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Wednesday 1 November 2023
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Clothes to help in all situations
Off the rack: The Clothes4U monthly public sale on Friday offered clothes from $5 for those wanting some new quality threads at bargain basement prices. Volunteer helpers at the sale, from left, Elaine Taylor, Angela Nugent, Tina Donohughe, Bev Storey and Janny Wilcox outfitting customer Anne. Picture: Yanni
ROSEBUD based charity Clothes4U is taking the stress out of looking professional on a budget, providing students and people looking for work with quality clothes at low or no cost. Prices are low, but quality is not. There are suits, race day wear and hats, dresses, designers brands and clothes for most occasions. Charity president Tina Donahue said buying new clothes that were suitable for employment situations was sometimes out of reach for students or people looking to join the workforce. Donahue said clients who come to Clothes4U were given a one-on-one consultation, taking into account their body shape, likes and dislikes and the reason for needing clothing. “We act as their personal stylist, and a lot our work involved providing clothes for people facing disadvantage, going to court, school meetings, special occasions and much more,” she said. “We are a charity and we take the pressure off people who need to look well dressed but don’t necessarily have the budget. “The majority of our clients also need everyday clothing - many have only the clothes on their back.” The not-for-profit relies on donations and holds monthly clothing sales open to the public to help raise money to cover its overheads, including rent. Clothes4U is at shops 5 and 6, 35 Wanneaue Place, Rosebud. Phone 0490 058 596. Liz Bell
Administrator to ‘fix’ land council woes Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au A SPECIAL administrator has been appointed to bring the Frankston-based Bunurong Land Council (Aboriginal Corporation) back to “good health”. PETER McQuoid, who was appointment in early September, has told the land council’s members that someone in his role “helps to fix problems such as money trouble, service delivery problems or poor governance”. “… The special administrator’s aim is to work with the corporation to fix internal problems and restore it to good health. When I achieve that, I will appoint a new board of directors and hand
back control of the corporation to its members.” Under the terms of his appointment McQuoid, of PDM Consultancy, is due to hand back control on Friday 15 March 2024. In his first newsletter, McQuoid said the Registrar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations Tricia Stroud had “formed a view that the corporation was not being governed effectively or in the best interests of the corporation and its members”. “Problems with governance and financial management have been going on for some time. The corporation hasn’t successfully held an AGM for the past two financial years, denying members their right to elect directors to govern the corporation on their behalf.” Financial statements on the Bunurong Land
Council website for the year ended 30 June 2021 show a net profit of $1,294,887 ($698,446 in 2020) and a “positive cash flow from operating activities” of $3,542,405 ($1,128,815 in 2020). The land council provides municipal councils with archaeological field assessments as part of cultural heritage management plan (CHMP) process, cultural heritage advice, and information about the Aboriginal community, people, Bunurong culture, and the environment. For each of the past two years Mornington Peninsula Shire has given the land council $100,000 under a memorandum of understanding agreement that, according to the mayor Cr Steve Holland, “details our partnership on matters such as land care, cultural training and some of the actions of our Reconciliation Action Plan”.
Holland said the land council’s involvement in CHMPs costs “from about $6000, depending on their complexity”, but was unable to say had how much the shire had paid in the past three years “due to the range of services and fees involved over multiple projects”. When announcing the appointment of a special administrator Stroud said an examination of the corporation’s books in March “identified serious concerns with respect to the standard of corporate governance of the corporation”. Examiners who checked the corporation’s books in March “confirmed poor standards of corporate governance and financial management, likely arising from long-standing dysfunction and factions among key roles in the corporation”. Continued Page 7
