70 years ago family members and community members received permission to enter Callan Park Hospital to provide a social event and run the Psychiatric After Care Club, a preparatory program as people contemplated leaving hospital to live in the community. Both were extraordinary achievements, showing the power of ordinary people dedicated to bringing humanity and care to people’s lives. How amazing it must have been for long-term patients, locked behind big walls of an ‘asylum’, to have new, friendly faces appear regularly.
This led to the establishment of our first services in the community (by one of our founding organisations, Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, later Australia, generally known as PRA). Subsequently, we saw the establishment of Richmond Fellowship of NSW and the accommodation services it delivered to support people leaving hospital. Of course, both Richmond Fellowship of NSW and PRA merged in 2012
Next week we celebrate all of this work and the contributions of so many people at an event at NSW Government House hosted by our Patron Her Excellency the Hon Margaret Beazley AC KC Governor of NSW.
It’s always important to remember ‘The Founders’ and what their vision was. We are always in awe about their ability to garner support, their public speaking about an unpopular topic at the time, and their regular appearance on public radio raising the profile of mental health and the need for public support.
Their efforts at fundraising are reflected in our Foundation which once more works to provide funds to meet unmet needs not covered by our Government funding. You can contribute at the story link above– no better time than the end of the financial year!
Hepzibah and Richard Hauser, John Kingsmill, Dr John Parkinson, Agnes and Peter Bartok were all committed to good quality care and support for people experiencing mental ill-health, the importance of being good and encouraging companions for those doing it tough, and advocating for their right to live a good life in the community.
We thank them for this commitment and their sense of being change makers in a time when the stigma about mental ill-health was pretty high.
We are grateful for the extraordinary amount of work they did which provided the strong foundations of the organisation, demonstrating the early ideas of what became known as mental health recovery.
We continue their legacy.
This month I remember them; and also the many, many people who have been part of Flourish Australia over the years. Those who have made us who we are, people who have accessed our supports, families, carers and kin, staff, funders, partner organisations, donors and supporters, and board members.
One particular board member I want to mention briefly in this context is John Hall AM. John passed away last week. John joined the Board of PRA in 1993, became its chair, helped lead the merger, and then became the first chair of the merged organisation’s Board until 2014. He continued to support and contribute to the organisation until late 2024 when he told us he was unwell and would need to step back focus on his health. 31 years of voluntary contribution; of belief in people and their right to quality and safe community supports. We will always be in his debt.
Vale John. You will be missed.
Mark Orr AM
Chief Executive
