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Dirty hands for a good cause
Volume 50, No. 18, October 04, 2007 |
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When retired Royal Navy officer and merchant navy captain Brian Aggio asked for volunteers to help his vision become a reality, he needed to look no further than HMAS Stirling.
Mr Aggio wants to establish a low-cost food and clothing community centre in Perth’s southern suburbs to provide basic services for the less fortunate.
Mr Aggio founded Cockburn Community Care Inc. and has been granted a lease on the disused Cockburn Shopping centre in the suburb of Hamilton Hill which he wants to refurbish into a community centre containing a low-cost supermarket, soup kitchen, hairdressing salon, welfare office and community coffee shop.
The centre will be manned by volunteers, providing support to pensioners, low-income families, homeless youth and others requiring assistance with basic services. It is expected that the centre will provide assistance to more than 6000 people each month.
With the lease granted, the next major hurdle was to start refurbishment of the derelict building. That’s where the Royal Australian Navy came into the picture.
Mr Aggio approached the Naval Community Engagement Strategy (NCES) coordinator at HMAS Stirling, LEUT Heather Cooke, requesting assistance and volunteers were called for.
On Wednesday, August 22 a team of 18 from HMAS Stirling and HMAS Toowomba provided skills, experience and much-needed general sweat and muscle, all which went a long way towards the centre becoming functional by the planned date of December.
Under the supervision of licensed tradesmen, these volunteers assisted with electrical, plumbing, painting and general handyman tasks.
Mr Aggio was highly impressed with the efforts of the personnel involved, saying that more was achieved in this one day than thought possible and that Navy personnel could be relied upon for their initiative and hard work. Mr Aggio and the centre rely on the generosity of the community and local business to make the Community Centre a reality.
To this end, further help by volunteers from HMAS Stirling has been planned on an ongoing basis. |
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GRIME THAT PAYS: SMNWTR Vanessa Forrest got a bit of dirt on her hands working up in the roof when sailors volunteered their help renovating an old shopping centre in Perth’s southern suburbs into the Cockburn Community Centre.
Photo: ABPH Lincoln Commane |
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READY, WILLING AND CABLE: ABWTR James Carter, above, helps coil up the electrical cables that have been removed from the roofing.
Photo: ABPH Lincoln Commane |
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SLICE IS RIGHT: SBLT Geordie Keating cuts up some wires with a stanley knife.
Photo: ABPH Lincoln Commane
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