Village Vibes

Message from the CEO

Hello friends and supporters,

2020 will be a year of challenge, opportunity and grief for the newly homeless from the fires for Transition Village Wallan.

Dare we hope that the village will be up and running by Christmas? I believe so.

The bush fires have left many people homeless and grieving, their lives changed forever. In line with our overarching framework, TVW will support these newly homeless people and the environment by the donation of the profits from our first fundraising event to the Salvation Army and the Victorian Wildlife Services.  Please buy your tickets today.

Financial support for TVW will come from other fundraising events throughout the year. Out annual Bunnings Sausage Sizzle date is confirmed for 23rd August, and another Comedy for a Cause night is being organised for Saturday May 2nd.

There is a need for TVW to continue raising its own funds so if anyone is interested in organising a fundraiser, with assistance from the committee, please contact me: ceo@tvw.org.au.

The long term concerns for TVW are complicated. We need to get past any objections to the project at VCAT and there will be a later requirement from Vicroads for approval for the driveway.

TVW is required to keep the Pick My Project Grant Management Team informed of all new developments and timelines. This will be done by end of February, after discussion with committee and Mr Banon.

There are plans afoot for the AGM to be held in March 2020, with a changeover to the Executive board of Management at the same time. There is a lot of preparatory work to be done so if you are interested please let me know.

Nyonie, Skye and I are beginning to renew out contacts with Salvation Army and Nexus Primary Health, Wallan, to continue developing the Clients Pathways in the Village. Nexus had a change of CEO over December so TVW will meet and greet the new or acting CEO as soon a possible.

Several committee members will attend the Wallan GoTafe Breakfast this month to hopefully begin a relationship with them on behalf of TVW volunteers and residents.

I hope that all committee and general members are now refreshed for the end of year holidays and ready tackle this project once more. It is a ground-breaking scheme, based on acknowledging human needs plus the need to work with our environment to promise a future for us all.

Thank you,
Judy Clarke,
CEO, Transition Village Wallan

OH&S

OHS ensures that important health and safety issues are brought to attention so they can be fixed. At the TVW we care about everybody’s health and safety. Here are our tips for this month:

• take reasonable care for your own health and safety
• take reasonable care to ensure you don’t affect the health and safety of other people, for example, other volunteers, members of the public or clients they may be assisting
• comply, so far as you are reasonably able, with any reasonable instruction that is given to you by your organisation, and
• co-operate with any reasonable policy or procedure that your organisation has provided to you.

Four steps to ensure good OH&S standards:

1. identifying hazards – find out what could cause harm
2. assess the risks if necessary – understand the nature of the harm that could be caused by the hazard, how serious the harm could be and the likelihood of it happening
3. control risks – implement the most effective control measure that is reasonably practicable in the circumstances, and
4. review control measures – to ensure they are working as planned.

Values and Behaviours

• Service – proudly serve the community and TVW
• Professionalism – strive for excellence
• Trust – have confidence in the ability of others
• Respect – value every individual
• Collaboration and engagement – create solutions together
• Honesty and integrity – act truthfully, consistently, and fairly
• Courage and tenacity – never give up
• Sustainability – work to get the best results

Gratitude and Appreciation to our Volunteers

We want to thank Mr Chris Banon, Town Planner, for coming on board at this stage to guide TVW through the very complicated process, of a Planning Permit Application, pro bono. It has proved to be more time consuming than anyone expected, as TVW does not fit easily into any known classicisation of accommodation. We are also required to reconfigure the village design so that we will not impact in any way on the aboriginal land near us. This may necessitate new LCA surveys and Building surveys.