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What's New

roundsquared is a for purpose company, i.e. since our establishment we have distributed our surpluses to members and employees. roundsquared supports our chosen charity, Thomas’ House, through monthly donations on behalf of members.

Emma’s Story

In the roundsquared community, Emma's year has been pretty amazing. Emma is your typical 14 year old who is interested in music, make up & looks forward to being in a relationship & raising her own children one day

Emma has been part of our organisation since 2014, and her story is all about determination and support, especially from her ILA, Emily.

Just a year back, Emma completed 12 years of diligent speech therapy. Her love for music, inspired by Billie Eilish, kept her going strong. Finally finding her voice, she set her sights on becoming a singer-songwriter, sharing her aspirations with her Mum & Emily.

When she started music lessons, Emma met with a therapist who got her vibe. Upon meeting her music therapist, he was evidently pleasantly surprised that Emma is not interested in simply learning how to play chord on a guitar or shake some maraca’s.. Emma had goals.

“Hello I’m Emma, can we do some vocal warms – I want to be a singer songwriter.” The therapist was floored. Emma has a voice and she knows how to use it.

In just 16 weeks, with the assistance of her support & her therapist, she created her first song, "Tough Guy," recorded right at home. Her debut live performance took place at a roundsquared community BBQ attended by many and despite a few technical glitches, Emma rocked it, backed up by overwhelming support. “I felt so happy that everyone was cheering me on & I do like to be the centre of attention”

Being under the age of 18, Emma has teamed up with a licensing company to share her music on big platforms like Apple Play, Spotify, and TikTok. She's already working on her next song, the "Teary Eye Lullaby," diving into deeper emotions.

Emma dreams of a future filled with music, love, family, and cool collaborations – maybe even with her idol, Billie Eilish. And through it all her mother and her enthusiastic support worker have been there, joining her in lessons and offering encouragement.

Emily also had a brilliant idea: Creating a theme song for roundsquared, capturing the spirit of resilience and self-expression in our community. It's a chance for Emma to give back in her own unique way.

Now, with plans to snag a purple electric guitar, Emma's journey continues. She's the embodiment of roundsquared – a place where goals are reached & the norm isn’t enough.

A word from Frankie, Emma’s mum after reviewing her story:

It’s beautiful! I’m actually crying because this is MY kid!!! When you plod along day after day with a child with a disability you don’t realise what a big accomplishment it has been. I have always said to Emma that “ nothing is impossible to a willing heart”.

A big thank you to roundsquared as well for all their love and support. You cant buy that.

Listen to Emma's new song below.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2bziAYCNBVI2TRiPcOfXpz?si=392033e01fa947a4

Our Latest NDIS Audit

We recently had an audit by the NDIS Commission to make sure we provide safe and high-quality services to NDIS participants. The audit was done by an independent team, not affiliated with our Organisation or the NDIS Commission, and was very thorough.

We are happy to report that we successfully passed the audit and received some great feedback. Here are some of the things that were mentioned in the audit report:

· The organisation shows a strong commitment to supporting the human rights of all people with disabilities and empowering their Members to have maximum choice and control over their own life.

· They were impressed by the interactions they observed between our team and members, which showed a genuine dedication to our organisation's mission and values.

· It was clear that some of our staff and founders have personal experience with disabilities, which likely helps them better understand and support their members.

· They were pleased to see the "Let's Talk, Speak Out" initiative, which encourages members to advocate for themselves and become leaders in their own lives.

· Our policies, procedures, and practices are all in line with NDIS requirements, and it was clear that we take these guidelines seriously.

· In interviews with both members and staff, they found high levels of satisfaction with our organisation as both a service provider and employer.

We wish to thank all our Members for your continued support while we work doing what we love best – empowering you to live your best life.

Debra Brooke Wins International Day of people with a Disability art prize

Moruya's very own Artist Debra Brooke, has won 1st place in the Uniting Abstract Abilities Art competition. Held for the the International Day of people with a Disability. There were 154 art woks submitted and displayed across various galleries over NSW.

Congratulations Debra keep up the great work.

2022 – What a Year, Christmas wrap up!

This year roundsquared has been extremely fortunate to support 263 Members across a large area of NSW to live their best lives. Our Members are located throughout New South Wales in Bega, Eurobodalla, Nowra and surrounding areas, Sydney and the North Coast.

Behind the scenes, roundsquared supports their Members with 18 Consultants and 5 support staff in the administration and finance section.

roundsquared Consultants have a wide range of experience in supporting our Members and because of this experience our Members have achieved great things.

A Member from Tweed Heads is a great example of the collaborative approach towards helping educate and support the Member and the family. This Member and his family live close to shops however there was a reliance on taxi’s or walking to get to the shops and other services.

With assistance from his support worker and his Support Co-ordinator, a solution was found for a bike to be obtained that he is now able to utilise to not only independently access any services that he needs but also allows him to explore employment opportunities in the future as it has enabled him to be more independent.

This is just one of the great examples of how roundsquared works beside each of their Members to assist them to reach their goals, dreams and aspirations in life.

We’ve created opportunities for our Members to come together and participate in some fun activities throughout the year which has bought great joy, laughter and fostered thriving friendships. These are developed in collaboration with our Members.

There has been Bingo, Ladies Day, loads of Craft activities, Coffee and Chats, Friday Friends & Food, and a Halloween Disco in Moruya which was an absolute blast.

roundsquared has an active and progressive group ‘Lets Talk, Speak Out’.

‘Lets Talk, Speak Out’ is a roundsquared initiative involving roundsquared Members to advocate for themselves in the wider community and to empower all Members to be the leader in their own life.

Sydney Members had a special guest appearance at their end of year BBQ with Batman turning up to ensure that everyone have a great time. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves with planning in progress for another one next year.

The North Coast got off to a rocky start with one of the worst flooding seen in the area but through connection to the community and with support from roundsquared, those affected have been able to rebuild and enjoy attending the Coffee and Chats in a safe space.

If any member is interested in joining ‘Lets Talk, Speak Out!’ or would like to engage with any of the Activities, please do not hesitate to have a chat with your Consultant.

The roundsquared Finance team has been working hard all year processing provider invoices & Member reimbursements. The finance inbox receives more than 600 emails per week, with 400-450 invoices processed weekly.

The team has been closely managing member budgets & providing our Consultants with the reports & information they need to assist their members.

roundsquared would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members and their families for allowing us into their lives to help them live their best life and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Waynes Super Green Thumb!

Soaking up the Spring sunshine, Wayne keenly visits our office in Moruya each week to cultivate his dedicated veggie patch at the back of the property and reaps the rewards of his efforts with supersized green veggies that he donates to his family and friends as well as Red Door Cafe

Wayne is accompanied by a dedicated Support Worker and they have a fun filled day with lots of active movement and laughter

Thank you Wayne for making our office garden beautiful & thriving!

Thomas' Transition House for Children Inc. (Thomas' House) is a registered Australian Charity

which has been working with injured, ill and vulnerable children, and their families,

in Cambodia for the past four years.

Our Cambodian headquarters is located in Sen Sok. Sen Sok is a conglomeration of tiny housing clusters with a large percentage of its inhabitants under 10 years of age. There is little industry in the village with most of the adults working in nearby Phnom Penh in the construction industry or in factories. A great many parents have left Cambodia to work in Thailand or China, leaving their children with elderly grandparents.

Thomas' House has built a large tin shed on private property to use as our headquarters. It is from here that all our programs are delivered. We have three staff in addition to ourselves. While Covid has impacted our programs severely, we are still able to provide an average of 400 free meals per month to vulnerable children, their supporting parent/s, elderly people and people in hospital. Overall, we currently assist 87 families.

Our short-term goal is to continue our programs to the benefit of as many people as possible. Our long-term dream is to buy land to build an Extended Hours Day Care Centre, so that working mothers can safely leave their young children.

- Children and young adults with special needs receive priority assistance in our programs. Wherever possible the children receive services such as speech therapy, physiotherapy, education support and mobility aids. We make and provide wheelchairs suitable for the rough terrain of the village.

- We currently support 15 babies under the age of 18 months by supplying formula and food for the family, as well as managing the medical care of the families. We do this by working closely with a local Doctor who understands our ethics of wishing to keep the family unit intact.

- Our "Granny Program" currently supports elderly ladies with cooked food each day.

- Our once a week "Bread Run" is a highlight of our week. We purchase 300 bread rolls and a dozen cans of condensed milk and walk throughout the village distributing the milk covered bread to the children or any hungry person. It is an occasion of great fun, and our team are greeted warmly. Of course, the children all want "one more please" and go to great lengths to try and trick us into giving them multiples of bread.

- We facilitate emergency dental care with numbers averaging 10 cases per month.

2020 has been a difficult one for the world and particularly Cambodia. The Covid virus has meant closed borders, which barred NGO volunteers and tourists from entering the country, thereby reducing employment opportunities for the locals.

Construction in the capital has ceased, and factories have closed meaning that tens of thousands of labourers have lost jobs.

In addition, the worst flooding in living memory is currently forcing tens of thousands of people out of their homes. In Sen Sok a large percentage of our villagers are currently living in any high spot they can find.

We have experienced a 300% increase in requests for services over the past six months, mainly food and medicines, and we work hard to prioritise aid so that the people most in need receive support. We never have enough to fill all requests.

Thomas' House receives no government assistance from either Australia or Cambodia.

We thank you for your generous support,

Rob and Gaye McPhee Directors - Thomas' House