Author: Casey District Multiple Birth Association

I am elated at the work the committee members have done to secure two terrific grants that benefit every CDMBA member if they participant in these opportunities! The first is the Children’s Week grant. The Children’s Week activity is presented by Casey And District Multiple Birth Association Inc in partnership with the Victorian Government. We will be hosting an online “Animals of Oz” event. There will be an online live show and then a recorded show. This means that every member family can take part in either participating in the live show or catching the recorded option as your schedule allows.

The Inger Rice Foundation has awarded us with the second grant. This grant has two target audiences. Firstly the education of parents through some great webinars for the developmental stages of children 0-4 years old. We are looking at the following topics :
-Emotional wellbeing for new and expectant parents
-Establishing family friendly routines & Dietician
-Sleep settling for toddlers
-Toilet training (mid 2022).
Next we looked at children’s playgroup activities for term 1, 2022. Firstly there will be a series of movement classes. Next Hey Dee Ho will be doing in person sessions with both the Young Bubs playgroup as well as the Manna Gum Friday playgroup. These sessions are a great way for children to delight in a range of fun filled activities that improve:
-Fine and gross motor skills
-Cognitive learning
-Visual and auditory processing and memory
-Literacy, language and aural skills.
Lastly we will be purchasing some sensory activities and craft supplies for use during playgroup.

To conclude I would like to thank Kim for the wonderful work she did as the Newsletter Editor for the past few months. This role is vacant for any CDMBA member that would like to be the new Editor.

The last few months have been difficult for many of us due to lockdowns, working from home and remote learning.
CDMBA would like to support our members and be a small beacon of light. We recently hosted a very informative Toilet Training Webinar. If you missed it, there is a recording available on the CDMBA private Facebook page.
We are excited to host “Sleep & Settling for under 12 months with Mandy Hose ” on the 31st of August. Mandy Hose has done a few of these information nights for CDMBA over the years. Due to lockdown, this one will be online. This means you don’t need to leave the comfort of your bed to get all the information you need to assist your babies to get into good routines and to create a sleep guide that works for your family.

Lastly, don’t forget Father’s Day on the 5th of September. My daughters and I are truly grateful for their amazing father. We are so lucky to have a supportive, nurturing and all round good guy. Being in lockdown means we get to really spend the day together by planning picnics at home, going for walks or bike rides or even kicking a ball outside, however for some dads peace and quiet is all they need. Let us not forget to celebrate the wonderful fathers, step fathers and grandfathers in our lives and make them feel special this Father’s Day.

As we ease out of restrictions this means the return to some club activities. Unfortunately due to the current density requirements playgroups will not be returning until the 11th of August. My girls love seeing their friends at playgroup and have missed everyone incredibly and will be so excited for playgroup to recommence . Then, on the 8th of August, we have First Aid Training with Tiny Hearts Education. Lastly, I am excited to announce the Toilet Training webinar we will be running on the 19th of August. This webinar is so informative and it is worth joining even if your children are a bit younger to get tips on how to start. See flyer in this newsletter.
Lastly we are grateful to be participating in the Bunnings BBQ on the 22nd of August as this is one of our biggest fundraisers.
Please come down to Bunnings Cranbourne and support us by buying some snags.

As we come out of lockdown, the CDMBA committee has been hard at work coming up with some great events and information sessions for our members. In June we had our planning meeting to discuss ideas and budgets. This meeting is important since the committee looks at our income from membership, playgroups and fundraising and then determines what we are capable of achieving with our available funds. We have laid a good foundation, however there are concerns because we don’t have an Events Coordinator or fundraising team. Without these crucial roles it makes the planning that much harder. We have set up subcommittees to assist but planning would be easier if we had members to fill these roles. Without members to volunteer we wouldn’t be able to run events. If you have an interest in helping out please email President@caseydistrict.amba.org.au. and we can answer any questions you might have.
Look forward to seeing CDMBA members at the next event!

Casey and District Multiple Birth Association had the AGM in May and I am so pleased with the 2021 Committee. We are a 100% volunteer run committee and therefore all the time and effort is truly appreciated. We are looking forward to the entire committee working together as a team and each team member bringing their skills and experience to the table. Please read the “Meet the Committee” section later in the newsletter to get to know the members and what roles they fill.

We still have a few positions available such as fundraising coordinator. If however you would prefer to get a feel for being part of Committee you are welcome to join as a general committee member.

Welcome 2021 Committee!

May is the month to celebrate mum and MoM’s (Mother’s of Multiples) are lucky to have double the love and joy to celebrate her. I love being a MoM because I have learnt about strengths I didn’t know I had and dealt with fears I didn’t know existed.

May is going to be a very busy month for CDMBA members; all flyers are featured in the newsletter. We kick off the month with the Post Natal Depression evening on the 6th of May, followed by the Mother’s day picnic on the 8th of May. We then have our monthly meeting on the 12th, closely followed by the 14th of May which is a “Meet & Greet the Committee” evening. Which opens the door into the Annual General Meeting on the 19th of May. The AGM is a much anticipated evening because it is an opportunity for the CDMBA members to contribute and be involved with the decision-making within the club and discover new skills. So please consider joining because “WE NEED YOU!” in order to make the club successful.

Lastly, I want to say a huge thank you to Shelley. She has resigned from the committee due to being offered full time work as mentioned in the April edition. CDMBA is so grateful to Shelley for all the hard work and effort she put into her roles on the CDMBA committee. She held numerous positions over the years and always gave her best to endeavour to make every event, newsletter and playgroup activity something to be proud of. Shelley’s bubbly personality great ideas and eye for details will be missed at committee meetings. We wish her all the best with her future endeavours.

We have had a very exciting month with playgroups and events!
Firstly, we had our Multiple Birth Awareness week event at Myuna Farm. It was a great way to kick off face to face events and meeting members old and new.

Next was our Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Old Cheese Factory. We had a fantastic turn out and it was a fun day for all. Thank you to Carmen, Shelley, Catherine and Kurt for volunteering to help run the event and for all the hard work prepping before the event and during the event.

We have have worked really hard to get term 2 playgroups up and running. We have a great opportunity to have Friday playgroup in Clyde North. This will be a new location for us. We are excited to offer free playgroup’s for all members in Term 2, as we received a community grant to cover costs. Non members will need to pay $5 a session. Thank you to Carmen, Dolly and Maggie who will be facilitating. We have been contacted by our Playgroup host during the month of March and we will be resuming Wednesdays there in Term 2. There won’t be students available to us. Thank you to Melinda, Lisa and Melissa for facilitating this playgroup.

Lastly, I wanted to thank Samantha for her contribution to the committee over the last year. She has resigned from all positions.

In the month of February I attended the AMBA Plenary meeting. This is a way for AMBA to engage with the member clubs and get feedback about what is working and what is not. It is a chance for all clubs to share ideas as well as the opportunity for discussion.

The Board focus for 2021 is the following:
• MyAMBA rollout and training
• Regular communication with clubs
• Social Media calendar and content
• Committee handbook including Code of Ethics and Policy update
• Club structure
• Advocacy
• Resource development (awareness days etc)

Thank you to everyone who came out to Myuna Farm to kick off Multiple Birth Awareness Week. It was a fun day for the entire family to enjoy. Photos of the day are here in the newsletter.

Bec has resigned from the committee as she returns to full-time work. She has been such a wonderful committee member who has dedicated so much time to her roles, especially the Support Coordinator position.

Bec has been such an important point of contact for many members through the distribution of care packs, our New Parent High Teas, and even home visits in some cases. Bec has also been responsible for a few important grants within our club that have been so beneficial to our members. CDMBA is so grateful for all of this. We thank Bec for her time and we wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

Sincerely,
Candice
CDMBA President

As we start the new year off, I am sure many of us are relieved to have 2020 in our rear view mirrors. As we start to return to playgroups and social events it is really great to see the old faces we have missed and new faces joining us.

As we find our feet with the Covid-19 regulations we ask that all members bear with us while we figure out our way forward to ensure we keep everyone safe. Slowly we will start returning to services previously offered such as social gatherings and information nights.

I am excited to announce that Multiple Birth Awareness Week (“Identical or Fraternal – Testing for Zygosity matters”) from 21-28th March and CDMBA will be hosting an event on the 20th of March at Myuna farm (flyer in the newsletter).

We are also busy planning our Annual Easter Egg Hunt which will be on the 2nd of April at Old Cheese Factory (flyer in the newsletter).

CDMBA held a Bunnings BBQ fundraiser on the 17th of January with a profit of $987.96, and a bake sale fundraiser in conjunction with Bumble Bee Market in Berwick on the 7th of February, which also made a profit of $371.45. Thank you to the volunteers and those who contributed goodies. I truly appreciate you offering up your time; Carmen, Rob, Shelley, Kurt, Metta, Lorraine, Skye, Jessica, Chiranout, and Kate.

As this year draws to an end, after what seems like the longest year ever, I am grateful for many things. I am grateful for the extra family time we had this year and a reminder to appreciate the people we have in our lives.

The last month we have had a few committee members step down for various reasons. The CDMBA committee is the backbone of our association and we are so appreciative for all they do. One of these ladies, Marty, has been a part of the committee for 5 years, even after she moved to Queensland. She has put such great effort into our club and being there for our members. Her bubbly personality will be missed at committee meetings. We are grateful for her continued support within the club as a member.

Similarly, two of our playgroup facilitators are leaving us. Chiara and Kassy have dedicated their Tuesday and Wednesday mornings to playgroups. Chiara was the Tuesday Chisolm Facilitator and Kassy the Young Bubs Facilitator. Thank you ladies for helping get our children out of the house and letting us have 2 hours of peace once a week. Thank you also Kassy for all her work as Admin Secretary, and for being part of the executive team, especially in such a trying year.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the committee members for being part of CDMBA committee during such a tough year. Your commitment to the club really shone through during these unprecedented times and I am truly grateful for the hard work and out of the box thinking many of you demonstrated to support our members in these times.

Lastly, to all CDMBA members, hopefully, we can all get a break from COVID and just relax this holiday season. Merry Christmas, ladies and gentlemen, and here’s hoping we can put 2020 behind us.

Sincerely,

Candice,
CDMBA President