Club Meeting : Donna Duncan Citizen Advocacy

Members and Partners, Club Meeting
Guest Speaker - Donna Duncan, Program Coordinator Sunshine Coast
Citizen Advocacy Program

I am a Rotarian with the Mooloolaba Club. I am emailing you in my work role though. I work for Sunshine Coast Citizen Advocacy. This is a wonderful Community Movement that has been on the Sunshine Coast for 26 years. I would love the oppurtunity to be a guest speaker with your club. I love talking about Citizen Advocacy. One person can’t change the world, but you can change the world for one person…that is what Citizen Advocacy is about. Citizen Advocacy aims to recognise, promote, protect and defend the rights, welfare and the interests of people with intellectual disabilities who are vulnerable and/or at risk of abuse, neglect and/or social isolation. It does so by establishing and supporting one-to-one relationships between a person with a disability (protégé), who is vulnerable in important areas of their lives; and a responsible citizen who is resourceful and principled, free from conflict of interest, and who makes a personal freely given commitment to protect the protégé’s interests as if they were their own. This support may take many forms, from spokespersonship to emotional and material support. The Citizen Advocacy Office, which is independent of service providers, is responsible for recruiting, orientating and matching the citizen advocate and protégé and then supporting the advocate in the relationship as they respond to the advocacy needs and interests of the protégé. Each Citizen Advocacy relationship is unique. The Citizen Advocate may in some instances speak out and protect a protégé from abuse; or give the protégé the experience of family, new experiences and opportunities for friendship. I would be delighted if you could pass on this information to the person responsible for organising your guest speakers.

PLEASE SEE THE ROSTER BELOW AND IF YOU ARE ROSTERED ON AND CANNOT ATTEND THIS MEETING, PLEASE NOTIFY THE CLUB SERGEANT.