Leisure Networks Update 17th May 2021
Hi Everyone,
It is 3 months since our full return post COVID so I am writing to you to let you know what has been happening at Leisure Networks.
Firstly thank you for your understanding during 2020. It was a hard time for everyone and I know many of you were worried about your own or your family’s health. Many of you could not enjoy being out in the community doing normal activities for a very long time.
Lots of our staff were also impacted. Some had to home school children and couldn’t work, some lost their regular work, some had a change to their job and some staff have decided to look for new jobs in different areas. We appreciate and thank all our staff for their efforts during the past 18 months.
One to One supports in high demand
Getting back to providing support services has been very positive, but not without some challenges. With a big increase in requests for individual supports – which is such an important support service, we have needed to build up our staffing numbers. We are making great progress with some wonderful new team members joining Leisure Networks in the last month. As we complete orientation and buddy shifts we expect to see the current pressures on the rostering ease. I know however that we have let some of you down during the last 3 months with rostering pressure due to staff shortages, staff illness and staff taking long overdue leave. I know we may have changed your regular support worker or at short notice had to replace or cancel your support shift.
I am very sorry and apologise for a lack of stability during this time. I have heard from many of you about the very real and often negative impact this has on you and your lives. Our team is deeply committed to making sure you get the supports you need to live your lives and we are working hard to do this. However, if in this short-term we cannot meet your needs – we will commit to letting you know with enough time so that you are able to make another arrangement. Please let us know how we can best work with you to support your needs.
Getting out and about with friends
We also experienced huge demand for April school holiday activities and our social Saturdays and Fri-yay groups are getting very popular. Being out and about enjoying friends and new social activities are really important. As we build our team with new staff, we aim to provide more opportunities to get social! We are also providing small group camps & holidays for short getaways and respite breaks for families. If you would like a break or if you have friends that you would like to take a short trip with – just let us know and we will work with you to arrange.
School Leavers Employment Service
We are pleased to see more and more businesses again willing to take on new work placements to help build important pre-employment learning and skills for SLES customers. It is wonderful to see the confidence built through this important program. We are also reviewing our service model to make sure it is achieving each person’s individual goals. We will be talking with all families to get your feedback and ensure we are meeting your needs.
Once again, thank you for your understanding as Leisure Networks continues to build back our staffing team and our supports and programs.
While we are all a bit different now and our programs are the not the same, our deep commitment to working with you and your family has not changed and we look forward to supporting you to get back into life!
Take care everyone,
Libby
Contacting the Team at Leisure Networks
Please call our friendly customer engagement team on 5222 3911 or
If you have an emergency after business hours you can contact: 0434 537 846