Now that Christmas has been and gone, it’s time for us to happily say goodbye to 2020 and raise a glass to welcome in 2021. Now’s the time to reflect on the last 12 months and to start planning for the year ahead.

For so many of us the new year signifies more than just another calendar year; it’s a time to start afresh, say goodbye to old habits, and set the path for the coming 12 months. But for a lot of people the grind of day-to-day life, work and school commitments, and a lack of ongoing motivation can mean that their new year’s resolutions are left behind after only a few months, and are well forgotten by December.

Whether your resolution is to spend less time on social media and more time with the family, lose those pesky Christmas kilos, or to cut down on overtime at work, setting your new year’s resolution is only one small step in succeeding. To help you set, keep and most importantly, succeed, with your new year’s resolutions, we’ve put together some handy tips that will guide you through the next 12 months.

1. Make sure your goal is clear (and achievable)

Saying you want to lose weight is a good start but to make your resolution’s more achievable you should try to be as clear, and specific, as possible. Instead try saying ‘I will lose 10 kg by December’ or you can break it down further and say, ‘I will lose 2kgs every month’.

Likewise, instead of saying ‘I want to spend more time with the family’, try a more specific resolution like ‘I’ll have a big family dinner once a month’ or ‘every Sunday morning we’ll have breakfast together’.

2. Identify clear action steps

Once you’ve set your clear and specific resolution, it’s time to start mapping out how you’re going to achieve it. It might include putting a timer lock on your phone to help you cut down screen time, pre-booking weekend family getaways, borrowing books from the library to save money, or setting out an exercise and diet regime with a PT or doctor.

3. Track your progress

Setting out how you’re going to track your progress will help keep you accountable well past January. Make a weight loss tracking chart on your fridge, log your phone’s weekly screen time, or make a bucket list of family activities that you can hang up and tick things off of.

Try and keep your progress as visual as possible and make sure it’s placed somewhere that will allow you to see it regularly.

4. Share your goals

One of the most important ways to keep you on track to succeeding is making sure that you share your resolutions with friends and family. Your own personal cheer squad can help keep you accountable, motivate you when you’re feeling suck, and celebrate your progress.

Enlist a friend to go for walks or join you at the gym, let the kids pick family activities, or join a book club to keep you away from your phone.

5. Reward yourself along the way

Celebrating the little wins and successes along your journey will help keep you motivated long term and will keep your resolution enjoyable. Again, try to be a specific as possible when setting your mini rewards. Lost 5 kgs? Treat yourself to a day at the spa. Paid off $1,000 on your credit card? Head to the movies.

Looking for extra support to help you achieve more in 2021? At Real Community Services we provide experienced, quality support to people of all ages living with both visible and invisible disabilities. With a brilliant team of support workers across south east Queensland, we are there to help realize their goals and build a life full of possibilities. Talk to one of our friendly team about our  in-home support and community participation programs on 1300 007 270.

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Taking the family to the local park is a favourite pastime for so many Australian families. Spaces where children can play, make new friends, explore, and of course burn off that extra energy! But unfortunately most playgrounds are not inclusive or accessible for children with special needs, and that suit a variety of abilities, meaning they miss out on all the learning and development opportunities playgrounds offer.

Here is Brisbane playgrounds are slowly becoming more and more accessible and inclusive for children with Brisbane City Council now listing 40 All Abilities Parks across the city. These parks feature inclusive equipment including accessible carousels, sand diggers and pits, wheelchair friendly rockers and swings, and sensory panels and elements – just to name a few!

To help get you and your family out into the playground we’ve rounded up our favourite accessible and inclusive playgrounds in Brisbane.

Brisbane Botanic Gardens

The ‘All Abilities Playground’ in Brisbane’s Botanic Gardens is part of the city councils broader changes to the park, which includes wider footpaths and upgraded toilet facilities with ceiling hoist for people with disabilities.

The playground itself includes an accessible carousel, harness swing, and an accessible sand digger. There is also a range of sensory and musical activities including spinning hand objects, clear shapes to look through, and musical chimes. For those with sensory difficulties the park also offers a quiet zone with sculptures so children can escape the noise but still play.

Robelle Domain

Just 30 mins north of Brisbane the Robelle Domain Playground at Springfield Lakes is an 11 kilometre pathway network that works its way through rainforest walks, a lake, waterfall, and Australia’s first Icon on Galaxy interactive play equipment in an all abilities playground. The park also features a zero-depth water play area complete with a huge tipping bucket and water jets.

There are lots of shaded areas to escape the sun, and an amphitheatre which often hosts free events including Jazz afternoons and markets.

Capalaba Regional Park

A popular playground for bayside families, Capalaba Regional Park is a modern and colourful playground with lots of things for kids to explore. The playground features sensory installations including steel drums and an audio spinning wheel, and a sandpit and totem pole maze. There is also a liberty swing available, and all other sets of swings feature reinforced seats with back and head support. Away from the playground you’ll find the lagoon, which is perfect for spotting ducks, turtles and eels. There are wheelchair friendly paths throughout the park and multiple picnic tables making it a great spot to spend the entire day.

White Hill Reserve

The Whites Hill Reserve ‘exploration’ playground has equipment suitable for kids of all ages and abilities. This 170-hectare park features lots of sand and water play, a hidden forest for quiet play, and raised pathways giving easy access to lots of play elements. The popular Sway Fun Glider is wheelchair accessible with room for two wheelchairs as well two large benches for other passengers. In the swing section you’ll find a birds nest swing, hammock swings, two standard seats, baby seat and support seat. The little ones will also love the sensory section, which features drums and two pipe instruments.

Do you have another park that you love for its accessibility and inclusiveness? We’d love to hear about it!

Image Credit: Brisbane Kids

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Christmas Activity Guide

The Christmas season is almost upon us, and while it can be a wondrous, exciting and festive occasion celebrated throughout the world, if you are living with a disability or are caring for someone with a disability, the silly season can bring with it, its own challenges.

While everyone else is rushing about finding presents, heading to Christmas parties and looking forward to a few well-earned days off with family and friends, when you are living with a disability it can be difficult to shake the anxiety of another year going by with little changes to the day to day problems and circumstances that you cannot take a break from.  The role of carers are crucial over the festive season and while support workers and carers are motivated to ensure their clients are supported and to help them get into the festive spirit, with so many things to consider when arranging activities; like their interests, health conditions, mobility and keeping them cool during the heat of summer, it can be difficult to know where to start.

At Real Community Services we recognise that it can be difficult for a care giver to find the time to move beyond the immediate care needs of a client, to plan meaningful activities and to help them prepare for a wonderful and safe festive season.  To help you get started our team have put together 8 activities for carers to enjoy with disability clients during the festive season.  At Real Community Services we also understand that Christmas is not celebrated by everyone.

1. Christmas Activity Count Down

Routines are important to clients with disability allowing them a measure of control and calmness in knowing what will happen, so it’s understandable that special occasions like Christmas can bring with it a little anxiety of the unknown or disruption to the calmness of day-to-day life.  Spending time with your client to recognise what they like / don’t like about the festive season is a good starting point.  Also having an understanding on where they will be on Christmas Day can help you better understand how to help them prepare.

From here you can create a ‘Christmas Activity Calendar’ using it as a count down to Christmas Day and giving them something to look forward to as every day from the 1^st of December gets marked off.  There are some great Christmas activity calendar ideas on Etsy that you can use to create your on unique calendar!

2. Deck the Halls

Helping your client to decorate their home or room with Christmas decorations is a simple but effective way to begin building the excitement of Christmas no matter their age.  If they do not have a box of decorations stored from previous years a visit to the $2 shop can affordably acquire what you need or instead you can spend time creating decorations together that they can continue with making them on their own.  There is nothing like lights on a Christmas tree to make the magic of Christmas begin.

3. Christmas Cards

With the age of social media, the giving (and receiving) of Christmas cards is all but lost.  Yet nothing can ebb the magic you feel when you open your letter box to a special letter or hand-written card during Christmas.  And it’s a magic you can re-live as you place them on your dresser or hang them from string on your wall.  A great way to increase your client’s chance of receiving a card is to get them started early writing or even encourage them to make their own unique Christmas cards in advance.  There are plenty of Christmas card ideas to be found online.  If you can, get in touch with family members and encourage them to also sending cards as this can make people feel loved and cared for even if they may not see get to see all their family during Christmas.  Card making is not only an easy way to get into the festive spirit, but also a great way to spread Christmas cheer. Making your own Christmas cards will allow you to exercise your creativity, and bring a smile to your family and friends face. It’s also a nice way to make new connections with neighbours or socially isolated community members.

4. Local Christmas Events

Depending on the mobility and location of your client, Christmas in Brisbane and in nearby towns is an exciting experience offering plenty of free Christmas events and markets that you can take your client to during the festive season.   Many of these events start as early as November and while many can be outdoors, planning to visit the event early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid the crowds and escape the heat can be a great idea.  Shopping Centres are also filled with local Christmas events and Christmas cheer with the welcome of air conditioning to escape the heat and if you get in before the School Holidays start your client get have their picture taken with taken with Santa without having to line up for hours in a cue.

5. Christmas Shopping

Christmas shopping is a great idea to escape the heat and to install some Christmas cheer – especially if you get in early, avoiding the crowds in the week before Christmas when school holidays start.   Shopping Centres start decorating the stores in Mid-November so it’s hard not to get into the spirit.  To make the process smoother, before you head to the shops work with your client to create a Christmas gift list with Christmas gift ideas, noting people they would like to buy a gift for, allocating a Christmas gift budget for each person.  If your client prefers to avoid the shopping centres during Christmas, you can help them to find the perfect Christmas gift online or alternatively you could locate a local Christmas market close by which would make for a fun morning out with unique Christmas Gifts on offer.

6. Plan their Christmas outfit

If your client will be spending time with family on Christmas Day, start planning with them what they would like to wear.  It’s a festive occasion so you can both work together to decorate existing clothing or simply decide on the outfit well in advance.  This will make your role at as a care giver a lot easier as you assist each of your clients in getting dressed and ready for the day with their families and making them feel more comfortable and prepared on the day.

7. Christmas cooking and Christmas crafts

Preparing Christmas Baking Gifts like Christmas cookies, White Christmas and other Christmas baking ideas can be a fun activity to do with your client in the comfort of their own home.  If the space is not available, consider some Christmas craft ideas which can easily be garnered from websites like Pinterest that will also make great home-made gift items for loved ones or treats to bring along with them to enjoy together on Christmas Day.  We’ve spoken before on our blog about the benefits that cooking can offer children and those living with disabilities. From decorating cookies, and rolling chocolate snowballs, to mixing white Christmas and cutting out Gingerbread men, there are plenty of Christmas recipes to get you in the festive spirit.

8. Make Christmas Memories last

The build up to Christmas can be an exciting time and Christmas Day, while enjoyable, can go by too quickly and the normal routine (let’s face it) can be without the same excitement factor.  One way to make the Christmas last is by creating memories.  Take photos throughout the lead up to Christmas Day of all the activities you did together, of the Christmas decorations, the Christmas tree, pictures with Santa, opening presents and really encourage family members to take photos and send them through.  Create a Christmas Memory Scrapbook with comments under each picture, buy a glue gun from Spotlight and paste in some of the Christmas craft and decorations made for your client to flip through and relive the magic of Christmas when their spirits are low.

9. Make your own Xmas decorations

For many families decorating the Christmas is tree is favourite Christmas pastime. It can be made even more special by handmade Christmas tree decorations. You can simply paint and decorate your own baubles, make stained glass window ornaments with sugar, or you can get creative with pinecones and a bit of glitter. Check out this awesome list of handmade ornaments to get you started.

10. Christmas themed movie night

Throw on the matching Christmas Pyjamas, get the popcorn ready, and settle in for a night of Christmas movies. Some of our favourite family Christmas movies include Elf, The Grinch, Klaus, and cult classic Home Alone. You can even organise a Christmas get together with other carers all enjoy a Christmas movie together.

11. Paint your own wrapping paper

Another fun way to get your creative skills working is by painting or drawing your own wrapping paper. The best thing about this activity is that the messier and un-perfect it is, the better it will look. All you need is a roll of butchers paper, and your choice of decoration tools – pens, crayons, or paint will all work. You can also add embellishments like Christmas stickers, glitter, or stamps.

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Ultimate Guide: 5 skills to becoming an amazing disability support worker

If you love caring for other people, take pride in making meaningful human connections, and want to make a difference to the community, then look no further than a career as a disability support worker.

In a job where no two days are the same, disability support workers are expert problem-solvers, quick thinkers, and get to experience the joy that comes from helping someone in need. So whether you’re finishing high school and looking for your next step, or someone wanting a career change and needing a new challenge – we can’t recommend a career as a disability support worker enough!

Here at Real Community Services, we have a team of diverse, skilled, and professional disability support workers who are dedicated to providing our participants with the best possible care, and to building special relationships with not only our participants, but their families as well. When we’re looking for new carers to join our team there are 5 skills that we are ways on the look out for.

The 5 skills are what we believe make the best disability support worker, and are our ‘must have’ criteria:

Top 5 skills of a disability support worker:

1. Compassion and Empathy

As a disability support worker, you’ll be helping some of the most vulnerable in our community so it’s important to have a natural sense of compassion and empathy. Possessing these skills will also allow you to build trust and meaningful connections with your participants.

2. Flexibility and Adaptability

As we said before, no two days as a support worker are the same. Things won’t always got plan, and challenges will pop up no matter how prepared you are. Being flexible, adaptable, and being able to handle change – while keeping your cool- will help you handle whatever your day throws at you.

3. Good Communicator

Not only will you need to be able to communicate clearly and effectively with your participant, but you’ll also need to communicate with family members, other carers, and medical professionals. Having clear and professional communication will ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page and that the participant is receiving consistent care. While you’ll spend most days working one on one with a participant, you’re still part of a much bigger team, so communication is key.

4. A willingness to grow and learn

There are always new things to learn, skills to improve, and industry changes to keep up to date with. To be able to offer the best support to your participants it’s important to have an eagerness to learn and to grow, and to be open to continual professional development.

5. Trustworthy and honest

Being trustworthy and honest is one of the most important skills a disability support worker must have. As you’ll be responsible for those with special needs and will be visiting participants in their homes, there is a lot of trust put in you from both Real Community Services and your participant’s family.

Here at Real Community Services, we aim to provide flexible employment arrangements to support our staff and their families, and provide the opportunities for our staff to engage with us and the wider community.

We also pride ourselves on providing training opportunities for professional improvement, with many of our Support Facilitators, administration, finance and management staff previously joining us as part of our support team.

If you’re ready to begin your rewarding career as a disability support worker make sure to check out our current opportunities.

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Here in Queensland the beginning of summer is kicking off and our days are going to get hotter than ever! While everyone does their best to keep cool and hydrated, for those caring for a loved one with high-needs it can be even harder to make it through these warmer day.

To help you keep cool for the remainder of summer we’ve put together a few simple things you can do to keep everyone cool including a quick guide to Brisbane’s best accessible beaches.

Stock up on the Summer essentials

Having a bag full of summer essentials can really help when you’re out and about. Some of our favourite things to include is sunscreen, a spare hat, a portable fan and water mister, and our favourite summer hack, Kool ‘n’ Soothe  gel strips and ice packs!

These strips and ice packs require no refrigeration meaning you can just throw them in your bag and when you’re ready to use they stay cool for up to eight hours. Make sure to also freeze a few water bottles so that if you’re out for a long period of time they’ll slowly defrost and you’ll always have cold water available.

Head to the beach for a swim

Heading to the beach is one of the best things about summer, and thankfully this favourite Aussie pastime is becoming more and more accessible for everyone.

Volunteering Gold Coast have recently partnered with Surf Clubs across the Gold Coast to create accessible beaches for everybody, by providing beach wheelchairs, accessible beach AccessMats, a mobile hoist and a team of volunteers to implement the project.

The AccessMats, beach wheelchairs, and mobile hoist is available at the Surfers Paradise SLSC every Sunday from 8:30am – 3:30pm, and at the Neptune RLSC (Tallebudgera Creek) every Saturday from 8:30am – 3:30pm. All you need to do is book online here.

A little further north, the Moreton Bay Council and the Bribie Island Surf Lifesaving Club are currently trialling a Accessible Beaches initiative at Woorim Beach. A 30 metre beach matting has been installed at the main beach entrance just north of the Bribie Island Surf Lifesaving Club, and there are now two beach wheelchairs are available for free hire on weekends and public holidays.

To arrange to hire either of the beach wheelchairs, contact the Bribie Island Surf Lifesaving Club via phone (07) 3408 1188 or email bribiesc@bigpond.com.

Check out one of Brisbane’s free water parks

Can’t make it to the beach but still want to cool down with a splash? Brisbane has a number of great water parks that feature different water-play elements on including tipping buckets, shooting fountains and outdoor showers.  Some of our favourite accessible water parks include:

• South Bank Parklands Aquativity area featuring fountains, water features and tipping buckets
• Ferny Grove Aqua Park which features arch sprays, stream jets, bubblers, misting ground sprayers, and an interactive water table that provides wheelchair access
• Wynnum Whale Park which features water spraying whale pods that all kids will LOVE!
• Flagstone Water Play Park featuring tree-shaped waterfalls, and a ‘zero depth’ water course with jets, blasters and bubblers.

Invest in an umbrella for your wheelchair

And our last handy tip to keep you cool – an attachable umbrella for your wheelchair! Perfect for when you are heading outdoors or to the beach for the day and need to ensure you have shade to keep cool. The umbrella holder even allows you to adjust the height and position of the umbrella so that you can suit it to your specific needs.

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What Are The Benefits Of Exercise If You Have A Disability?

We’ve all heard about the importance of keeping active and ensuring that we’re getting enough physical activity to keep us fit and healthy. But for many seniors and those living with a disability or specials needs, getting this daily physical activity can often seem challenging and tends to fall to the bottom of the priority list. From pre-existing health conditions, movement constraints, and the need for extra support, many factors can mean that seniors and those living with disabilities are much more likely to miss out on the many benefits that physical activity can bring.

In fact the 2019 Australian National Health Survey found that 65% of adults with disability aged 18–64 do not do enough physical activity, compared with only 48% without disability. And 85% of those 65 years and older living with a disability do not get enough physical activity, compared with 62% without disability.

Whether it’s a daily walk with the family dog, a run around the park or playground, or a structured exercise plan with a physiotherapist or trainer, here are just 4 quick benefits from getting out and taking part in physical activity.

Benefit 1: Increased social interaction

Getting out doors and joining in on some physical activity is a great way to socialise, catch up with friends, and meet new people.  You can meet up with friends and head to the park, join a local walking group, or take swimming lessons. As you increase social interactions and build new friendships you’ll also notice a boost in self-confidence, improved communication skills, and you’ll become more involved within your local community.

Benefit 2: Mental health

Going hand in hand with making new friends and a boosted self-confidence, increasing your physical activity is a great way to improve your overall mental health. Regular physical activity has been shown to help reduce mental health issues like stress, anxiety, and depression.  Even a short amount of physical activity can help give the body a boost of endorphins and automatically improve your mood.

Benefit 3: Increased mobility and reduced risk of injury

Seniors and those with special needs who tend to spend the majority of their days sitting down are prone to weakened muscles, poor balance and blood flow, and decreased stamina when walking or moving about. Incorporating a small amount of movement into their daily routine can greatly help build muscle and joint strength, improve balance and help build hand eye coordination.  All of which will prevent injuries from falls, reduce the risk of strained muscles, and improve flexibility and overall strength.  Regular physical activity will also help build bone mineral density, which is important in reducing the risk of fractures and osteoporosis.

Benefit 4: Reduced risk of long term health diseases

One of the biggest benefits to getting daily physical activity is the long term and overall health benefits like a decreased risk of:

• Cardiovascular diseases
• High blood pressure
• Obesity, and
• Diabetes

Physical activity can also help increase brain size and improve memory, reducing the risk of dementia, and strengthening and improving lung function.

Need some extra help making physical activity part of your routine? Our tailored support programs and carers can help you get moving through social and community participation programs, or through an in home support plan.

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What Does Social & Community Participation Look Like at Real Community Services?

Here at Real Community Services we work with our participants to design tailored support programs that allow our participants to access the support and care they need for their specific needs, while also ensuring that they are getting the most value out of their NDIS funding.

An important part of all our participants support plans is ensuring that their NDIS funding is being used to help them enjoy more social activities, while building and strengthing friendships and relationships to prevent loneliness or isolation.

Social and Community Participation funding is included as a separate line in both the NDIS’ Core Supports Budget and the Capacity Building Support Budget, and can be used for a wide range of activities.

But what exactly does Social and Community Participation mean?

Well put simply it means the funding can be used to help you engage with community groups, events, or activities. It’s designed to help those needing extra support to access recreational activities, socialise and build friendships, learn a new hobby or skill, and simply be more involved within their community.

What are some activities I can use my social and community participation funding for?

There’s a long list of activities and ways your Social and Community Participation funding can be used for including:

• support to help access public transport
• playing sport or going to the gym
• assistance with attending appointments and shopping
• going to school or university
• identification of local groups and activities
• help running everyday errands
• going to community programs and playgroups
• extra support while on holidays and vacations

Activities or support programs can also be tailored to a participants age, for example as part of our Young Adult Support program we may assist participants to go to the movies, catch a live music gig at their local pub, or even arrange for them to go to a night club.

For our younger participants and children, it might include support when going to a Wiggles Concert, the local playground, or simply just joining a community playgroup.

 And then for adults and seniors, it could be as simple as taking them to visit friends, grabbing a coffee, or watching their favourite sports team play.

Do you have any real-life examples of Social and Community Participation support?

Our wonderful team of support workers are out every day helping participants become more involved within their local communities, helping them build new friendships, and making sure they’re enjoying themselves. Have a read of just a couple of our participants stories below.

“Suzanne suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and is a woman of strength and knowledge 

Suzanne indulges in holistic lifestyle is an amazing artist (just check out her paintings!). As well as her swimming Suzanne attends art workshops with Anna from Gold Coast Art Therapy.

Suzanne’s RCS support workers are amazing with anything she needs assistance with. Although it took Suzanne a while to accept help, she is now in her flow zone and enjoying the help and support that our support workers can provide to make her life a little easier

Suzanne has a pet lizard, and his nails now get clipped by support worker Malorie as is now too challenging for her to accomplish”

“The Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia online cooking classes (made possible through The Good Foundation) has been a huge success.

Meet Vanessa who recently completed the course, and is also signed up for the next one beginning later this month.

Her cooking skills are ‘WOW’ and we are so impressed and proud of the delicious dishes that Vanessa created

Vanessa who recently completed the course, and is also signed up for the next one beginning later this month.”

With a brilliant team of support workers across south east Queensland, we are there to help realize your goals, let us help you build a life full of possibilities, to live a fulfilling life. Talk to one of our friendly team about how we can assist young adults with community participation 1300 007 270.

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Jigsaw Official Launch : Disability Employment Training

Real Community Services had the pleasure of being invited to the official Jigsaw launch on Friday the 24th of July on site at the Mount Gravatt Campus.  Jigsaw is a social enterprise that trains and transitions people with disability into award wage employment.

Jigsaw has a very simple vision for the future; it is an Australia in which people with disability are fully included in the workforce. 

Jigsaw’s mission is to support people with disability to successfully secure mainstream employment at a rate exceeding the national benchmark, through the targeted intervention of a work-based training program.

The evening was amazing with service providers, food and honorable guests 140 onsite and 40 via Zoom.

The students did a wonderful presentation on the training they receive at Jigsaw.  Real Community Services had tours throughout the complex and all had an understanding on what Jigsaw is accomplishing for the students and training whether it is data entry or other administrative roles. Everyone of the students love going to Jigsaw for training and mostly for the socialisation aspect – they have created some long life friends already since opening.

Our Community Engagement Coordinator has been asked to return and have sessions with the students that will commence on Tuesday 28th if July and running for 4 weeks starting with small QnA’s with the Jigsaw trainees to extend their options regarding work and support after their completion with Jigsaw.
Real Community Services supports participants while in the workforce – and to assist to gain employment should they wish to by introducing them to the correct pathways and resources.

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Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia – Online Cooking Classes

Real Community Services Participants are Cooking Up A Storm!

Over the last few weeks a number of our participants have been donning their aprons and heating up the kitchen with Jamie’s Ministry of Food Online Program.  Spread across 5 weekly sessions, it’s been a great way for our participants to learn new skills, be introduced to different foods, and most importantly have some fun from the comfort of their own home.

The program is taught by professional food trainers via a live interactive video chat and teaches participants key recipes that cover every meal; from breakfast and sides to lunch and dinner. So far they’ve learnt how to make poached eggs, pasta, a Mexican feast with chilli con-carne and guacamole, and even pizza from scratch – that’s right even the dough!

As you can see from the smile on their faces, they’re absolutely loving the classes! The kitchen can be a wonderful classroom and can help give children and adults of all ages and abilities a boost of self-confidence, and help build fine motor skills. It’s also a great way to familiarise your family with new foods, and can act as a great bonding exercise.

If you’re looking to get started in the kitchen, make sure to check our blog of recipes here, or join us for the next round of Jamie’s Ministry of Food Online Program.

The next program starts on the 28th July and costs $24.95. Spots are limited so please contact our Community Engagement Coordinator Tracey-Lee (07) 5613 0170 or mobile: 0431 278 842 or email: tnapier@realcommunityservices.com.au to book your spot!

To check out all the fun our recent particpants have had doing the cooking school, head over to our Facebook page!

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Introducing one of our very talented participants – Larry Stumer

Larry is one extraordinary individual! His artwork is amazing with designs that shows raw emotion and truth through each piece.

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