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Sunday, March 2 Open Day For Royal Bull’s Head Inn

Kinnear’s Antiques will be part of the Royal Bull’s Head Inn Open Day this Sunday, March 2nd.

Have you ever wondered how to look after your ANTIQUES?
RBH-Kinnear's AntiquesThe Inn will be open from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm. The usual entry costs will allow you to explore the Inn as well as participate in Brenton’s presesentations - $5.00 adults; $3.00 concession; National Trust  members free with membership card. As always there will be a cuppa available!

The Bulls Head Inn was built in 1847. The present building is the extension built in 1859. The Royal Bull’s Head Inn is at 37 Brisbane Street, Drayton (Toowoomba). The Inn is open the first Sunday of each month.

Why not come along on Sunday, 2nd March and enjoy a great day out to welcome Autumn?

Book Lovers To Converge On Toowoomba Bookfest This Weekend (1st And 2nd March)

It’s on again ….Lifeline Darling Downs & South West Qld Bookfest.

Toowoomba’s biggest recycled book sale is taking place in the Founders Pavilion at the Toowoomba Showgrounds, Glenvale Road, Toowoomba on Saturday 1st March from 8.00am -5.00pm and Sunday 2nd March 8.00am †2.00pm.

The 2014 Chronicle/Lifeline Bookfest will be the 34th. We normally have over 60 tonnes of books and magazines. There are Bargain Books where nothing is over $5 and most books are considerably less. We also have a small High quality section, large Childrens’ section, 40 different categories and there are canteen facilities.

All proceeds go to the work of Lifeline Darling downs and South West Queensland Limited.

Free admission and free parking.   Enquiries to 1300 991 443.

Submitted by:
Suzie Washington
Manager Marketing and Fundraising
Lifeline Darling Downs & South West Queensland Ltd
192a Stephen Street,
Toowoomba Qld 4350

Toowoomba Chamber Of Commerce On The Move

The Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Chamber) has announced that it is moving offices from 566 Ruthven Street to McKinney House at 487 Ruthven Street.
Andrew Wielandt
Chamber President Andrew Wielandt said that the move represented “a defining moment in the evolution of the one hundred and fifteen year old Chamber. This historic location finally gives the Chamber the opportunity to conduct a large number of its activities in-house as well as using Chamber members’ facilities.”

The premises, which is subject to a long lease, comprises some four hundred square metres and will provide adequate space for staff, a boardroom and, importantly, a large training room for the Chamber’s training and professional development activities.

Mr Wielandt added that “the Chamber’s 600 members will be the main beneficiaries of the move as we intend to make the facility available free to them for their own training and professional development activities as well for conducting appointments and interviews in the CBD.”

The Chamber will also be looking at sub-letting a significant part of the first-floor premises to like minded organisations and/or community groups.

The Chamber took out the lease at its existing premises some eight years ago and CEO Greg Johnson thanked building manager Peter Howard for his courtesy and cooperation over that time. “Peter has been a joy to work with and we leave 566 Ruthven Street with fond memories. But at the end of the day the Chamber is growing and as well we are keen to add significant value to the benefits our members receive,” he added.

It is expected that the Chamber will make the move to McKinney House in early to mid April and an official opening is being planned.

Submitted by:
Tracey Kessels – Marketing Coordinator
Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce & Industry
07 4638 0400

 

 

Heritage Charity Golf Day Donations Pass $500,000 Milestone

Community organisations in the Toowoomba area have now received a total of more than $500,000 in funding grants thanks to the ongoing success of the Heritage Charity Golf Day.

Heritage Bank on Tuesday, 25 February presented a total of $46,500 in donations to 11 local community organisations thanks to funds raised by the Charity Golf Day, which took place in December last year at the City Golf Club. That pushed the total donations made via the event in its 16-year history to over $526,000.

John_MinzHeritage CEO Mr John Minz said it was gratifying to burst past the $500,000 milestone. “At Heritage, we’re all about giving back to the community in as many ways as we can. We exist solely to serve our customers and the communities they live in,” Mr Minz said. “I am absolutely delighted that we have now been able to give back more than $500,000 to local organisations thanks to the Golf Day’s success in the last 16 years.

“Those funds have been injected directly into the coffers of a huge number of local organisations which do fantastic work in making our community a better place. The support of generous sponsors including R&O Communication and Allianz Australia has built this event into a major fundraising day for local charities and community groups.

“Heritage takes great pride in our efforts to build and develop communities, and the golf day is a perfect example of how we continue to put People first in everything we do. I’m also extremely proud that the golf day is organised and run by volunteers from within our workforce, who freely give their time and effort to make this event such a success,” Mr  Minz said.

Donations have been made  are to the following groups:

· $4,000 to the Apex Club of Toowoomba for their “backyard blitz” project at Toowoomba’s Children Contact Centre. The Centres is a non-profit organisation that provides a safe environment for separated parents with shared custody to exchange children and for parents subject to supervised contact orders to see their children. The Apex Club will be supplying the labour, plant and equipment, and sundry materials to lay artificial turf at the Centre.

· $2,000 to the Back Plains State School to buy an outdoor BBQ, equipped with a sink and a wok burner, so they can join the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program. This Program integrates into the primary school curriculum to reinforce literacy, numeracy, science, cultural studies and all aspects of environmental sustainability.

· $2,500 to the Depression Support Network Toowoomba, to purchase equipment to enable volunteers to more effectively support people with depression seeking help.

· $4,000 to Glennon House Toowoomba, which provides affordable, homely short and medium stay accommodation for people who come to Toowoomba for medical purposes. The grant will be used to provide play equipment for children whose mothers are in Toowoomba awaiting the birth of a baby or caring for a child in hospital; and to replace worn armchairs with new high-backed padded tub chairs.

· $5,000 to Hear and Say Centre Toowoomba to buy equipment and resources such as speech & language assessments, therapy toys and resources, teaching books and therapy furniture.

· $7,000 to Lifeline Darling Downs and South West Queensland to buy two second- hand cargo containers to store Community Recovery resources in preparation for natural disasters, and to help buy an industrial cleaner for their Distribution Centre.

· $5,000 to the St Vincent’s Hospital Children’s Ward to purchase new oximeters that more accurately monitor oxygen saturation levels for unwell young babies and children.

· $5,000 to the St Vincent’s Hospital Breast Care Nurse to purchase post-operative bras for cancer patients.

· $5,000 to the University of Queensland’s Watermemories Swimming Club, which provides structured swimming sessions for people with dementia in the Toowoomba region.

· $5,000 to Scouts Darling Downs to help the Withcott Scout Group purchase a traditional ridge tent and fly, for use in training and development activities.

Submitted by:
Andrew Fox,
Corporate Communications Manager
Heritage Bank Limited
Toowoomba

Drought Appeal Reaches Those Who Need Help Most

The first of the donations collected in the Lifeline Drought Appeal have been debited to the accounts of farmers in Western Queensland needing assistance. Since the appeal started four weeks ago, Lifeline Darling Downs and South West Queensland Limited have received over $50,000 in donations

“While donations have been strong we have been flooded with applications with many families struggling to provide basic services” said Lifeline CEO Derek Tuffield. “One family describes with all funds going to providing water and feed to live stock, they are struggling to put food on their table. Their children’s future is suffering because they study through distance education and the internet has been disconnected. This is just one example.”

Derek went on to say “There are many graziers who were running well over 200 breeders two years ago and struggling to keep 30 alive today. Some rain last week heightened spirits but it was patchy and certainly was not drought breaking,”
Drought Appeal 2014While funds donated have been able to help some families there are many more who are on the waiting list. For this reason we are still asking the people of Australia to put their support behind the Lifeline Drought Appeal 2014.

Lifeline needs to assist the mums, the dads and the families. Donations will ensure that Lifeline help to:

· keep electricity and gas connected;
· ensure there is food on the kitchen table; and
· give them fuel to get to town for personal needs.”

As well as this, Lifeline’s goal is to help keep spirits high by providing counselling and emotional support where possible and through the success of this appeal.

Can you help us help our farmers and their families?

Donations can be made online at www.lifelinedarlingdowns.org.au by credit card or post to Lifeline PO Box 2119, Toowoomba Qld 4350. All donations over $2 are tax-deductible. For more information on the appeal please phone 1300 991 443 or email droughtappeal@lifelinedarlingdowns.org.au.

Submitted by:
Suzie Washington
Manager Marketing and Fundraising
Lifeline Darling Downs & South West Queensland Ltd
Ph 07 4699 1682

My Chance, Our Future Campaign Launched In Toowoomba

As Youth Unemployment In Toowoomba Reaches 12.7 per cent, young people will be given a new voice with the launch of My Chance, Our Future †a new campaign highlighting the urgent issue of youth unemployment.

The unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24 in the Toowoomba area is sitting at an unacceptable 12.7 per cent, according to new data from the ABS. In addition the Darling Downs †Maranoa region is at a rate of 9.8 per cent.
mike patonDISCO CEO Mike Paton stated that we need to address this urgent issue now. “It’s very important that the community understands the numbers, and if you consider that youth unemployment is double the rate of the base unemployment rate, we have a big problem” he said. “DISCO knows better than most how tough it is for our young people to get a job in Toowoomba and across the South West, so this campaign is sorely needed. We want to focus our community on our Youth Connections program which provides support to young people to help them to reengage in learning,  with the ultimate focus of supporting them to get a job and a career that’s the right fit for them”.

“Around 1 in 4 young Australians is neither DISCOworking nor studying full time. These young people really need our help to get that first job, so Youth Connections services are really vital for the Toowoomba and Darling Downs community”, Mr Paton said. As part of the campaign, the Brotherhood of St Laurence welfare group has released its new Youth Unemployment Monitor, setting out the key facts as well as the human stories of youth unemployment from young people.

“At Youth Connections we really encourage anyone in our local community who is concerned about youth unemployment to sign up to the new campaign so we can really start to tackle this growing problem together. Employers can help by registering vacancies with us, the community can help by encouraging young people to seek support and register for assistance with groups like ours to provide a hand up – not a hand out” Mr Paton said.

More information is available at the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s website:
http://www.bsl.org.au/Advocacy/Youth-employment.aspx

Mike Paton – CEO
Downs Industry Schools Co-operation Inc (DISCO)
Offices in Toowoomba, Dalby and Roma
Phone 4638 3088

 

Council Connections With Darren Burton: Week 4, February 2014

Toowoomba Regional Council Connections

The weekly program keeping you up to date with Toowoomba Regional Council’s facilities, activities and services.

Council Connections with Darren Burton

This week Darren talks about a “Doing Business with Council” information night, we call for volunteers to help clean up and assist plantings in the Waterbird Habitat, the latest round of community sport and art grants, the Oceania Road Cycling Championships and the NRL Trial match (this weekend), the next Community Engagement forum, a reminder not to illegally dump rubbish in the area, ongoing OCR works in the CBD, moving of the Toowoomba Library and a reminder of  Council’s after hours emergency number.

Follow Toowoomba Regional Council on Twitter @ToowoombaRC

Australia’s Got Talent Winner Mark Vincent Supports Dinner On The Downs Fundraiser

Acclaimed singer Mark Vincent will perform in Toowoomba next month as part of the Dinner on the Downs evening.

Mark VincentThe Australia’s Got Talent winner will entertain guests at Veraison Restaurant on March 22, to raise funds for MontroseAccess, a charity supporting children with a disability throughout Toowoomba and Queensland.

MontroseAccess fundraising manager Leanne Liesegang said guests would enjoy a sumptuous four-course dinner with tantalising wines at this classic old-world style dining occasion, while Mark Vincent shows why he is one of Australia’s greatest talents.

“Veraison,  at 205 Margaret St, is the perfect venue for this special evening,” Ms Liesegang said. “The restaurant been awarded a Chef’s Hat by the Australian Good Food Guide for third year in a row.

“This is the first time Mark Vincent has performed in Toowoomba, so it’s a special occasion.”

The evening is sponsored by Veraison, Summit Estate Wines and Andersens.

Tickets ($95) to this event sell fast so phone Leanne Liesegang on 3717 1109 or email lliesegang@montroseaccess.org.au.  Further information is available from Veraison, phone 4638 5909.

WHAT: Dinner on the Downs

WHEN: Saturday, March 22, 6.30pm

WHERE: Veraison, 205 Margaret St Toowoomba

TICKETS: $95 includes four-course dinner, wines and entertainment. Transaction fees may apply.

CONTACT: Leanne Liesegang ph 3717 1109 or email lliesegang@montroseaccess.org.au

Submitted by:
Belinda Warren
Journalist and Communications Manager
Campaign Group