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Your weekly community newspaper covering Safety Beach to Portsea
Wednesday 5 April 2023
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Fools’ day tea party helps hospital
EVA Barnes is a 19-year-old, who spent time in the Royal Children’s Hospital when she was young. Over the past 10 years she has raised $22,000, because she wanted to give back to the hospital that had helped her. Supported by her grandmother (who taught her how to bake cakes) and inspired by seeing the children in need of care at the hospital Barnes raised the money by selling cakes, potpourri and jams at markets . On 1 April the Sorrento Activity Centre (SPSSC) supported Barnes with a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party-themed afternoon, raising $3100 for the hospital. Artist John Bredl, artist and a member of the activity centre’s art group, gave a talk on his time as a painter and did a demonstration landscape of a scene on the Murray River. The painting was then auctioned for the children’s hospital. Six of the nine groups that meet at the centre were involved in the tea party which saw 54 people attend the lunch, half wearing a fancy hat. Barnes dressed as Alice, while her grandmother Irene Barnes was the Mad Hatter, and her father was the White Rabbit. Xavier Murtagh, location captain (Sorrento) for the Uncle Bob’s Club for the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal.spoke about the importance of groups and clubs such as the activity centre raising money for the hospital. Partygoers: Xavier Murtagh (back) with James, Eva and Irene Barnes (front) and Joy Hiddlestone in pink. Picture: Yanni
Peninsula ‘needs more crisis support’ Liz Bell liz@mpnews.com.au HOMELESS support services are calling on the state government to build crisis accommodation on the Mornington Peninsula as more than 1000 people search for somewhere safe to sleep every night. Community Information Support Victoria – which has support centres in Rosebud, Mornington and Hastings - called crisis talks on Friday (31 March), with centres facing unprecedented demand and workers worried about the health and safety of clients
coming into colder weather. Southern Peninsula Community Support CEO Jeremy Maxwell said the need for accommodation and support services had increased by 25 per cent in the past 12 months. He said that while the homelessness issue wasn’t new, support services had to “keep the conversation going” so governments don’t think people the problem has gone away. “There has been an exponential jump in demand, with 233 attending our Rosebud service centre in March alone,” he said. “We [support services] are all
wondering what the future holds, because there has been little movement in this area. So far, we have had no indication from the state government - which has primary responsibility for housing and homelessness - that crisis accommodation is in their plans. “As we get closer to winter, demand grows as some of the other services will drop off and we have to meet the need - if this continues, will could be forced to say, ‘sorry, we can’t help’.” Maxwell said the peninsula had been left behind in terms of government money. “If you go to Melbourne or out west
there are crisis beds, we do not have one crisis bed on the peninsula,” he said. “We already have volunteers who have put their hands up ready to staff a crisis centre, we have toilets and showers we can move around, we just don’t have the venue.” Every year the centre provides hundreds of tents to the homeless, with many camping on foreshores where they are supported by the SPLASH program (shower and laundry). Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Steve Holland supported calls for more government assistance and said
there were nearly 4000 residents on the public housing waiting lists. “We have also called on the government to consider policy levers and measures to balance short and long stay rentals and to provide urgent investment in social and affordable housing on the peninsula. We are not getting our fair share of the Big Build funding for public housing.” Maxwell said community support services would also like to see state laws changed to allow granny flat accommodation on existing properties, and the removal of tax concessions for Airbnb properties. Continued Page 14
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