Hi
This was posted on the Update list recently. I don't know if Lyndon Community is a TC (I assume Robbie or one of the other Australian members will know) but I thought it was a heart-warming little story:
In August 2008 a nomination was submitted on behalf of The Lyndon Community for Dr Graeme Worsley of the Lyndon Withdrawal Unit to be acknowledged in the 2008 NSW Volunteer of the Year Award. I am pleased to announce that Graeme has been advised that, in the face of stiff competition, he has been selected as the NSW Central West Region’s Volunteer of the Year and that he will be entered into the state wide final to be announced on International Volunteer’s Day on December 5. Last night Graeme received his award in a ceremony in Bathurst and was supported by his wife Mrs Helen Worsley, and staff and management of The Lyndon Community.
I have appended below the text of the nomination for your interest and trust the sector will join us in not only congratulating Graeme, but acknowledging the important role played by volunteers from all walks of life in working with and supporting people experiencing difficulties with their substance use. Services are provided to our client group under significant funding and operational constraints and the contributions of volunteers to our services helps to make things a little easier.
The Lyndon Community is a non profit non government organisation located in Orange NSW providing drug and alcohol treatment interventions. The Lyndon Withdrawal Unit is a residential detoxification and withdrawal unit based at Bloomfield Hospital in Orange, that receives referrals from all over NSW and interstate. There is a high proportion of Aboriginal people, people from the corrective system, people with concurrent mental health problems and people who are of lower socio economic status that access our service. Our clientele are the most marginalised and disadvantaged people in our community.
Dr Graeme Worsley is a specialist anaesthetist and pain management consultant who retired from full time practice several years ago. He made contact with the Withdrawal Unit and asked if there was anything he could do that might assist our organisation help our clients. Dr Worsley has great empathy for our client group and has tragic first hand experience with the outcomes of drug use and addiction.
Dr Worsley now volunteers his time and works in an unpaid capacity up to 5 days a week providing medical assessment, treatment and care planning, support, staff training, counselling and guidance for our staff and clients. He drops in on weekends to share a joke and a cup of tea with the staff on duty and to see how things are going and is available at the end of the phone for urgent consultations and questions. He has taken a great deal of the workload from the clinical team which has allowed the development of important work and programs for the organisation elsewhere in western NSW. He also assists in the training and support of General Practice trainees and medical students in addiction and behavioural medicine and is leading a team of workers in the unit in the review, redevelopment and evaluation of psychosocial education programs for our clientele.
Dr Worsley is an active, erudite and innovative thinker who inspires us all with his generosity, sense of humour and genuine concern and empathy for our clients. He has taken responsibility for his own learning around aspects of the work he is not familiar with. He is an experienced doctor with the full range of skills both personal and technical and waves away thoughts or suggestions of remuneration. We have supported his skill development and have sent him away to training and development conferences, workshops and seminars. He is a valuable member of the team who provides a service that our core funding is unable to deliver. His contribution to the Withdrawal Unit should not be measured by occasions of service or numbers of clients seen but can be measured by a noticeable improvement in morale, confidence, general relaxation and good humour that he inspires among his colleagues in a difficult environment.
Graeme seeks no reward or recognition from his involvement with our organisation and is the first to roll up his sleeves and muck in when things need to be done. He attends meetings and supports the unit with insight and intelligence at the administrative and management levels. In my view he is worth his weight in gold, is a role model for volunteers and we are unable to extend our appreciation enough for his involvement with us. He is by any measure a worthy candidate for recognition though this award.
Regards to all,
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Craig Mills
Executive Director
The Lyndon Community
PO Box 9374
160 Kite St
ORANGE NSW 2800
02 6361 2300 Bus
02 6361 7400 Fax
0427 625444 Mobile
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