the monthly general meeting on was Sharon from O2BOrganised;  lots of ideas to declutter and to cultivate a thoughtful wardrobe! 

This talk was followed by the monthly meeting, which had an attendance of 50 members. Following are some points covered - Committee members for this year were individually introduced and spoke briefly about their role; new member Susan was welcomed and presented with her badge; The Smith Family information snippet was introduced by Ros and will be a regular component of meetings. Members were informed of a new idea – a regular post-meeting lunch will be held at Floreat Forum, all members and visitors welcome.

Our President explained about the Sunshine Groups, an initiative to provide members with friendship and support groups if they wished to be involved, each group will be led by a Committee member, and contact may be through texts, emails or group morning tea.

Lake Claremont Picnic Lunch

About sixteen members turned up for a shared lunch at our final outing for this year; perfect picnic weather in the beautiful bushland setting of Lake Claremont. The finishing touch was a comfortable stroll around the lake, very pleasant in the gorgeous sunshine.

A special THANK YOU to our Committee and all the club members for the hard work and wonderful achievements of our Club for 2022.

December 2022

Members would like to acknowledge the ongoing support and donations provided by Jean Marie of Floreat Blue Illusion fashion boutique.

Each year Raelene liaises with Jean Marie to organise a fashion show, and a generous percentage of sales go to our Club. In December Jean Marie organised a fashion with a percentage of the sales going to The Smith Family. Several Members attended to offer support for the cause. Thank you, Jean Marie for your contribution and support to our cause.

November Outing

Mining boom years from 1890’s onwards: Sixteen members joined in on the adventure to further explore our Perth CBD, this time our tour guide was the very knowledgeable Adolf. Throughout the walk Adolf pointed out and provided information about a number of historical buildings; their architectural style and connection to the goldrush era.

Our guide also had many interesting little anecdotes to tell us about the buildings and various happenings!! After a long walk around the city centre, we were pleased to be able to sit and enjoy a lunch together in a café. Another great outing thanks to Jennifer.

2022 November AGM

This important meeting was chaired by Charmaine where all positions were filled and remained as per 2022, however the Committee now has three members who are sharing positions of Assistant Program and Outing Officers.  Welcome Carol B, Margaret M and Fran W. Charmaine presented badges to Committee Members for 2023. Thanks must go to the outgoing committee for all the work done in 2022.

Incoming President Jennifer then chaired the November monthly meeting with thirty-nine members and one visitor present. A warm welcome was offered to four new members who were presented with their badges; Christine K, Jenny C, Fran D, Robin M.

The highlight of this meeting was the amazing generosity of our members, with so many beautiful toys and gifts for the little children of Roseworth Parent and Child Centre, Members response was overwhelming!! The initial table brought out to display the toys was piled high and the same happened when a second table was brought out! Thank you so much to members for such generosity and for showing the true spirit of Christmas giving. We then celebrated an early Christmas together, enjoying a very delicious morning tea complete with Christmas delights, provided by the Committee

POST Community Newspaper published an article and photo the following week about our outstanding efforts and this provided terrific publicity for our Club and The Smith Family. Our Club has once again, this year, been given great publicity by POST and we really appreciate this support which helps highlight the work of VIEW Clubs and The Smith Family.

October Outing

Bull Creek Aviation Heritage Museum

Nine club members participated in this outing and they all enjoyed themselves and learned so much – thanks to Jennifer, our club president for organising this activity.

October 2022 Meeting 

We had thirty-nine members, and Raelene arranged for guest speaker Rosie Bruce from Western Regional Council to address this meeting and she certainly gained our attention as she provided us with plenty of information regarding household waste disposal and recycling.

21st Birthday Celebrations

2022 September

Everybody enjoys a party and our Committee, with assistance from Members, did an outstanding job in organising this special club celebration which was held at the Tee Box Café at Lake Claremont and there were seventy-four VIEW Club members from various clubs who attended. We had perfect spring weather with party goers wearing gorgeous, colourful clothes to enhance our theme, A Splash of Colour. The venue looked amazing thanks to the work of Margaret and Carol who provided the table decorations.

This special occasion was about acknowledging the voluntary work of members of our VIEW Club (and all VIEW Clubs) in supporting The Smith Family. So, it was a highlight to have two guest speakers, plus our President, Jennifer who together, provided the three perspectives of the work of these two organisations. Jennifer spoke of the fund-raising activities and work of WSVC members in sponsoring our students. Julie Gorman (TSF Regional Manager) followed up and explained about the TSF new 5 year plan to greatly increase the number of sponsored students and to make other changes, all to support educational needs of Australian students. Our final speaker was Jaye, an 18 year old university student who has been sponsored by The Smith Family for 12 years and still has their ongoing support. Jaye really explained to the audience how vital this support has been to him and his family. He shared his story in a deeply personal and eloquent manner and gave us a great awareness and understanding of the difficulties he faced and the extent to which his sponsorship enabled him to get to university. Thanks to the work of VIEW Clubs and TSF, this hard working, motivated young man has become a very successful university student – congratulations Jaye on your outstanding speech and best wishes for your future success.

 Our Club was in the position to present a cheque for $2000.00 to TSF. Also, thanks to the generosity of our members, we had 15 fabulous raffle prizes for lucky party goers. Congratulations on twenty-one years of valuable support and service provided to TSF and to the education of Australian students. As a footnote – we had a terrific article and photo of our 21^st celebrations, published in the POST Community Newspaper.

August 2022 Monthly Meeting:

Prior to the meeting our members and ten visitors were privileged to have an outstanding guest speaker, Jan Standen, from Grandparents Rearing Grandchildren (WA) Inc. Jan is a driving force behind this organisation and was awarded 2022 WA Senior Citizen of the Year.

She is President of GRGWA, a volunteer run charity which provides support and resources for informal grandparent carers across WA. 330 families are members. Jan who has raised three grandchildren herself, was a compelling and inspiring speaker; thank you for giving us your precious time Jan.

The meeting which followed covered a number of topics; thanks to two members, Sue and Kathryn who have taken on the task of making the sandwiches for our morning tea; a truly delicious effort ladies.  Members voted to use money raised from a previous raffle to buy more Joy Spreaders; a reminder that all committee positions are declared vacant at the AGM to be held in November, and we are also looking for a person to take on the position of Assistant Treasurer.

The Lucky $50.00 number raffle sold out very quickly and we ended up with a smiling winner! An update on fund raising activities; sales of El’s Olive Oil now has raised $1850.00; Blue Illusion fashion parade $287.00.  All round amazing efforts!

It was pleasing to hear that several visitors had read about WSVC through our articles in POST Newspaper.

August Outing Walk Around Lake Claremont:

It appears that our Club President, Jennifer, has the weather goddess on her side because here we were, in the middle of a Perth winter, planned outing was a walk around the beautiful Lake Claremont and surrounding restored bushland, and we get glorious sunny weather and no rain; previous days wet and very cold!

It was just perfect for the walk which was followed by a picnic lunch. Thanks Jennifer, for providing us with information about a number of features specific to this area, including art work and sculptures; and shelters for newly introduced quendas.

This is an amazing, restored wetland area which has so much bird and animal life, revegetated bush, almost in the heart of Claremont and it is available to local residents.

July 2022 Outing:

Members made a visit to the Fremantle Hospital Museum; our tour guide, Ruth, was a volunteer who had been a driving force behind the establishment of this Museum which has been going for only six years. We saw different types of medical equipment and changes to nurses’ attire over the years – all members agreed that we are so fortunate to be living in these modern times!

2022 July Activities:

A special celebration for VIEW Clubs across Australia this year, of course has been The Smith Family Centennial 1922-2022. WSVC had a special 100^th birthday party for the Smith Family at July Meeting – gorgeous 100^th birthday cake and lots of 100 Spectacles. Members demonstrated their creative and artistic talents with a vast array of stunning spectacles!! Thank you, members, for your willing participation in helping our club to celebrate the very valuable work of The Smith Family and all VIEW Clubs.

This special occasion gave our club the time and opportunity to focus on this wonderful, Australia wide charity and Jennifer addressed members and provided interesting data and information on the work of The Smith Family and VIEW.  It was a most enjoyable morning. An article and photo of our celebrations were published in POST Community Newspaper.

June Fashion Parade

Fashion Parade Fund Raiser: Raelene has worked in conjunction with Jean-Marie of Blue Illusion Floreat Forum to make this a regular event for the end of June each year. It has become a fun, fashion and fund-raising occasion; with lots of clothes shopping!

This year after members had enjoyed nibbles, drinks, provided by Blue Illusion, and watched our Club's renowned models Glen and Debra, strut their stuff on the catwalk, they shopped to help raise extra funds for our Club. Thank you to all involved in this very successful event – so much fun and for a great cause!

2022 June

This meeting was attended by 41 members and 10 guests; two new members, Fran and Margaret, were presented with their club badges, a warm welcome to both of you. The sales of El’s Olive Oil organised by Jennifer, has been highly successful and so far, $1600.00 has been raised for our club; what an amazing effort! Thank you to everyone involved.

Due to generous donations and the outstanding results of the olive oil sales, our club has made extra donations to the Joy Spreader Program and The Smith Family Winter Appeal. In June we had 60 fully paid-up members enabling our Club to sponsor another student, bringing our total to 12 students paid up for 2023.

The guest speaker who addressed members prior to the meeting, was Merinda Willis from Consumer Affairs, and she dealt with a highly concerning subject – SCAMS! We were given plenty of useful information and tips – basically, If something is too good to be true, it probably is!

Outing to Government House Gardens

Members who attended this outing had the opportunity to take a guided tour through a little piece of paradise in the heart of Perth CBD; 3.2 ha of beautiful heritage listed, Arcadian landscape style gardens.

Our tour guides shared their knowledge with us and provided us with so much information.  Jennifer organised the tour and had the weather goddess on side – no rain! These beautiful gardens are a ‘must see’.

National Reconciliation Week:  

Our Club's Facebook posted a Be Brave, Make Change banner in response to a call from The Smith Family and VIEW Executive for VIEW Clubs to support Reconciliation Week.

June High Tea

During June, several members attended a High Tea to celebrate the Centennial year of The Smith Family. It was a special occasion enjoyed by all who attended, thank you VIEW Development Team.

May Outing – Walk In Bold Park:

When planning a bush walk through a beautiful bushland area such as Bold Park, followed up with an outdoor picnic lunch, one has to hope for perfect weather and no rain (despite it being May) and that is exactly what 16 members had!

The two volunteer guides, Steve and Diana were so knowledgeable and drew our attention to all the various plants, flowers and trees. After the informative and invigorating walk, members finished off the outing with a relaxing and enjoyable picnic lunch. Thanks, Jennifer for organising the fine weather and fabulous bush walk.

2022 May 

Once again members had the opportunity to listen to a very interesting guest speaker, Loretta Baldassar from UWA who spoke about ageing process and the importance of ensuring, as one grows older, that one has a strong social network. For further information on this topic check out UWA Social Care and Ageing Living Lab. Thanks, Raelene, for always managing to find such quality speakers.

At the meeting which followed, we welcomed 4 new members and presented them with their badges – Liz, Carol, Sandra and Margaret. WSVC now has 58 fully paid-up members. A decision was made at this meeting to sponsor another student so our club now has 11 ‘Learning for Life’ children. Glen read Janny’s annual report on our ‘Learning for Life ’students; and we must thank Janny for providing us with updates and information about our students. Congratulations to Sandra who was the winner of the $50.00 note ‘lucky number’.

National Volunteer Week

Clubs were encouraging volunteers to reconnect with community after the past two challenging years. POST Newspaper published the article we wrote about the value of volunteering and the importance of work done by VIEW and The Smith Family to sponsor Australian children in need of support and assistance with their education. There was also a great photo of our club members with the article.

Members Make A Difference

2022 April Meeting

Another interesting and informative meeting, with lots of conversations and socialising taking place! Thirty members attended and there were two guests – also a long list of apologies and thanks go to all members who took time to lodge an apology. The meeting was preceded by guest speaker Eleanor de Kock, an olive oil producer, who last year provided her organic olive oil for sale to our club, which resulted in a donation of $600.00 that our Club gave to The Smith Family.

Eleanor did a great job in addressing our members; her talk was informative, interesting and had a nice touch of humour. THANK YOU so much Eleanor for your generosity towards our club and The Smith Family.

The meeting included the following – birthdays for April, dates of activities/outings for later in the year; our 21^st birthday lunch on September 28^th. Reports from – Treasurer, Program Officer, Delegate and Publicity Officer; correspondence and general business were covered.

After the close of meeting members participated in a small group activity, Conversations which enabled each member in a group to take turns at answering a number of questions, to chat and to find out a little more about each other, especially as our club has had a growth spurt in new members. It was a simple but really enjoyable session - and judging by the noise levels, lots of great conversations were going on in each group, making it a great success!

Remember: Making new connections makes a difference – VIEW CLUB Australia