March 2021
Welcome to 2021! As usual we have hit the New Year running, hosting the under-18 Camp at Milson Island on the Hawkesbury River. Despite all the COVID precautions that needed to be taken to ensure the safety of our legatees, they all enjoyed the activities and renewed their friendships. It had been twelve months since their last catch up in many cases. I was lucky enough to go up to the camp for a day and stay overnight. What a great experience that was – I got to participate in some of the activities and mix with the legatees. I also learnt that all our supervisors are saints for looking after the kids for the whole camp, as I was exhausted after one day. A big thank you to our supervisors! We are now getting organised to host our second 18-25 camp up at Glenworth Valley near Gosford. The take up for this has been fantastic and we look forward to catching up with everyone.
We were planning to host the Blue Ribbon Ball at the end of March but due to COVID restrictions we have had to postpone this. However, in the meantime we have been well supported once again by Commissioner Fuller, who has agreed to be our keynote speaker for a business dinner in late March to raise funds and awareness for Police Legacy, highlighting the value we add to our legatees’ lives. We thank Commissioner Fuller for his support during these difficult times.
With most COVID restrictions hopefully easing as the year progresses, we look forward to getting out and about to attend local area lunches, and visiting the Regional areas of the state to reconnect with all our legatees. As part of our strategic direction we intend to increase the focus on support for our young legatees, and to do this it is important that we get out to see how we can provide additional services.
Our BACKUP for Life program will come to an end in July this year and the support of former officers will be managed by the NSW Police Force. To ensure this transition works smoothly we have had many meetings with NSW Police Human Resources Command. The work they are doing relating to career transition is very positive, and includes online education programs as part of their new Mental Wellbeing Strategy. This work will be supported by our own transition plan. We also recognise the work Esther Mckay has done and thank her for her contribution to BACKUP for Life, and wish her well in her future with Quest for Life Foundation.
There is no doubt 2021 will be exciting, and we look forward to catching up with as many legatees as we can during the year. Fingers and toes crossed we will all see each other at our Christmas Luncheon.
