Social & Support Report

by Nicole Moore

(The Gender Centre advise that this article may not be current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.)

So it's the end of another year huh? A successful one I feel with regard to social events and workshops at the Gender Centre. Most were well attended and all were successful. May I thank all those who attended and also the people who helped organise and run them. The following people have helped with social events and workshops in some way during the year, and deserve more than just their acknowledgement here. Elizabeth Anne, Management Committee who helped at Fair Day, Steve Helu, Jay Ramanathan, Leo Turner, Megan Hassall, Jessica Reid, Grant Morrissey, Phinn Borg, Elizabeth Riley, Paula Hartigan, David Gofton, Julie West, Katrina Moriarty, Michael Fox, Dianne Rusk, Taxi Club Staff, Manisha Agarwal, Katherine Cummings and Suzie Matthews.

The Harbour Cruise and Boating days were hugely successful, our numbers for these events were very pleasing, and as usual it's essential to pre-book. The cruise on the harbour may have been under slightly cloudy skies, but all in attendance had great fun, and the Botanical Gardens picnic was very relaxing. Amazing how much we take for granted living in such a beautiful city don't you think?

The Captain of the Sydney Explorer obviously knew how to steer a boat, in stark contrast to the boating expedition (falsely advertised as a canoeing day), which was hilarious fun. Venturing out on the high seas of Audley, Elizabeth and I went in search of the infamous elusive waterfall, only to find out later it's something like four kilometres away!

Turning the last bend in the river, and with my questionable rowing skills apparent, I "decided" we should row ourselves in a circle for a while. Yes Elizabeth, I meant to do that! This was after rowing the boat across the river backwards (I didn't know), when we first arrived. I must say, Aaron is quite the rower, it took Jade and me with an oar each to keep up with him, rowing frantically, occasionally missing the water with our oars and nearly falling out of the boats. The last social outing for the year is a walk along the beach front from Coogee to Bronte and then a barbecue and dip in the ocean at Bronte.

The Ball unfortunately wasn't the success it was last year, next year's event is already in the planning stages, so expect something quite different.

The most recent two events have been the Skin Care workshop and Top Surgery workshop. I write this report prior to these events being held, though I'm sure they'll be very successful as numbers are good already.

The Christmas Barbecue will be held on Sunday, 15 December at the Centre from noon till 4:00pm. The first event of next year will also be a barbecue, and will be on Friday, 24 January from 11:00am - 1:00pm. Hopefully we'll come up with some great ideas for monthly outings at this barbecue, so if you'd like to do something in particular, please come along and give us your suggestions.

To all Polare readers, I'd like to wish a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you all in 2003!

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.