History Year 1
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Peel SeniorNet Association Inc.
(prepared by Mary Crane)
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First Peel SeniorNet Association Inc President Maurice Weston and his wife, Bobbie |
The First Year 1999-2000
Peel SeniorNet was incorporated on 1st July 1999 after a number of meetings of a steering committee, starting in February 1999, had been held to draw up a constitution and to plan how we should attain our stated objectives. A bank account was opened with the Challenge Bank after checking out other banks for the best conditions on offer. We also received exemption from State Debits Tax and Financial Institutions Duty (FID).
At that time the Committee met on the third Monday of each month and organised functions for Members on the fourth Monday of each month, other than Public Holidays. A range of speakers with a variety of subjects have combined to keep Members' interest whilst long term plans have been discussed as to the best way to achieve our goals. It was obvious that we had to have somewhere, not only to meet, but somewhere safe to house any computers that we might acquire and for use by members as well as training. Mandurah City Senior Citizens' Centre came to the rescue and the Secretary, Jan Lauder who is also the Co-ordinator of the MCSCA applied to Mandurah City Council for permission to build on to the Centre a suitable room for this purpose, bearing in mind that this room would belong to the MCSCC. The MCSCC allocated $10,000 in their Council budget and the Co-ordinator applied for the balance of funding to the Lotteries Commission. The MCSCC sought grants to fund hardware, software and suitable furniture for the "computer room" and the PSNA also sought grants, donations and sponsorships for suitable hardware and software. As you will realise it was pointless to get equipment before we had a secure place to keep it.
Meanwhile other matters occupied the Committee apart from arranging the monthly speakers. There was the PSN Newsletter which the Committee felt was essential to retain Members' interests and to pass on information. Mary Crane (Vice-President and Assistant Secretary if Jan Lauder was away or heavily committed) and Lois Reiffer shared the Editorial duties and the fact that it could be distributed to all Members with email facilities instantaneously meant that the cost was negligible.
As we were part of the WA Government pilot project for the Peel Region, it was important to let the rest of Western Australia know of our existence. We realised that our best means of doing this was to use the Internet and establish our own Web site (http://www.skyboom.com/peelseniornet/). We were fortunate to have such a dedicated member on the committee as Hilary Turner who, in no time at all, had this up and running with photos of all and sundry, activities past and present, our Constitution, a visitors' guest book for messages, menus at MCSCC and many useful links for Seniors. We have had many comments from around the world about our site. We then had our own Domain name - www.peelseniornet.net.
Apart from the website, Lois Reiffer, as Public Relations Officer, handled all the local publicity contacting the media with press releases, including Age Pension News, and also helped to make our existence known with flyers in places where they might be seen. However, with Mary Crane and other helpers, Lois’ most important contribution was the visits to local retirement villages where it was discovered that a number of seniors had computers but did not know how to switch them on. Visits to these places from PSNA helpers was eagerly looked forward to! As a matter of interest, after one visit to a particular retirement village, our oldest members, Frank and Freda Hunt, both in their 80’s, went out that afternoon and purchased their own computer and have been members of PSNA ever since.
With the onset and confusion of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), your Committee had to assess our position and we were successful in not only obtaining an Australian Business Number (ABN) -73 914 234 689 -but also recognition as an Income Tax Exempt Charity (ITEC) and endorsement as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) for our Training Library Fund. This means that any donations of $2 or more are allowable to the donor as a deduction for income tax purposes.
We received requests from organisations beyond the Peel Region for assistance in "how to set up a similar organisation". We visited the Loftus Community Centre in Perth and four Committee members visited Kalgoorlie at the invitation of the Goldfields / Esperance Development Commission outlining the PSNA experience in establishing a SeniorNet Association and to demonstrate the benefits of going Online.
We received requests from organisations beyond the Peel Region for assistance in "how to set up a similar organisation". We visited the Loftus Community Centre in Perth and four Committee members visited Kalgoorlie at the invitation of the Goldfields / Esperance Development Commission outlining the PSNA experience in establishing a SeniorNet Association and to demonstrate the benefits of going Online.
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Committee Members Lois Reiffer, Hilary Turner, Marilyn Arnup, and Mary Crane with Paddy Hannan and Ed Crane, Town Hall Kalgoorlie |
During March 2000, thanks to part of a grant from the Lotteries Commission, eighteen of our Members were able to attend the CASOC 2000 International
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PSN members attending the CASOC 2000 Conference Myles and Marilyn Arnup, Lois Reiffer, Mary Crane |
Forum held in the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre (30 March -1 April). This was greatly appreciated and enjoyed by all those who attended, especially the Toolkit Session for Seniors held at the MCSCC. In fact the Performing Arts Centre was practically deserted during the Saturday morning as everyone was over at the MCSCC
Our operating funds came from Members' subscriptions ($5 per Member) and from the proceeds of two Raffles run by John Fennell who also donated the very first prize of a magnificent tapestry he had made. John succeeded the very capable treasurer, Cliff Hamblin, who resigned from the position for family reasons.
As our President, Maurice, said in his report, “This has been a great committee to work with and we have received great support from Greg Williams of the Peel Development Commission and Jan Lauder our Secretary wearing her other "hat" as Co-ordinator of the Mandurah City Senior Citizens' Centre. Thank you both.”
At the close of our year at the end of September 2000 there were 109 financial members
The Beginning
The first SeniorNet Association Inc. was established in 1995 as an initiative of the Ipswich City Council, Queensland, and co-sponsored by the Department of Social Security. Its purpose was to provide a base from which seniors, aged 55 years and over, may obtain information and training in basic computer operation, and using the services of the Internet.
Our Mentor – Dr Hilda des Arts
Dr Hilda des Arts – the only name with which to start the historical facts of Peel SeniorNet. Dr Hilda was by no means a computer “Whiz” – she could send and receive e-mails and locate web sites on the Internet but not much else. She was, however, a very astute person who saw the need for senior citizens to “keep up with the times” and share in the wonderful technology available, especially communicating with the aid of computers.
The Peel SeniorNet Association in Mandurah started as a result of an initiative by Dr.Hilda des Arts of Ipswich, Queensland, now known as `Cyber Granny' throughout Australia, when she was asked by her local Council to find a way to get senior citizens involved in the new information technology. Hilda came to Mandurah in August 1998 and everyone she came into contact with was inspired by her enthusiasm. As a result of her visit, the West Australian Government chose the Peel Region as a pilot project for the whole of Western Australia and Peel SeniorNet came into being. An interim steering committee was formed and meetings held. A Constitution was drafted, approved and the Association was incorporated on 1st July,1999.
The Inaugural General Meeting was held on Monday, 4th October,1999, in the Craft Room at the Mandurah City Senior Citizens’ Centre, attended by 44 people.
Those present were:
It was Greg Williams, an Officer from the Peel Regional Development Commission, who gave the introduction at this Inaugural General Meeting and stated that the Commission was aware of the need to form an association such as this.
Jan Lauder, Co-ordinator of the Mandurah City Senior Citizens’ Centre, who gave an outline on the development of the formation of the Regional On-Line Senior Internet User Group in March of that year and the subsequent incorporation of the group into the Peel SeniorNet Association Inc.
The following Office Bearers were elected unanimously to form the first Committee:
Title |
Name |
Nominated By |
Seconded |
| President | Maurice Weston | Jan Lauder | Cliff Hamblin |
| Vice President | Mary Crane | Pim Reid | Lois Reiffer |
| Secretary | Jan Lauder | Mary Crane | Maurice Weston |
| Treasurer | Cliff Hamblin | Jan Lauder | Marilyn Arnup |
| Committee | Lois Reiffer | Jan Lauder | Mary Crane |
| Graham Hobbs | Mary Crane | Lois Reiffer | |
| Hilary Turner | Mary Crane | Pim Reid | |
| Sybil Smith | Mary Crane | Joyce Cole | |
| Marilyn Arnup | Lois Reiffer | Mary Crane |
The Steering Committee recommended that the annual membership fees be $5.00 – carried.
Mr Peter Harris was appointed auditor for Peel SeniorNet Association Inc.