Author: David Kavanagh

IN AN attempt to rectify issues of access to food for people in need, a handful of Albany organisations have funded a portable barbecue trailer to provide breakfast twice a week.

Tracy Sleeman from Albany Regional and Volunteer Service explained that the project had been on the boil for nearly 18 months, while waiting for and seeking funding and resources to be able to offer the service.

Together with Fran Seymour from Albany Red Cross, they visited Bunbury to learn more about how the township operated two food vans, three times per week.

They then received a trailer from the Albany Men’s Resource Centre and Ventroair’s Jason Lockhart refurbished it, with the help of some Albany Community Foundation funding.

“The Homeless Forum group of support services that we met with several times to talk about the food van supported the concept of what we were doing,” Ms Sleeman said.

“We talked to existing services of food relief including Foodbank and their school breakfast program and St Johns and Scots Church about their food kitchens.

“These, and reports on food insecurity from Foodbank, Addressing Homelessness in the Great Southern, and the WA Food Relief Frame- work 2019, told us we were heading in the right direction.”

Pivot Support Services, Barbeques Galore, Albany Signs and Pearson Spraypainters also got on board to get the trailer operational.

Ms Sleeman said the community support she’s received has been overwhelming and highly appreciated, as food insecurity is a hidden problem in Albany she says needs to be addressed.

“We tend to not see issues that don’t affect us directly,” she said.

“It’s not always about not having enough food; sometimes it’s about not having the transport, not knowing how to cook wholesome meals, having family issues where there may be drug abuse or domestic violence which leads to children missing meals because of instability at home … you only have to see that Foodbank Albany is supplying the equivalent of 30,000 meals per month to Albany people to see we have a need for food support.”

The barbecue trailer and Breakfast in the Park program officially launched at Foodbank Albany at 9am today.

To start with, the trailer will offer a bacon and egg burger to people in need on Tuesday mornings from 7-8am on Mokare Road, Spencer Park and on Wednesday mornings from 7-8am at the Old Gaol in town.

People interested in volunteering, hiring the trailer or wanting more information can email [email protected] or call 9841 3588.

A BOARD game designed to help people with dyslexia develop their literacy skills will be launched at Albany Public Library next Thursday.

Kanga Words is the brainchild of Albany retiree Don Titterton, who spent almost a decade developing it with the assistance of more than a dozen others.

The 75-year-old has lived with dyslexia his entire life and said he wanted to create a fun “educational tool” fine-tuned to suit individuals with learning difficulties.

“I was 35 when I first learned to read and write properly,” Mr Titterton said.

“This game is about the repetition. If kids with dyslexia play it once or twice a week, they can benefit greatly.”

Kanga Words somewhat resembles Scrabble in design and tasks players with making various words for points.

Words that contain other words within them, such as the word “phone” containing “hone” and “one”, are allocated additional points.

Mr Titterton, who regularly travels across Australia in his caravan, said the game had now been played by more than 200 people.

“I’ve tried it on strangers, I’ve tried it on rellies and friends and everybody loves playing it,” he said.

“While it’s great for people with dyslexia, it’s also useful for school kids in general and people in nursing homes who might need a mind stimulant.

“My long term goal is to travel around Australia going from library to library and running demos.”

Kanga Words will be showcased at the library from 5.30 – 7pm on February 6. Book by calling 6820 3600 or emailing [email protected]

THIRTY years after her battle with ovarian cancer, Albany resident Sandy Bishop still thanks her lucky stars every day that she had the courage to re-ask her doctor to check unusual symptoms in her body.

The then 33-year-old had two children under five and in her words, had no time to be unwell.

She shared her story with the Weekender ahead of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in February.

“I went to the doctor and they said it was just an ovarian cyst and that it would pass; he didn’t even bother to examine me,” Ms Bishop remembered.

“Later on, I was laying down and I could feel a lump … I was taking my child to the doctor that day anyway for something minor and I thought, I won’t be a nuisance and ask about it, but he was a nice doctor, so I asked.

“He told me to go straight to the hospital because he thought it was an ectopic pregnancy.”

Within a matter of hours, Ms Bishop was seen by a specialist and on the operating table.

She spent five days in hospital after surgeons removed one of her ovaries.

“It was a malignant tumour about the size of a cricket ball,” Ms Bishop said.

“I had no idea it was ovarian cancer; I was so young.

“I was told later on that I should have my other ovary and my uterus removed but I was a young mum, I didn’t know what to think.

“So I saw a different doctor for another opinion and they suggested I should have them removed; five years later, they said I really should have them removed, so I did.”

Ms Bishop said for the following 10 years, she “worried her head off” every single day about her health.

Abnormal cells had previously been detected in her cervix, so she had regular pap smears to monitor this.

As cancers can spread to other parts of the body – and she was told this was a possibility for her – she has annual mammograms too.

“Back then, I didn’t know there was a Cancer Council, I never thought I’d need counselling for what I’d been through,” Ms Bishop said.

“So my message to other people would be to ask and keep asking, and never let a doctor play something off if you are worried.

“Always follow it up – don’t let it get to the scary stuff.”

Cancer Council Great Southern Regional Education Officer Bruce Beamish said new data from the organisation revealed the incidence rate of ovarian cancer in WA women was the lowest it had been since the Department of Health began collecting data in 1982.

But he said women still needed to remain vigilant – ovarian cancer symptoms are vague and women often attribute them to other benign conditions.

“If you have any of the symptoms and they happen on most days for three weeks or more, particularly if you’re over 50 or have a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer, go to your doctor and get a check-up,” he said.

“You won’t be wasting the doctor’s time.”

Ovarian cancer symptoms can include pain or bloated feeling in the abdomen or side, irregular periods or vaginal bleeding after menopause, a change in bowel habits and indigestion or nausea.

Visit cancerwa.asn.au for more information.