Monday Muses~ Craig's Table~Workers Recovery

Right now across New South Wales there are just under 100 bush fires burning, there has been such tragic loss of life and property: So you must be wondering why I have chosen to start with a massive smiling face. The answer is quite simple, last week one of the A Team packed his car to the brim with donations of clothing and other small household goods that had been collected by everyone connected to Craig's Table :A Team members, participants and supporters: and then he delivered the donated goods to the resource coordination centre at Taree. Today he walked into Craig's Table with a smile that had to be seen to be appreciated. He said that it felt really good to be able to deliver the donations on behalf of Craig's Table and know that the people we set out to help would be able to access everything that they need.

The next load of donations is already being planned simply because it is going to take a lot of help to get many many families back on their feet.

Craig's Table is perfectly placed to work within the wider community, the injured worker community knows first hand what it feels like to need support, so to be able to give support is for each of them a treasure beyond anything else.

As for Corey and myself, we are beyond proud of the A Team and the participants who took it upon themselves to do what ever they could to help those in dire need of care compassion and support .

I have been reading Rob Hartnett's book It's All Possible.

Page 9 starts with the question "What will you be remembered for?"

It is a very strong question that quite literally requires a person to slow down and truly think: what will my legacy be? I posed this question to one of the injured worker community last week during a phone conversation. The caller was phoning me to add to the list of issues that needed to be discussed, this person rarely takes the time to think of the morrow or what might be waiting on the other side of workers compensation. I was not surprised when there was total silence as the question settled into place; there was no response, at least not immediately. A few hours later the caller rang back and asked why I wanted to know about any legacy, I responded I didn't want or need to know, it was just that it was time for this person to accept that post injury there was nothing that the medical people can do (no matter how talented they are) to restore the body to pre-injury status, and that it was time to let go of the anger as it was not in anyone's best interest to hold onto the anger and the grief that comes from the injured body-. I went on to explain that to build and leave a legacy is to simply determine what is the best outcome and build on that. I explained that there are many many things that are now part of my yesterday's, they helped to shape me into who I am, I will always be grateful for each of them; but they all belong in the archives of my memories. Building a legacy is what needs to happen in order to know that not one single thing is wasted.

Late Sunday evening I received a text with a smiling face and the words "Legacy Started". I don't know what the legacy for this person will be nor does it truly matter if I never know, what is important is that this member of the injured worker community has turned to face the future in the full knowing that their injury is not going to be able to define them any more. And for that we are all very thankful.

It has been a very long day best I work out what it is that I will have for dinner, tomorrow is another day to get things done that time ran out to do today.

Yours in service

Rosemary

Social equity for injured workers

?craigstable.net.au         

Craig's Table Facebook

117 Magowar Road Girraween

PS My colleague and mentor Tatjana Jokic still has a space for another psychologist- please contact Tatjana for the details.

Craig's Table newsletter:

On behalf of Craig's Table Board and the participants of Craig's Table I have the pleasure of wishing each and everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Wondrous New Year.

It has been a very hectic time at Craig's Table this past year, the injured worker community has worked on three major community based projects

 *  Collection of soft toys followed by the delivery of soft toys to the West Mead Children's Hospital.

 *  Collection of winter blankets, bed linen, towels and winter clothing, followed by the delivery to the Parramatta Mission.

 *  Collection of clothing and small household goods, followed by the delivery of 14 bags of donations to the Taree collection centre for those who have been impacted by the New South Wales bushfires.

The participants at Craig's Table willingly stepped up and engaged at every level for each of these projects, everything from the planning stage to the delivery stage.

Each time the pride of what was achieved was seen in the smiles of the participants.- There was an inner glow that could easily be seen.

The Craig's Table Bags of Love project is now 12 months old.

In that time we have filled food hampers in multiple emergency situations: again the participants each engaged at the planning stage and ensured that children were always focused on so that there were treats for them hidden in among the groceries.

It is guesstimated that $280,000.00 (retail) value of groceries has gone out on to the tables of the wider injured worker community.

The participants have all gained much more than new qualifications, they have gained confidence and ability to take part in many different areas of Craig's Table; they all naturally gravitate to aspects that interests them or they want to learn more about.

The chookyard and the Op Shop feature for the majority of the participants.

However Bay One has had some major projects also achieved at a pace that suited the participants.

Each of the training sessions challenged the participants into learning more about who they are and what they can achieve. It has been interesting just watching each of the participants grow through each stage of the training.

Each part of Craig's Table is carefully designed to engage both the injured worker community and the wider community.

For instance when we put the Street Library in place there were a few participants who didn't think that many of the locals would bother with the books.

They were and they remain happily surprised at the exchange of books and the donation of books from the local businesses around Craig's Table.

               One of the participants told me that he received a "thank you" from someone who was stopping to collect some books "It made my year" was what he said to me.

Just a reminder that the Scholarship offer of $1,500.00 for the January intake ends at the end of this week. To take advantage of this offer please send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>

Craig's Table Christmas closure 20th December 2019 to 6th January 2020.

We look forward to working with each of you again next year.

Yours in service

Rosemary