Monday Muses ~ Craig's Table

A few weeks back I received a phone call in regards to a donation for the Op Shop, "just a few boxes" and could they be delivered the morning of the 6th July (Graduation Day) Naturally I said yes that would be possible and yes the donation would be gratefully accepted. I hope that you can imagine my surprise when a 7'x4' caged trailer arrived loaded to the hilt with donations, every box holding brand new clothing. On behalf of Craig's Table Op Shop I want to thank the following people :Helen, Tony, Geoff, Matt, Olrielle and Peter. The boxes of donations has created much joy and excitement. As I keep saying people are amazing they will always help when the opportunity to help is in place.

Sadly not everyone who attends Craig's Table has a positive experience, sometimes possible participants are simply not ready for the life changing aspects that come with attending Craig's Table. This doesn't mean that they will not come back when they are ready to or when they need to, it just means the process will slow down and meet them where they are and then support them when they are ready to come in. The one thing we never do at Craig's Table is judge or get angry with anyone from the injured worker community, there is more than enough angst in their lives.

Corey and I have lost count number of times we have been asked "when is Craig's Table coming to xyz" so we decided the best thing to do was mark the map of New South Wales with the major regions. Everywhere from Coffs Harbor to Albury.

Last week we had one of Corey's (almost) famous sausage sizzle's complete with very fresh eggs, that meant we depleted the egg supply, however as you can see we are now replenished, over the weekend I collected 4 eggs on Saturday then 3 on Sunday and this morning it was another 4 eggs. It is interesting to watch the participants arrive each day, each of them say hello to the girls and some even bring in food to share with them . As is the way of the girls, they stand in the corner of their yard and chat to whoever is there, then the participants come inside smiling. It is great to see such a simple addition has had a massive impact on lives.

I have an admission here, this beautiful lady is a personal friend of mine, Angela O'Leary A few years back I spoke with Angela about the financial distress that some of the injured worker community find themselves in. Angela being her normal generous self re-wrote her Money Mastery training program to assist the injured worker community regain control of the most basic component of their lives. Now Money Mastery forms a part of the training at Craig's Table to ensure that as many as possible gain access to the ability to ensure that they have control and containment over their income payments. It is such a simple thing to put the framework in place; it is also interesting to hear the conversation of the participants as they go through the training there are lots of "I didn't know that" and "how simple is that" and "now I understand why I wasn't able to be in control".

And now it is time to get some dinner, I have an early start in the morning (breakfast with a Board member) (best not be late: its not good to keep a Board member waiting)

 Yours in service

Rosemary

?         Social equity for injured workers

Global Goodwill Ambassador

PS Before I go I want to say congratulations to my friend and mentor

Cheryle what you achieved today is simply life changing. I am so very proud to be able to name you as my friend- you inspire me every day just to keep going and to believe that everything is possible.