Gold Coast Sport & Recreation Centre Visit

On the 21^st September, I visited the Gold Coast Sport & Recreation Centre in Southport in my electorate to present a cheque from stronger communities funding Round 6, for $14,042. The funding was used to install solar panels, air conditioning and artificial turf at the facility. Established in 1979, Gold Coast Recreation & Sport is a community-based organisation which provides sporting and recreational opportunities to people living with disability. Ian and Shereen Gibson whom I met during my visit, have been volunteering for 25 years because they saw a lack of services at that time for their son, and could see Gold Coast Recreation & Sport as a great service for him to be involved. They wanted to create and deliver recreational opportunities for people like their son, with a disability. Back then it was known as the ‘Gold Coast Recreation for the Handicapped’. Today, the service has grown to provide a wide variety of recreation and sporting programs throughout the community. GCRS is a Community Care funded agency registered to provide services under the NDIS and I commend them for the work they do to care for those living with disability in my electorate and beyond. Gold Coast Recreation and Sport prides itself on its positive reputation in the community. Many of their current team members started as volunteers or on their student placements. The organisation actively engages with schools, universities, and other learning organisations to assist with achieving their mission. Their mission is to ‘enhance the quality of life of people with a disability, by facilitating opportunities for participation and achievement in recreation and sport.” They’re doing a good job on their mission Mr DS; I saw the way their team members and volunteers worked and interacted with young adults and older participants and I saw first -hand who and how the funding has benefitted my community. The solar panels, now installed, will enable lower ongoing electricity costs for air-conditioning in summer. The astro turf laid under a large tree improves the OHS of the area, lowers garden maintenance costs for the organisation and beautifies the relaxation area for their clients. There is a range of programs offered throughout the Gold Coast to 600 clients every week. One of them is the drum lesson on the veranda at Gibson Hub (named after Ian and Shereen), where participants learned to play djembes which is not only good for their social interaction, but also their coordination skills. Congratulations to Ian and Shereen and the whole volunteer team. CEO, Anna-Louise Kassulke for the great work she does heading the team which started with just one employee and has now grown to 138 employees in our Community.