Shadows of the Past

Posted on by

0


Went for a walk in St Jude’s Graveyard yesterday. Just voted in the local council elections and wanted to see if the wild grasses had grown high yet. No sign of them, they look splendid when they have been left to overgrow the graves

I have been away from the blog for a long time. Over recent years I have been quilting less and also getting out a lot less due to illness so this walk in the graveyard of the church where we once worked as Vergers for almost ten years brought back a lot of memories for me.

It is interesting in our time here I voluntarily gardened in the Columbarium but rarely ventured into the graveyard except for church based barbeques. This chnged a little in our last few years there when the graveyard was reopened to burials. Our much loved vicar Reverend Lovitt was buried there and a young lady whom we had the pleasure of watching grow up was buried there just before we left. More of that in future posts.

As I walked around photographing plants, monuments, graves and railing in varying stages of decay I reflected on this past year. Much has happened. Firstly I received an apology from the Australian President of St Vincent De Paul for the abuse I suffered and watched my husband suffer. This apology meant so much to me as I only ever wanted to bring attention to the appalling way good people were treated. That abuse and standover tactics as a way of acheiving an end result is never the way to go about things in a Christian charity. Not only did I receive a corporate  and personal  apology in writing but a personal pledge of prayer support for my husband who has had a difficult time adjusting to the injustice of the situation. Indeed earlier this year he had severe chest pains and breathing problems due to stress and overwork.

A few months ago my dear mother in law died and within two days of her being buried I had Colostomy surgery. I am twelve weeks out now and feeling much better than I have in many many years. Over the past ten years I had become increasingly housebound and now am enjoying outings without the strain of always wondering where toilets are.

So as I strolled around the graveyard for the second time since my surgery I reflected on the changes in my own perceptions. I loved the play of light creating the shadows. The decaying headstones and ironwork and overgrown plantings looked perfect to me at this stage of my life. Years ago when I worked there all I would have seen was the work that had to be done, now I appreciate the stories behind the imperfections.

I have found a new lease of life and though still not in great health due to increasing arthritis I enjoy the small pleasures and one of them is advocating for Ostomy health and womens health issues due to Colorectal cancer. I did not have that myself but a lot of the issues that women have to deal with after that treatment are my own after varying surgeries over the years. So I am delighted to have met the most wonderful people on Facebook and online through many groups and have become an active participant in encouraging and supporting members.

While I walked around I also reflected on change. Twelve years ago when we left St Jude’s I became quite isolated and found it hard to adapt to a new life after so many years of being available to our small community almost seven days a weeK. I found new interests, took up quilting and scrapbooking and spent time getting to know our new neighbours but it was still a time of adjustment.

As  I walked around the graveyard I was especially thinking of a quilter/blogger I know, Di Jobbins, whose husband Boak Jobbins died suddenly just a week before. Their life together was one of service and my thoughts and prayers are with Di now as she prepares to enter a new stage of her life. Luckily her life is fairly full but there will be many changes ahead of her. It is difficult leaving a parish, and especially difficult I think on the widows of vicars who lose not only their husbands but often their role and not least their home.

Allsorted Sunday

Posted on by

0

Allsorted Sunday, originally uploaded by magikquilter.

Busy day sorting through all my crates, well some of my crates prior to our move. i have already sold one of my five kilo satchels of vintage trims and fabrics...yeah! Twenty more to go…give or take a few.

The Week from Hell

Posted on by

0

This week has seen Australia’s north east devastated by the worst floods in living history. Indeed one of the problems for the survivors  is going to be how to learn to live with the memories of this awful event. Tough military helicopter pilots were pictured tenderly holding in their arms babies, toddlers and children whom they scooped up to safety. Some of these children witnessed the deaths of their parents or loved ones. The same military personel are now searching for the dead bodies who may well be related to those they rescued.


There is just too much to write about…the event came about due to a confluence of events but what remains in the minds eye now is the amazing spirit of our fellow Australians. They are calling today Salvation Saturday …twelve thousand volunteers came to help strangers with the cleanup of their homes and businesses. And that is not counting the thousands of others who are helping family and friends… twenty five thousand volunteers registered to help.

There was no Australian untouched by this…the television coverage was brilliant and kept the nation and the evacuated informed. Vanessa Trazise on Sky News was persoally affected by this as her brother lives in one of the areas which was decimated. She covered teh news and was almost ghost like in her appearance…teh next day she told her viewers that her brother and family lived there and she had not known then whether he was alive or not.

 

 

A Few Reasons Why Australia Needs a Charity Oversight Committee

Posted on by

0

You may have read my last post on an incident in a charity shop in Sydney recently where my donation of a dress was taken and tried on immediately in front of me. I wrote about it here. This is not a common occurrence anymore as so many of the charity shops have become more corporatised. Vinnies in particular is very professional in that respect…in the city anyway I can not speak to the way things are done in the country where there is usually only a paid manager and volunteers.

I have had so many great experiences in charity shops helping people with choices and oftentimes doing repairs for people who cannot normally afford a dressmaker. Not to mention the fabulous clothing and antiques I have found! But like so many things in life when something does go wrong it really leaves a sour taste and impacts the way I perceive the charity and their shop and ultimately how much I donate and buy.

Obviously I have an issue with abuse of donations. To me it is dishonest and does not honor the intent of the donor. I consider selling things at too low a price an abuse of donations as well. I am not alone, MARY PORTIAS, who instituted changes in Save the children shops in Britain said herself that she had not given any of her own designer clothing to charity shops because they would not know what to do with them.

What really galls in Australia anyway is that there is nowhere to go with complaints or incidents. Overseas there are many Charity Oversight Committees, etc. Britain also has a Association of Charity Shops where good things and bad can be reported. Oftentimes it is enough that one has been seen to be heard. As you know I am still in the middle of the VINNIES thing. The bullying issue is so pervasive in VINNIES that the head office formed an investigative committee but even they cannot effect an apology or make changes. They can make suggestions I believe….the charity shops are only one arm of VINNIES  which is a huge retailer in NSW …on par with WOOLWORTHS I believe. So they have a huge task ahead of them where the culture of bullying is endemic.

The ONE NOFFS shops which are under the direct supervision of RUPERT NOFFS likewise have a problem during the week anyway in that apart from a select few ladies they have largely well intentioned but mostly unprofessional volunteers who often when I am there spend the entire time checking out clothing for themselves. Yes in front of me…you would think they would have enough downtime that they could at least do it when the shop is empty. Rupert is so busy in my opinion running new venture after new venture that he has let the charity shops that already exist slide. Unless of course there is a television crew or newspaper reporter around. When I first met him he was excited about the shops and the opening of the new shop on Elizabeth Street however as far as I can recall the warehouse was not even mentioned in the ABC Compass programme THE NEW NOFFS. Of course that could have been the way the ABC cut the show but it is interesting that the staff at the warehouse shop did not know about the programme and were most distressed to be out of the loop.

After I published my last post two days ago on the dress being tried on Rupert Noffs contacted me and asked me if I would take the post down saying “please please  please remove it it” and “it would be helpful if you did not post blogs on this”. Maybe I should not be surprised after his response to my previous email when I mentioned that the staff did not know about the COMPASS PROGRAMME. I also sent a copy to his father as I saw he was the CEO of the NOFFS FOUNDATION and was answering the commentors on the ABC website….and he is the age of a lot of the volunteers in their shop.

“Wesley doesn’t recall conversing with you. Where did you write this? I hope not on a public domain. This will put a lot of stress on my family. More stress than there already is.”

So I am left with getting the word out on my own blog so that people are aware of what happens to their donations and also to people who try to bring attention to something….for the public good. I think that is what galls me the most about a lot of charities…not just shops attached to them…transparency and accountability. I would appreciate any ideas on how to go about getting some kind of Committee or Association going and who to contact about it.

And this is what bloggers do…. get the word out…it is not spreading hate as Rupert Noffs seemed to think when he said in his email to me.

“lets spread love not hate…we are a charity”



Not a Good Look at One Noffs

Posted on by

2

 

UPDATE 1/2/11

TODAY I WENT INTO ONE NOFFS AND WAS MOST IMPRESSED BY THE PROFESSIONALISM SHOWN THERE. I BELIEVE SOMETHING WAS DONE ABOUT THE ISSUE DISCUSSED HERE. I JUST WISH THAT PEOPLE WOULD HEED THE SAYING”DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER”

As you know I try to support my local charity shop ONE NOFFS …and the people they ultimately serve. Usually on a Monday they have a charming and very professional lady my age there but today she was away due to family health problems.

So I took in some amazing dresses which I was donating and the lady there on the counter said “this might fit me”and tried one on in front of me …on the shop floor! She then took the others to hang up to sell and took the dress she tried on out the back.

Maybe it was because it was not an outdated wedding dress like this one…

the hat looks a bit weird

but still….this is very unprofessional and definitely impacts the amount of and type of clothing I will be donating there in future. If I donate any after seeing her prance around the store trying things on left right and centre.

016

The Warehouse is now run by the volunteers and is largely unsupervised…. I guess that is part of the problem but in my considered and experienced opinion we need to be dragging these charity shops kicking and screaming into the 21st century.