Two milestone events are being celebrated in Kempsey as part of broader NAIDOC Week 2017 celebrations.
annecto will officially launch its very first Reconciliation Action Plan and celebrate NAIDOC Week with a Dinner Dance. The week of celebrations highlight annecto’s commitment to creating local partnerships and relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Kempsey area.
“NAIDOC Week celebrations in Kempsey mark an important point on a long journey annecto has started with the local community,” said Estelle Fyffe, annecto Chief Executive Officer.
“The opening of our Kempsey office gives us a physical presence in an area where currently 100% of our care recipients are of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent,” explains Ms Fyffe.
“Our Reconciliation Action Plan provides us with a clear strategy to support and foster sustainable opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the local community.”
“annecto is working to ensure it delivers culturally safe services to people who are receiving aged care or disability support services and aims to provide a safe cultural workplace for staff,” explains Ms Fyffe.
Having worked closely with the Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation (KBHAC) that also delivers our Ability Links NSW disability service, annecto was invited to connect with members of the local Kempsey community in 2016 annecto has invited Elders, a group of local Aboriginal organisations and people who have worked closely with the development of annecto services in Kempsey to join them in a Dinner Dance to celebrate NAIDOC Week on 7 July 2017 at the Kempsey RSL. Around one hundred people will come together for a Country and Western-themed night of fun, laughter, dancing and celebration.
The Our Languages Matter theme for NAIDOC Week 2017 celebrates the essential role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages play in the cultural identity of Australia’s First Peoples and how language links them to land or water and the transmission of history, spirituality and rites through story and song. annecto commissioned local Kempsey artist Uncle Richard Campbell to produce the artwork for the organisation’s first Reconciliation Action Plan. Uncle Richard is a Gumbaynggirr and Dunghutti man from the NSW mid north coast, who was kidnapped from his family at the age of nine and placed in Kinchela Boys Home (KBH). Uncle Richard’s artwork represents the relationships
annecto commissioned local Kempsey artist Uncle Richard Campbell to produce the artwork for the organisation’s first Reconciliation Action Plan. Uncle Richard is a Gumbaynggirr and Dunghutti man from the NSW mid north coast, who was kidnapped from his family at the age of nine and placed in Kinchela Boys Home (KBH). Uncle Richard’s artwork represents the relationships annecto is creating with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
See Uncle Richard’s artwork here.
Read about annecto’s Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan here.
Download a copy of annecto’s Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan here.
Meet Aunty Sheraldyne, an annecto Support Worker in Mildura.
See what annecto did for NAIDOC Week in 2016
