Wesley Mission Annual Report 2020 - Flipbook - Page 6
Chief Executive’s report
streamed online, reaching large numbers of people
both in Australia and overseas.
Capital investment for increased capability
Further apart, closer together
Something transformative happens when you bring people together,
whether around an issue, at the boardroom table, gathered for Communion
at the Lord’s table or perhaps this year, we can even say on a Zoom call.
In 2015, I brought my leadership team together to
intentionally and prayerfully plot a course for Wesley
Mission’s growth. This was not growth for growth’s
sake, but to ensure that Wesley Mission would
remain mission-oriented and be positioned to help
more of the people in our country who are most in
need. We had, the year before, become an
incorporated association and the not-for-profit or
‘for purpose’ sector was facing dramatic
government outsourcing and policy changes. The
signs were clear, and for an organisation offering an
enormous breadth of services, we needed to
embrace change.
Wesley Mission has a long history, and past
Superintendents have also experienced times of
great growth and significant challenge. I think
particularly on the impact of the Rev W.G. Taylor,
who came to minister to the city of Sydney in 1884
at a time when congregation numbers had
dwindled. Through commitment to prayer and
community, he began one of our most significant
services – the work of Wesley Dalmar to support
orphans as they were called in those days. Difficult
times require not only a leader who will
communicate a clear vision, but one with the
executive and administrative ability to carry it out.
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Another example is the Rev Alan Walker who, after
taking a call from a distressed man who later took
his own life, brought together senior leaders at his
home to discuss what they could do. These were
Christian people and naturally, this involved prayer.
Together they proposed the idea of creating a
telephone support line for people to call. The name
‘Lifeline’ was suggested, inspired by the hymn
‘Throw out the lifeline’, as most famously recorded
by Ella Fitzgerald. The group were determined not to
let isolation be the cause of more deaths and in
March 1963, the lines opened and have never
stopped ringing. In fact, the calls, and now text
messages and online chat, have hit a new peak
in 2020.
The 19/20 financial year has been one of the most
challenging of my 40 years in ministry and business.
It has tested systems, structures, relationships,
assumptions and expectations, and brought many
of the best laid plans undone. Nearly a million jobs
were lost in Australia between the March and June
quarters and, as you will read in the pages of this
report, Wesley Mission saw an 85 per cent increase
in requests for emergency relief during the same
period. There are now more people in Australia who
meet our criterion of most in need than there have
been in my 15 years at Wesley Mission. And
officially, Australia’s recession is the deepest since
the Great Depression in the 1930s.
It is timely that Wesley Mission is in its best position
in our very long history and is ready to meet these
current challenges with more services on offer and
available in more locations. Also, financially, we can
support people into the future. During the lockdown
period, we were able to keep our essential services
open to serve people, who because of the pandemic,
experienced isolation and hardship in ways that
they had never known before. We take no delight in
being in demand, but we are thankful to God that
we can be part of the response. Government has
played its part with the provision of subsidies that
have been vital.
Digital transformation of services
Due to the large numbers of people in crisis who
were seeking emergency relief, we established an
online request process to respond quickly, helping
to preserve tenancies and cover essential bills,
including heating during winter. People also received
support through contactless methods, delivering
help immediately while minimising risk. And, where
possible, services were provided via phone or video
call. Wesley Mission people were also swiftly
supported to work from alternate locations.
Congregations began online worship in four
different language streams, including English,
Indonesian, Mandarin and Samoan. Easter services
scheduled for Holy Week were broadcast and
The project to completely refurbish our Wesley
Edward Eagar Centre crisis accommodation in
Surry Hills remains on track with completion in
2021. The design will provide individual rooms with
ensuites that will allow people to appropriately
distance as is required in the current conditions.
Approval was also received to upgrade the existing
Wesley RJ Williams property in Glebe for affordable
housing. Other capital projects in the pipeline will
help address areas of increased community need,
such as mental health treatment with plans
proposed to expand available facilities at Wesley
Hospital Kogarah.
Collaboration to meet complex needs
To support Australian Defence Force veterans
experiencing homelessness, we brought together
expertise in clinical mental health treatment and
homeless services, to implement a trauma-informed
and recovery-focused approach to meet complex
needs that are often a burden of service.
Taking a joined-up approach to services, our foster
care and disability services will provide intensive
therapeutic supports for children and young people
with significant disabilities. Two heritage cottages
have been transformed and two new properties
acquired to provide long-term homes for children
who had previously lived in an institutional setting.
Project governance and change leadership
Frameworks that guide good decision making and
deploy resources to critical projects have played an
essential role to increase our organisational ability to
respond to the pandemic. Change leadership
processes were applied to multi-level COVID-19
communications to keep staff and volunteers
informed and engaged.
This crisis has revealed that none of us is far away
from the experience of hardship, that with one or
two setbacks, such as the loss of a job or health
diagnosis, we may experience crisis in our own
lives. My hope is that our society will experience
greater empathy for people experiencing
homelessness, mental health issues or financial
crisis. There is a sobering reality that comes from
being engaged in our work at Wesley Mission, that
none of us is far away from needing help ourselves.
This crisis has also confirmed what my years as a
leader have taught me to be true, that good people,
dedicated to a good cause can have a powerful
effect for good. I am thankful to my executive
leaders and senior managers who have risen to the
challenge, to keep essential services open whilst
helping our team to remain meaningfully engaged in
work. I am thankful to Wesley Mission’s staff and
volunteers, many who found themselves working in
challenging conditions, including wearing full
personal protective equipment and supporting
people in distress. And to the Wesley Community
Services Board and Mission Council, thank you for
your commitment and ongoing support.
When I began my leadership at Wesley Mission just
short of 15 years ago in February 2006, one of the
most helpful aspects was the support of Wesley
Mission people and community leaders. This year
I am sad to report the passing of Dr Jim Pendlebury
OAM, a wonderful long-term supporter, who along
with David Greatorex AO, helped me to become
established at Wesley Mission. At the end of 2020
I will be retiring from Wesley Mission and look
forward to welcoming the incoming CEO and
Superintendent, the Rev Stu Cameron, and
supporting him as he becomes the leader of this
uniquely shaped Word and deed community.
I have confidence in the future of Australia to
recover from this pandemic, and in the continued
future of Wesley Mission to support Australian
communities, so that we may all move forward
together. You will be in my prayers, and Carol and
myself send our united love and appreciation to all
our people.
Warmly yours in Jesus Christ,
Rev Keith V Garner AM
CEO/Superintendent
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