On Friday 8 December, a very successful event was held to thank those involved in the refurbishment of the Maroubra Mental Health Unit. Cheryl Wittingslow, Peer Support Worker and refurbishment coordinator, invited SESLHD Mental Health representatives, key sponsors and funding groups to be a part of the celebrations.President of Botany Randwick Rotary Club, Christine Baramilis, Secretary Greg Lill, past member of Rotary Randwick, Alex Weiss, and Kim Millar, past relationship manager, Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation, plus representatives from the POW Hospital Mental Health facilities attended the unveiling of two plaques at the Maroubra Centre, Eastern Suburbs Mental Health.
The plaque in the reception is dedicated to Rotary and The Prince of Wales Foundation. Cheryl Wittingslow, spoke about Randwick Rotary’s important donation in 2020 which helped the Centre begin its upgrade. Rotary’s commitment assisted the Health Department to improve the original poor conditions of the building and the centre. Since then our club has assisted with the purchase of gym equipment.
The second plaque was dedicated to Greg, Alex and Kim for the Centre’s Sensory Room. An important space for people to chill out. Cheryl spoke about this room and how important it was to have two chairs that were similar so that clients and counsellors feel they are ‘chatting’ as equals. She was very grateful to our club for these chairs as she was unable to source funding from any other areas.Cheryl was also awarded a certificate from NSW Health for her great commitment and passion for her work in connection with the refurbishment of the Maroubra Mental Health Centre, which has a client base in excess of 850.
The Maroubra Centre is now an inspiration for a Centre which is being refurbished in Bondi Junction which will assist young people with mental health issues. At present this Centre has about 100 clients and they too will be seeking funding from the Community.
As a final gesture to the local community, prior to its merger with the Botany club, the Rotary Club of Randwick donated $15,000 to the Maroubra Mental Health Unit for these much-needed improvements, which included:- refurbishment of a former courtyard with two beautiful shade sails, astro turf with an outdoor dining table and chairs. It is a perfect space for meetings and groups. One of the sails is retractable with great coverage in order to cater for sun, shade and rain.
- transforming one of the consult rooms that was not being utilized to its full potential into a sensory room entitled ‘The Sanctuary’. This room is fitted with a bluetooth speaker in the roof to provide a variety of music to suit the mood and enhance the experience, a dimmer switch to control the lighting with Bunnings donating LED lights for the perimeter of the room which are colour changing by remote to control the lighting and once again, enhance the experience. The room is decorated with a full wall decal print of the Ross Jones Memorial Rock pool at Coogee. In addition, staff can use the room for staff wellbeing, and do ‘one-on-one groups’ including sensory groups, music therapy, meditation, mindfulness and the room could be used to calm a client if they are feeling distressed.
The Rotary Club of Botany Randwick is pleased to be continuing it relationship with this vital community service.