Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 21 September, I visited the Gold Coast sport and 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 Sherene 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 and Sport as a great service for him to be involved in. They wanted to create and deliver recreational opportunities for people, like their son, with a disability—perfectly understandable, and, of course, commendable.

Back then, it was known as Gold Coast Recreation for the Handicapped. Today, the service has grown to provide a wide variety of recreation and sporting programs throughout my community. GCRS, as it is known, is a Community Care funded agency, registered to provide services under the NDIS, and I commend them for the work that 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 the 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 are doing a good job on their mission. I saw the way their volunteers and their team members worked and interacted with young adults and older participants, and I saw firsthand who in my community the funding has benefited and how. The solar panels now installed will enable lower ongoing electricity costs for air conditioning in summer. The astroturf laid under a large tree improves the OH&S of the area, lowers garden maintenance costs for the organisation and beautifies the relaxation area for their clients.

There's a range of programs offered throughout the Gold Coast to 600 clients every week, and one program is the drum lesson on the veranda at the Gibson hub—which is rightly named after Ian and Sherene, the first volunteers—where participants learn to play the djembe, which is good not only for their social interaction but also for their coordination skills.

So, in finishing, I congratulate Ian and Sherene and the whole community volunteer team. I congratulate the CEO, Anna-Louise Kassulke, who I've known for some time—decades, in fact—for the great work she does heading the team which started with just one employee and now has grown to 138 in our community.