1978-1983 - Brisbane Oxley-Corinda
Local - Hopetoun Hydrotherapy Pool
On September 27th, 1980 the Hon J.D. Killen, Minister for Defence opened the Dudley Phillips Memorial Hydrotherapy Pool at the Hopetoun Day Therapy Centre in Corinda. The complex is named after one of our past Presidents, Lion Dudley Phillips, to perpetuate his memory and show the respect in which he was held.
The opening was the culmination of two years of united and concentrated effort to raise some $13,000, to organise technical advice, donations and/or discounts from a host of suppliers and finally to 'front up' to 4,000 hours of physical labour to complete a project valued then at $50,000.
The basic requirement of this major project was a heated pool 7m by 6m with an internal ramp so that patients could be wheeled into the pool and floated off their chairs for therapy. The reversal of this procedure takes them from the pool with maximum safety and minimum hassle.
It was obvious that to gain optimum use of such a facility the vagaries of the weather; heat, cold, rain and wind, had to be excluded. Total enclosure was the only answer.
Foundations were dug and laid and an 18m by 10m brick face building, replete with multiple shower and toilet facilities, and a completely tiled floor, was erected to complete a hydrotherapy unit authoritatively described as 'second to none'.
In 1994, the club revisited the complex when a $500 pool immersion chair was donated, and confirmed the constant use still being made of the pool after more than 13 years.
International - Philippines School for the Deaf
During a trip to the Philippines PDG Peter Greer and Lions Lady Rachel were hosted by our sister club, Manila Host and were given a tour of some of the projects being carried out. One of these was the Philippine School for the Deaf. The ages of the children ranged from eight years to sixteen or eighteen depending on their standard of learning. For the older boys there were classes for woodwork, plumbing, sheet metal, welding and electrical. For the girls, needle work and various phases of home science. The equipment used for teaching these students was basic, some being home made.
Later discussions determined that the school was in need of a slide projector as slides would be of immense assistance for visual teaching. However with the building being very old and in need of a considerable amount of maintenance, a slide projector was a luxury and well down the list of priorities. On returning to our club the possibility of us donating a slide projector was raised, approved, and in fact two projectors were donated through the Manila Host club to help 'break down the barriers' in 1982, the International Year of the Disabled.