General News
14 September, 2023
Locals come together for awareness month
With blue all around, the Goldfields Family Centre and Supported Playgroup staff rallied together this week to mark Dystonia Awareness Month in honour of a former colleague diagnosed with the rare disorder three years ago. The centre hosted a range...
With blue all around, the Goldfields Family Centre and Supported Playgroup staff rallied together this week to mark Dystonia Awareness Month in honour of a former colleague diagnosed with the rare disorder three years ago.
The centre hosted a range of activities on Tuesday in support of Wendy Powell who received the diagnosis for the neurological condition in November 2020, after having worked at the organisation for 15 years.
A chronic ailment varying in severity, dystonia is characterised by involuntary muscle contractions that cause slow, repetitive movements or abnormal postures and can also cause significant pain — affecting quality of life.
While dystonia impacted Wendy’s career at the centre, the team and her fellow colleagues have banded together for three years in a row to raise awareness about the disorder.
“Wendy has been an integral part of our team and we want to support her,” Supported Playgroup facilitator Trish Ipsen said.
“She’s a really good friend and she’s an important fixture in our lives and organising this every year is our way of supporting her and her family.
“Before Wendy was diagnosed we’d never heard about dystonia but at the event, there was another person who came up to the stall and told us she had dystonia as well — it sends a message that we’re supporting everyone who has been affected.”
The family centre and the Supported Playgroup aligned the activities held over the past week with Dystonia Network Australia’s (DNA) Dystonia Awareness Month and blue, the colour of the cause, underlined all initiatives.
Alongside raising funds for the network by selling blueberry scones, the centre also participated in DNA’s annual competition, organised to help advocate for the disorder — and the 2023 theme, Pets for Dystonia, was embraced by the staff and kids who enjoyed spending time with Betty the blue tongued lizard.
“Every year we try to key in with whatever DNA’s doing and so we’ve got kids painting with blue paint, there’s blue scones and there’s blue playdough,” Central Goldfields Shire’s early education services coordinator Ben Sweeney said.
“I think the community is always interested in what we do and these activities, with everything blue, gets them asking questions and so it definitely spreads awareness.
“We’re very grateful for their support — our community here always gets behind the cause.”
To learn more about dystonia, head to dystonia.org.au, where donations can also be made to DNA.
