September 5, 2012
War veterans now have a “home away from home” in Kingaroy where they can relax, socialise and chat.
The Veterans’ Drop-In Centre, co-located in the administration building at the Orana Lutheran Complex, was officially opened this afternoon in a small ceremony attended by Member for Maranoa (and former Veterans Affairs Minister) Bruce Scott, Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington, former local MP Dorothy Pratt (patron of the local Vietnam Veterans’ Association branch), Mayor Wayne Kratzmann, representatives from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and members of the Kingaroy and Wondai RSL sub-branches.
Mr Scott said the Drop-In Centre would enable war veterans to come at their leisure and find the support and the company of other veterans.
“The camaraderie of people who have served their country lasts for life,” he said.
Mr Scott presented Kingaroy-Memerambi RSL Sub-Branch President Don Davey with a photograph of the Queen, taken to mark her Jubilee year.
Mr Davey said the idea of a Drop-In Centre has been discussed for some time.
“Our service will help around 30 or 40 people each day and will be open from 9:00am to 1:00pm each Wednesday,” he said.
“Orana is a neutral venue where veterans have a quiet place, can socialise and will have trained members on site, resources and materials if they want to talk about welfare or pensions.
“They can play cards, take a cooking class, learn computer skills, watch movies and share a cup of tea.
“It’s all about trying to involve the veterans in community activities so they can assimilate – for far too long many of them have felt isolated.”
The Drop-In Centre is one of the first outside groups to take advantage of the more than 600sq m of commercial space available for local organisations at Orana.
The Orana Lutheran Complex’s vision is to establish a community hub in its vacant space.
Local businesses, health and community services, consultants and education groups have been invited to get on board to negotiate occupancy arrangements.
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington said the business initiative was aligned with her priority to support new health services.
“The commercial space now available at Orana is a fantastic addition to commercial rentals for progressive community or health based groups within Kingaroy and the South Burnett,” she said.
“It’s a great opportunity for these groups to strengthen their ties with the region to ensure the highest level of care for the South Burnett’s aged population.”
Orana General Manager Richard Fahy welcomed the RSL and said he saw this as the beginning of the community services hub.
“We openly welcome RSL members and thank them for being part of the Orana Community,” he said.
“We look forward to assisting each other with our community efforts over the next years.”
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