From the Executive Officer
Dear Friends
We are now almost half way into the year and as the winter cold bites, we are all warmly reflecting back on all of the exciting, fun outdoor activities and events that the Association has already run in the earlier months of 2010. The Camp in March was a fantastic success which everyone was thrilled to have attended. The lunch/social club has also had a variety of outings including the ever popular visit to the Sydney Fish Market. Many more activities are planned for the future. You can read reports about these events in this Issue.
There are also larger events on the horizon. September will see a busy months for those associated with HD. The National Conference will be held in Brisbane on the 9th and 10th of the month. I urge you all to consider attending the National Conference. They are only held every second year and provide such a wonderful opportunity for everyone to have direct contact with other people with HD, families, carers and of course with national and international experts in the Huntington's field. There is also a fundraising event on the 18th of the month at Mingarra on the Central Coast which looks to be a real cracker of an affair. You can also read about both of these events in this Issue of our newsletter.
I would also like to let you know about staff changes here at the Association. Toni Zhang who has been with us for some months firstly as a volunteer and then acting in the role of Administration Officer has now been appointed to that position. We are very lucky and pleased to have her with us. Toni has written an article about herself which you can read in this Issue of Gateway. She can be contacted by telephone at the office or by email on toni@ahdansw.asn.au.
Mark Bevan has also joined the Association as Family Support Officer. Many of you will already know Mark, who is a past President and Board Member of the Association and who has been very active in many of the Association's camps and other activities over the years. Mark will be based on the Central Coast and his position will have the primary focus in the team of meeting the needs of northern NSW including the Hunter/Newcastle, Central Coast and Mid North Coast area. He will be working in close conjunction with John Conaghan. Mark will be telling you more about himself in the next Gateway. Mark will be on board in his role in June and you will be able to contact him by email on mark@ahdansw.asn.au. Welcome Mark!!
Ramona Watts, who many of you have known as our Family Support Officer is now working in the position of Family Support Co-ordinator and will continue to run our Social Club with Lily Ma, as well as reaching out to our carer's and clients in Sydney and southern NSW including the Illawarra and the Goulburn/Canberra region. If there is anything that Ramona can assist you with, please do not hesitate to contact her by phone at the office or via email to ramona@ahdansw.asn.au.
As always, if you have any ideas for anything else that you might be interested in taking part in through the Association or you have ideas about how we could provide you with better services, please feel free to contact me either by phone at the Association or by email to ingrid@ahdansw.asn.au.
Ingrid van Tongeren
Executive Officer
