This year, Mamre celebrates 40 years of supporting people with disability to live life their way! Part of this anniversary was our wonderful 40th Fun Fair community event held on Saturday 12 August 2023 at our Windsor office. A big thank you to everyone who came along and joined us for a memorable day filled with laughter, fun and friendships being formed.
Making a difference in the community
As Jay Emmerton, Mamre Board President, said during his speech, “We are incredibly fortunate to celebrate 40 years of Mamre making a difference in our community. Mamre’s founders had a vision of supporting people with disability to live the life they choose. I am inspired by the collective strength and determination of this community to make a difference and to advocate for all people to live rich, meaningful and inclusive lives.”
This event was also extra-special as it was the first time our community has gathered since last year’s floods forced Mamre to vacate our Newmarket community hub. We were delighted to welcome so many customers, families and friends to our new Windsor office and see our community come together once more!
Activities galore
Not only was this event a chance to come together and celebrate Mamre, but it also had an amazing array of fun activities, food and drink for guests to enjoy. Highlights for many included:
- fantastic face painting transforming people into puppy dogs, butterflies, superheros and more
- amazing balloon twisting that created animals like giraffes, turtles and dogs
- creative arts and crafts, showcasing the skills of our younger customers who painted pet rocks and masks
- knockout karaoke with fabulous singing along to Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’, hit songs from the movie ‘Frozen’ and the classic choice of anything ABBA
- a fabulous Flipside Circus performance starring a troupe of young acrobats
- and a truly memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experience to get up close and personal with Australia’s #1 children’s TV character Bluey!
Olivia and Michelle with freshly painted faces
Bluey playing with a young customer
Heather painting her first face of the day
Lucy (left) and Sally (right) twisted fabulous balloons animals
Jasmin and Tracie-Lee rocking karaoke
A long history of supporting local people
Councillor Andrew Wines, Enoggera Ward, and Stephen Bates, MP for Brisbane, joined us for our formal ceremony. They both gave wonderful speeches highlighting Mamre’s long history of supporting the local Brisbane community.
We also launched our new quarterly Support Star Award at the event, acknowledging and celebrating our hard-working support workers. Jillian Paull, Mamre’s CEO, shared how Sandra, Jamie and Kylie – the three nominees - exemplify our values of hospitality, community, simplicity, justice and integrity in their work. Congratulations to Sandra, the winner of the inaugural award for her commitment to our customers and for epitomising our value of hospitality.
We were also thrilled that Tom Condon, our former Governance Board President, joined us for the celebration. Jay invited Tom to join him in cutting our delicious birthday cake.
Jillian presenting Sandra with her Support Star Award
Stephen making a speech
Tom (left) and Jay (right) cutting the birthday cake
L-R: Jillian, Andrew, Tiffany and Tim
Some of the current governance Board (L-R: Tiffany, Tim, Jessica, Jay, David and James) with Regina (right). Absent on the day were Victoria McCarthy and Tania Hobson.
Our amazing donors
This day wouldn't have been possible without our generous partners, donors and sponsors who helped make this event such a success. A big thank you to:
- Coles Wesfarmers
- Woolworths
- Sensory Tools
- Bailey Nelson Fortitude Valley
- Dangerfield
- Mon’s Thai Rarnaharn Windsor
- Reading Cinemas Newmarket
- Shake & Stir Theatre Co
- The Crystal and Wellness Warehouse
- QBD Books Chermside.
We also received a generous community grant from Stephen Bates MP to help fund the event.
What a day!
Our team loved chatting with, getting to know and celebrating with our community guests. And since the event, we’re received some beautiful feedback. Here are some of our favourites:
- “It was wonderful to see so many people on the day.”
- “The fun fair was amazing and it was a great time for the kids and adults. There was lots of music and dancing which was fantastic!”
- “It was such a lovely day and my family thanks you all for all your hard work. It was so beautiful to go to such a positively cheerful, thoughtful and inclusive event when you have children with special needs.”
- “We had a fantastic time and we’ve been talking about the upcoming community Christmas party and how we should definitely go!”
A final word from Jay
“I look forward to watching Mamre celebrate 80 years in the sector, and to seeing the lasting impact this remarkable organisation has in the lives of people with disability, their supporters and our broader community,” Jay said.
Again, thank you to everyone who came along and made this event so memorable. It was truly a day that showed the power of the Mamre community and spirit.
Up next - our Community Christmas Party!
The next big Mamre event will be our Community Christmas Party on Saturday 18 November! We’ll announce details soon so keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages, or sign-up to our newsletter to be the first to know.
L-R: Shellee, Brooke, Kathleen, Marissa and Cate
Speechies Kim (left) and Jess (right) setting up
Some team members taking the chance to meet Bluey (L-R: Donna, Jocelyn, Lisa, Sav and Rob)
Stephen and Rachel having a bite to eat
The Allied Health team (L-R: Sally, Marissa, Heather, Kayla and Kim) with Lucy meeting Bluey