Saluting Excellence Conference 2018 – ordinary people doing extraordinary things
9 November 2018
Staff, sponsors and guests enjoyed a wonderful day of celebration and inspiration, at this year’s ‘Saluting Excellence’ Staff conference at Leonda by the Yarra.
The staff conference recognises and celebrates the work of our staff and provides a public platform for award winners to be presented with their prizes. This year’s winners were:
Excellence in Service Delivery:
- Vicki Jarrett – Brighton East
- Jane Faulkner – Home Care
- Chris Gray – Central Office
- Miriam De Sousa – Brighton East
- Wes France – Frankston South
- Maria Ferenc – Brighton East
- Carmel Brownbill – Manager, Independent Living
- Alanna Singleton – Home Care
- Julie-Ann Carr – Frankston South
- Nikol Izmailova – Brighton East
- Nicole Groves – Bundoora
Excellence in 
Innovation:
- Anchal Sharma – Frankston South
- Rose Capp – Brighton East
- Jason Starr-Nolan – Brighton East
- Nadia Wilson – Central Office
Excellence in Nursing:
- Kathleen Pepi – Frankston South
Excellence in Care:
- Kayo Black – Bundoora
- Marjorie O’Brien – Ivanhoe
- Leanne Saville – Brighton
- Rachel Baines – Brighton East
- Siew Ping Su – Frankston South
Excellence in Coaching & Support:
- Rachel Del Giudice – Frankston South
- Krishna Kosambi – Central Office
Ambassador Award:
- Ruwan Bogodaarachchige – Frankston South
Excellence in Safety:
- Peter Stewart – Brighton East
CEO Award:
- Krishna Kosambi – Central Office
Congratulations to all those nominated for awards and especially to the award winners.
This year’s ‘Magnet Award’ for the location with the highest rates of staff retention, indicating higher levels of staff satisfaction, went to Vasey RSL Care Brighton East. Congratulations!
The speaker program for the day was focused on ‘HEROES: ordinary people doing extraordinary things’.
Chair of the Board, David Paroissien OAM opened the conference with an analogy to building a cathedral: asked what they were doing, builders, sculptors and labourers replied, ‘bricklaying’, ‘chipping away’, and ‘digging holes’. However, each one was a unique contributor to the creation of something much bigger, more beautiful and longer lasting than any of the individuals making it, but which could not have been done without their contribution.
Likewise, David noted that each staff member has a unique contribution to supporting the work of Vasey RSL Care and providing the best possible life for the veterans, war widows and senior Australians in our care. “You are all part of fulfilling the needs of our community and no greater work can be done.”
‘My Heroes’ was the title of CEO Janna Voloshin’s presentation, which introduced us to some of the people in Janna’s life who have been her everyday heroes. She finished by reading the words written by our residents, their families, our ILU tenants and home care consumers in their award nominations for some of our staff. As she read the words, she asked the nominee to stand, and we all listened to the qualities that these people presented in their day to day work.
Presentations from staff members included;
- Jason Starr-Nolan (Brighton East) on the program to ensure that new residents are welcomed and encouraged to meet and get to know their new neighbours;
- Jane Jones, Rachel Del Giudice and Ruwan Bogodaarachchige (Frankston South) with Wendy Henderson from Dementia Australia presenting about the Birch Pathway program to change the face of dementia care and provide choice, meaning and purpose to the best of their ability for each individual;
- Mishelle Ansems (Home Care) and Stephen Miller (Finance) who talked about the heroism of some of our home care consumers, and unravelled the complex finances;
- Linda Brownfield (Brighton) made sure we were all awake for the afternoon with a session of interactive drumming;
- Fran Ludgate (Central Office) talked about the many Hero’s Wishes that have been fulfilled over the past year and the way that so many staff and donors have been instrumental in fulfilling the wishes;
- Krishna Kosambi (Central Office) introduced us to many of our valuable volunteers and we heard from them about why they choose to support our community in this way.
Keynote, Neryl Joyce, who had been a military police officer in the Australian Army, worked for private military companies in Iraq and run the Christmas Island detention centre, told us about some of her extraordinary life experiences and the traumas she had had to overcome. Her messages were strong and direct: to prepare for the unknown so that you can deal with adversity when it happens, look after each other as it is an honour and a duty to look after others, and to live a life with integrity.
Peter Smith OAM from RSL Victoria spoke about a number of his heroes: Major General Pompey Elliott, a World War I veteran, Jude Bolton, retired Sydney Swans player, and Cameron Baird VC MG, posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous acts of valour in Afghanistan. He acknowledged the work of the organisation, the way it is done and the compassion shown.
Thank you
The Saluting Excellence Conference would not be possible without the generous support and sponsorship from Major and Supporting Sponsors, organisations with whom we have an important working relationship that ensures we can provide the best possible care and support for veterans, war widows and all others in our community. Thank you to all our sponsors.
Major Sponsors:
Supporting Sponsors:
