 |
Newsletters ~ Contact Us ~ Aims and Goals ~ White Wreath Day Past Services ~ Volunteers ~ Statistics ~ Members ~ Personal Stories ~ Donate/Shop ~ Guestbook ~ Thankyou ~ Directors Report ~ Press Releases ~ Correspondence ~ Advocacy ~ Coming Events ~ Sock-It-To-Suicide
Head Office: PO Box 1078 Browns Plains BC Qld 4118
Mobile: 0410 526 562
Email: white.wreath@bigpond.com
Web Site: www.whitewreath.com
ABN 66 592 492 997
NATIONAL WHITE WREATH DAY 29TH MAY
Directors Report
When we hear the word Cancer it leaves an imprint in our mind. We know it's an illness and we also immediately think it can be fatal. We hear even more lately of the "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder", "Depression", "Paranoia" or "Schizophrenia" but it does not leave the same imprint on most of us. But let there be no doubt these can also, like Cancer, become a fatal illness. The pain of these and other Mental Illnesses are often too great to bear for the sufferer.
For these reasons it is important that an Education Campaign be orchestrated immediately to inform the general public of the seriousness of Suicide and Mental Illness. This Campaign must be implemented in the same hard-core manner as we continually see advertisements on Drugs, Road Accidents, Aids, Cancer, Heart Attacks, etc. Informing us that these can kill. We are told constantly and shown graphic photos that drink driving, wearing no seatbelts, driving tired etc Can Kill. We are told Melanomas, Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer, and Prostate Cancer Can Kill. We are told not having safe sex Can Kill. We are told too much Cholesterol in our bodies Can Kill. We are told don't smoke because smoking Can Kill. The list goes on and on and all these Campaigns have worked well in reducing the number of deaths. Why isn't the same campaign implemented on mental illness as this also Can Kill?
It is time for us to come to terms with our high suicide rate and accept the seriousness of this illness and it's consequences that is plaguing our country. We must accept that suicide/mental illness be treated as a serious medical emergency as we do any other life threatening condition. The myth that an attempted suicide is used as an attention-seeking device must be stopped. In most cases an attempted suicide leads to completion.
Fanita Clark
President
Thankyou's
White Wreath Assoc appreciates the generous support from the Jupiters Casino Community Benefit Fund towards furniture, office equipment & car.
The Academy of Middle Eastern Dance for donation proceeds from their 13th Annual Middle Eastern Dance Extravaganza.
Mr Allan Jones - 2UE, Ita Buttrose, Honourable Carmel Tebbutt MLC, Mrs Kerry Chikarovski - Leader of the Opposition, City of Sydney, City of Sydney Cr Fabian Marsden, Arrnott Olssen - Recording Artist, The Right Reverend Robert Forsyth - Bishop of South Sydney, John Wilkie - Co-ordinator - Secretary Vietnam Veterans MC Aust. National Council, Vietnam Veterans MC Sydney Chapter, Major Coral & David Hodges - Salvation Army, David Kingdom - Mainfreight, Caroline Odgers - Maintaining our Web site, Yong-Li - Office Assistance, Browns Plains Hotel, Wally Haydok - Zupps, Mission Australia, Craig Emerson - Federal Member for Rankin, Mr Bill Parker General Manager of Yellow Cabs, Kay Elson Federal Member for Forde
Committee, Family and to all those who have helped us along the way
National Association of Media Release
Practising Psychiatrists For Immediate Release
13 June 2001
Australia's most unwanted - Our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters with mental illness
All state governments must start building and staffing new, modern short and long term care facilities to accommodate patients suffering severe and acute mental illness, said Dr Jean Lennane, a spokesperson for National Association of Practising Psychiatrists (NAPP).
De Leannane said, "We know what the problem is and what we must do. "
"Years of neglect, inaction, excuses and covering up by politicians of all persuasions must be reversed rapidly if we are to save lives of Australia's most forgotten people with mental illness."
What went wrong
The path of de-institutionalisation (partly paved with good intentions but largely economic opportunism) saw patients with mental illness placed into the community with little or no support.
OECD Health Data (1999) reveals that from 1960 to 1995 psychiatric bed numbers in Australia dropped from 3 per 1000 to less than 0.3 per 1000 population. The only OECD country (where figures are available) with lower psychiatric bed numbers is Turkey. (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Institutional mental health services in Australia 1997-98, January 2000. pg6)
"The justification for this process was that our institutions had become outdated, and improper places for the mentally ill. The sad irony is that our jails have become our mental illness hospitals - the most inappropriate and inhospitable institutions we can imagine are now crowded with patients suffering mental illness; and suicides by young people are the biggest in the world."
Federal funding cut
"On top of this patients undergoing long term psychiatric care, had Medicare rebates slashed and federal health Minister Michael Woolridge has admitted to parliament that his rebate cuts decreased the number of services to patients with mental illness," said Dr Lennane.
"Some State governments have responded to calls for the reinvestment in our mental health care assest with modest plans for new facilities and services, but this is nowhere near enough to reverse years of neglect and decline."
:NAPP will continue to advocate for re-investment in Australia's mental health care assets. Our balance sheet is out of whack. We must act now, Our mothers, fathers, sisters, bothers, sons and daughters lives may need it," said Dr Lennane
For More Information Contact:
Dr Jean Lennane - Ph: (02) 98102511 or Mr Glen Ramos - Ph: 0413 136 497
A Member's Reflection on Life & Death
What's life? Life is to live. Life is to be enjoyed, most certainly not to be endured. Life is progress, we are born, we progress from baby to toddler, from toddler to teenager, and from teenager to adult that is the natural progression. How do I know that? Because I think, I reason and make decisions. I have a body with all the organs necessary for living and that body is a perfect organised and systemised structure.
So what is death? It is the opposite of life is it not? Is it not said somewhere that life is the Alpha and Omega, that means beginning and end that is like a circle is it not? Therefore life is eternal for a circle is forever. The only thing that changes is the sense of self as a living being. So then what is death? A sense of being to a sense of not being. Well that is impossible except in the belief sense that a being can in fact be reduced to a nothing. The body is no more than a reflection of the self sense held by any individual being as a living being. The body just shows that forth in its thinking, reasoning, action and feeling and it is a wonderful organised, systemised structure. Is it therefore not amazing that there exists the belief in death? Considering the fact that we are and possess a most intelligently structured body, what is it that can destroy that? What dies actually? Is it not the sense I live; I am a part of living on this earth?
Another word for life is Consciousness, and as I said before I am conscious that I live, it is a state of consciousness, awareness and each day we prove that sense through our actions, feelings and forming we do in our daily existence.
Death is just a change in the conscious sense of I live. Live is eternal thus I always live, may be not on this planet earth, but in changed sense of consciousness. It can never be final for life always progresses to different states of consciousness.
AGM MEETING
3 SEPTEMBER 2001
Thank you to all who attended.
Positions
President: Fanita Clark
Treasurer: Wendy Jensen
Secretary: Mark Knipe
Committee: Tony Newlett, Ruth Avenell, James Parnell, and Ivars Milinis
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The White Wreath Association is in the process of relocating. We are still on line with our Internet site and E-Mail address.
If you need to contact the Association please call on 0410 526 562
Husbands Story
I was married for 20 years when my wife suicided at the age of 40.
My wife was sexually abused as a child and despite 7 previous attempts her situation was never taken seriously.
I repeatedly on many, many occasions tried to receive help for my wife. Because of the confidentiality law I was excluded from any treatment she did receive. The hospital psychiatrist advised me on numerous occasions that her problem had nothing to do with me.
I begged them to involve and inform me of what was happening with my wife. I told them I am the family carer looking after our very young daughter and trying to cope with my wife's illness. I said when she has her bad days that I am the one who is bathing her, dressing her and trying to cope with the family in general 24 hours a day. I also need help to understand what is happening.
It did not matter what I said the confidentiality law was thrown at me from every direction. All I wanted was to help the one I most love, my wife.
What I wanted was to be involved and informed of my wife's treatment, help doctors and psychiatrist with my knowledge of my wife's illness and, in turn, enable the medical profession to help my wife.
I ask why?
I feel betrayed by society. Because of my wife's age she has only become an insignificant statistic. I am sure if this was a youth suicide someone may have cared.
Nobody cares. Nobody understands. Nobody wants to know.
WISH LIST
CD - RW DISKS
A4 PHOTCOPY PAPER
2002 DIARY
2002 CALENDER
STAMPS
VOLUNTEERS
National Association of Media Release
Practising Psychiatrists For Immediate Release
4 July 2001
Mental illness crisis
All deaths must be made public
The recent violent deaths of two patients with mental illness in NSW public hospitals may only be the tip of the iceberg said spokesperson for the National Association of Practising Psychiatrists (NAPP), Dr Jean Lennane in Sydney today.
Dr Lennane said, "Since a policy of `de-institutionalisation' has been used as a cover for massive cuts to mental health facilities there have been many deaths of patients both in and out of NSW hospitals over the last 10 years. Inadequate facilities and understaffing has led to a crisis situation, where far too often severely disturbed patients may go on to commit violent acts, suicide, or become helpless victims of the violent acts of others,"
"The recent tragedies in Kempsey and Gosford where two patients in psychiatric units of general hospitals were beaten to death will be recorded as deaths within an institution."
"While most of the numerous deaths of patients with mental illness which occur as the result of early discharge or failure to admit in time, or at all, have been recorded by NSW Department of Health since 1992, those figures have never been fully released. None have been released since 1995."
OECD Health Data (1999) reveals that from 1960 to 1995 psychiatric bed numbers in Australia dropped from 3 per 1000 to less than 0.3 per 1000 population. The only OECD country (where figures are available) with lower psychiatric bed numbers is Turkey. (Australian institute of Health and Welfare, Institutional mental health services in Australia 1007-98, January 2000. Pg6)
Dr Lennane said "All deaths in NSW involving patients suffering mental illness who have been treated or in contact with a NSW health care facility must be made public so that the real magnitude of the problem can be exposed and urgent action taken to ensure the safety of both community, staff and patients with mental illness."
NAPP is calling in the NSW government to publish and make available all material (de-identified) concerning unexpected deaths, including suicides, and homicides (including where patients are perpetrators or victims) of current or former clients of a NSW Area Health Service over the past 10 years.
"Years of neglect have created a crisis and now the simple fact is that there is a lack of adequately staffed, modern, short and long term care facilities to accommodate patients suffering severe and acute mental illness."
"NAPP has been calling for reinvestment in the State's mental health assets for many years and warning of the current crisis."
"With 1 in 5 people likely to suffer from a mental illness in their lifetime, this is too important to continue to ignore," said Dr Lennane.
Memorials
Wednesday 10th October 2001
We would like to thank the people of Sydney NSW for their kind support and the Sydney City Council for their co-operation in helping us make the day successful.
Thank you to Mainfreight Brisbane for transporting the 4436 White Wreaths and Zupps Hillcrest for supplying a vehicle for us to travel. Mr Allan Jones 2UE was to be our MC for the day however due to a tragedy he was unable to attend. At a time that was very difficult for him Mr Jones did not leave us in the lurch and arranged with Ita Buttrose to assume position as Master of Ceremonies. Her professionalism as Master of Ceremonies and her speech was exceptionally good. We thank you both.
A very special thank you to John Wilkie Secretary Vietnam Veterans MC Sydney Chapter for providing all our electrical equipment and all his members who helped lay the wreaths and man our tables. It was a great pleasure to have them involved and we look forward to continuing our relation in the future. We would like to also thank Greg Pankhurst from Mission Australia Sydney for supplying our tables and chairs
For the first time we introduced a singer into our service who was Arrnott Olssen. He performed his own composition and sung during the wreath laying ceremony that we hold within the service. Arrnott was absolutely wonderful and during his performance the Public, Vietnam Veteran MC, the Police Assoc., Salvation Army, Leader of the Opposition Mrs Kerry Chikarovski, Councillor Fabian Marsden, Honourable Carmel Tebbutt all laid a wreath on behalf of colleagues, the family and friends who have died by these tragic circumstances. Rt Rev Robert Forsythe Bishop of South Sydney Anglican Church then said a closing prayer.
The Sydney service was well received by the people, and some of the comments we received on the day "Thank you for caring and being there" - "A very worthwhile cause" - "Why?" - "It's time we stopped pretending" - "It's is an unbelievable experience to see this display".
On behalf of the WWA Committee I would like to thank the people of Sydney and all of those who helped us on the day.
If we have missed anybody, it is unintentional and we thank everybody who helped.
Main Event,
King George Square
29 May 2002
Toowoomba Memorial - March 2002 (date to be advised)
Tasmania Memorial - October 2002 (date to be advised)
WHITE WREATH WEB SITE GUEST BOOK
Here are a few samples of comments made by visitors to our Web site.
East Brisbane QLD - I was diagnosed with depression about 2 years ago. I've attempted suicide 4 times…I'm so desperate for help but I don't know what to do. I have no support from family or my boyfriend; they think I'm a nut. I haven't been to see a psychiatrist though I was told to…I'm scared because I know I can't do this by myself. Please reply if u have any answers for me or advice. A lady on the Internet told me I should try to be admitted to a hospital….will this help? How do U go about it?
Darwin NT - I read with great interest your site. It's wonderful to know someone is actually trying to do something out there. We need something like this here in Darwin. I congratulate you and wish you all encouragement on a courageous voyage you have embarked on.
Canberra NSW - I suffered a state of depression some time back when I was involved in a emotionally difficult relationship while at the same time trying to complete a law degree at University. The relationship eventually ended and I did complete my law degree. I am now doing my final professional year for admission. In those difficult years I felt so low, confused and lost and did not know which way to turn. There were times when I felt suicidal. I had thought of ways of killing myself - playing it through my mind like a little movie. I thought of how it would look and how all those I knew would react to it. Those thoughts really frightened me at the time. I used to say to myself "how can this be…how could you be thinking this way" When I look back on it now I find it really hard to believe it was me. It all got that way because I just felt so helpless and confused and didn't know what to do or which way to turn. I thought it was the only thing to do to make all the pain and anxiety go away. You may think you have nowhere to turn or that it is all hopeless. But you have to believe that things will get better. I sought help from all sources - friends, family and doctors. While at tines I felt like all the help and advice only made things worse I knew that having people around to talk to did in the end bring me around to help resolve things. A psychologist I saw said that given what was going through he was surprised I had not turned to drink or drugs. Even in the state I was in I knew that drinking or taking drugs was not the solution. I had never been part of my life before so I knew that given the way I was feeling I had to keep what ever wits and sanity I had intact and not be numbed to all that was going on. I have tried various medications and some made me feel worse and some made me feel better. I don't take medication anymore and have not done so for at least 7 years. I feel I can now take control of my thoughts and emotions in situations and deal with things affecting me without letting it get the better of me or needing to resort to medication. I have now been able to address things in my life and deal with issues. I suffered the loss of my mum to cancer when I was young. I was one of 5 children under 14 and we all had to `get tough' and get on with life and help our dad out. When I hit a certain age being in a relationship with a girl who had a child from a previous relationship, all the social pressures and not knowing where things were headed with my life and work etc it all just came out. There were so many weird emotions that had just been locked up for so long. I feel so much stronger now and I feel better within myself because I know I have the ability to overcome whatever is now thrown my way. Life is a process and we are growing and evolving each and every day. Don't ever throw it away. There is so much out there. We need to be strong and stick together and help each as much out of life as we possibly can. I have had friends and family who have been in the same situation so I know that depression and the threat of suicide is a very real issue. I would never like to go through the same experience again but if I do, I know that suicide is not the answer. You always have to believe that no mater how bad things seem they will always get better. You have to try and take control of yourself and say, "I can overcome this, I will get through it because I am strong". Help is out there. You are not alone and you don't need to be alone.
Darwin NT - I read with great interest your site. It's wonderful to know someone is actually trying to do something out there. We need something like this here in Darwin. I congratulate you and wish you all encouragement on a courageous voyage you have embarked on.
Sydney NSW - I almost feel like an outsider writing on this site. I have not had a family member kill themselves, nor do I know of any close or distant friend who has. However I have had loved ones die and I do know what it is like to live with someone who is mentally ill. My father has bi polar disorder and early indicators suggest the likelihood that my sister does as well. My deepest sympathies go out to you all. How I wish things could have been different for you.
Perhaps that is why an organization such as the White Wreath is so invaluable. It has the potential to make a difference. I am actually a journalism student at the University of Technology Sydney. While researching for an article on a women in prison with mental illness I came across information on suicide and mental illness that challenged my previous perceptions. It seemed somewhat amazing to me that a policy adopted by governments around the world in the late 1960's could now be responsible for the ever-increasing number of suicides, homicides and homelessness. Perhaps the most shocking of this is the government's refusal to either acknowledge these problems, or to do something about them. Peter Neame is a Psychiatric nurse with thirty years experience in the field of mental health. He believes that there has never been a period of time in history where the mentally ill have been treated worse. Himself a sufferer of bi polar, Winston Churchill once remarked that a society should be ultimately judged by the manner in which it treats it's mentally ill. Now what does that say about us?
Person E-Mailing for Help!!
I have a letter from a GP…..I'm meant to go to the Mater Hospital and they will refer me to a Psychiatrist or something. How long does it take to happen? How do I go about getting admitted into a hospital? I'm worried people will think I'm a weirdo if I end up being admitted. I lost a job last week because I was late for work a few times. I sleep so much and don't know why….it's starting to affect my life a lot. Where do I go from here?
MOTHER STORY
FANITA CLARK
Where do I begin by briefly telling my story?
I will begin by telling you we had two wonderful children. A daughter and son. We were typical parents who took the kids camping, fishing, holidaying, going on barbecues, and going to the beach. Taking the kids every year to the Ekka. We went to Dreamworld, Seaworld and to every other amusement park. We had lots of fun doing things with the kids.
Our life was happy but please don't misunderstand we were no "Brady Bunch" we still had our fights and arguments like normal families do.
Our life changed dramatically when our son was struck with mental illness and died 6 months later.
Our son went from a fun loving person to someone we didn't know. His personality and character changed to the point I his mother was afraid of him. He constantly verbally abused me and started to become extremely angry and aggressive. He would throw furniture, slam doors or go to punch holes in the walls. I didn't know how to handle the situation and when I approached the medical profession I was hitting my head against a brick wall. They seemed to place blame on me rather than focus on my knowledge of our son's condition. Outside of my direct family I could not tell anyone in fear that my son's behaviour would reflect on me being a bad mother. My husband was unable to cope with my son's behaviour and I would either ring my daughter or go and see her. She was my strength even though I knew it was very difficult for her. She would see me crying all the time and I knew this was upsetting her but I had nowhere else to turn. I tried desperately to get help for my son but no one was particularly interested and I was tormenting myself because I didn't know what to do.
I WAS ALONE.
Because of the lack of knowledge and understanding of our son's illness our son could take no more and laid himself on a train track. PLEASE UNDERSTAND I DO NOT BLAME MYSELF, FAMILY, FRIENDS OR SOCIETY BUT I DO BLAME GOVERNMENT for covering up the seriousness of mental illness. My case is not isolated. In Australia we are losing thousands of people by suicide each year. These people are not just statistics but dearly loved human beings loved by their family/carers/friends.
It is time to band together and together we will make changes to the mental health system that has devastated so many family and carers. Together we will build our care facility where no one will be denied treatment as they are today.
PLEASE HELP US TO HELP OTHERS.
Mr and Mrs Hawkins, aged 74 and 70 and married for 50 tranquil years, hopped out of bed at a bout 7am one chilly morning in 1999.
She began making tea and he headed for the backyard to collect some wood for the fire. The next thing Mr Hawkins knew, his hands were around his wife's throat and was strangling her.
Hawkins a retired mechanic, later told police he could not see his wife's face while he choked her to death - instead, on her shoulders was his own face, red and blotchy and with his hair standing on end. "I just went absolutely berserk," he told the court.
That behaviour, from a man with no record of violence and only a case of depression, was blamed by NSW Supreme Court judge on Zoloft, the antidepressant medication he had taken during the night.
Like millions of other Australians, Hawkins has turned to medication to relieve his depression - but now the drugs themselves are becoming a cause for worry.
Australians like to cultivate a national myth of relaxed confidence - but depression is big business for drug companies in this country.
More than 3.5 million Australians take some kind of antidepressant medication each year and Zoloft is the biggest seller, accounting for 23 percent of the $291 million in annual sales.
And the market is growing: in 1998, doctors wrote 8.2 million antidepressant prescriptions, compared with 5.1 million in 1990.
That boom was largely spurred by the arrival of Prozac, the world-famous "happy drug" that promised to banish depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic attacks and even eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa.
Prozac spawned dozens of imitation drugs, including Zoloft, which hit the market in 1991. The drugs, which are touted by their manufactures as a revolutionary new type of antidepressant, are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
They are said to create a feeling of well-being by increasing the brains level of serotonin, a compound which is believed to regulate moods
But the internet is littered with sites describing the dangers of the drugs; a mother telling how her 10 year old son was prescribed Prozac for mild depression and ended up threatening suicide; the story of a man who took Prozac to get over the strain of a house fire and ended up killing himself.
"I went from being abysmally depressed to totally manic in three days," writes a women on one anti-Prozac site
In the Hawkins's case, the court heard medical experts testify that Zoloft has caused hundreds of documented cases of agitation, aggression, manic reaction and psychosis.
Dr Healy from the University of Wales told the court SSRI drugs caused increased homicidal and suicidal feelings. In a study he conducted last year, Healy said two completely healthy volunteers with no history of mental illness had suddenly developed suicidal and aggressive tendencies on a low dose of Zoloft.
Zoloft's website warns "feeling agitated" is a possible side effect, along with "upset stomach, having trouble sleeping, diarrhoea, dry mouth, sexual side effects, feeling unusually sleepy or tired, tremor, indigestion, increase of sweating and decreased appetite".
But Pfizer says these side effects are so rare that Zoloft can be considered safe.
Sales of SSRI drugs have rocketed in Australia and now account for nearly 60 percent of the antidepressant market.
They are to be considered by psychiatrists to be much safer than the older style depression medication, such as dotheipin (sold as Dothep) and amitriptyline (sold as Endep).
Those older medications could be used in fatal overdoses -- whereas people have known to take entire bottles of SSRI and survived, says professor Phillip Mitchell, professor of psychiatry at the University of NSW and administrative director of the mood disorders unit at Sydney's Prince of Wales Hospital.
"SSRIs are very safe drugs and they are widely used, with minimal problems," Mitchell says. "If homicide occurs, that is a very rare event."
"It is very contentious that that can occur. On the other hand, aggression can definitely occur with these medications, but is still and uncommon event.
The benefits of antidepressants are much greater than the risks, according to Professor Ian Hickie, CEO Beyond Blue, the federal Government's national depression initiative.
"People with depression have a one in a six chance of being dead by suicide," Hickie says. "it's just wrong to say that the risks of drugs mean patients should not take them. Chemotherapy treatment for cancer kills people, but you don't remove the treatment from the market.
"People who are treated are far less likely to commit violent acts than people who are not treated."
There was no doubt that Hawkins killed his wife, but he will be released from jail on July 31, because the two years he has served on remand are sufficient punishment, Justice Barry O'Keefe ruled.
O'Keefe said he accepted that at the time of the killing, Hawkins was depressed about the death of his older daughter from breast cancer, and worried about an impending move.
"If anyone is so ill that they need such a powerful drug then they should be commenced on the drug in hospital and stabilized on the drug before they return home. This would save lives from both suicide and murder and used to be the practise when there used to be enough mentally ill beds. What is not popularly known is that when patients start on any antidepressant drug they may get worse for a few days until the drug builds up in their system."
Peter Neame WWA Researcher Officer
CD FOR SALE
A member of the WWA has released a CD of her feelings when dealing with depression. Veronica Tuxworth is a non-professional artist but has asked us to advertise her CD. The CD is called PESTRA and they can be purchased from Veronica Tuxworth at Email: songs@veronica.aunz.com or at Postal Address: PO Box 976 IPSWICH 4305
Memorial Service Decline
Below is a transcript between the WWA and the National Manager LifeForce Suicide Prevention Program regarding an invitation from the WWA to LifeForce to attend the recent `Sydney Memorial Service.
"Thank you for the invitation. Unfortunately I will be away for the week and no one from our Office will be able to attend, but I will send the invitation on to Head Office and see whether anyone from their can attend on our behalf.
It is a shame that people involved in our area of work do not cooperate more closely - LifeForce conducted a Memorial Service on 16th August, down at the Opera House, as we have done for the past four years. Having another event so close might well send out the wrong message.
I do remember calling you after the first service you did down in Canberra, and followed that call up by sending you an info package, but received no response.
I must admit that I think we'd service the community better if we all worked together, something to think about maybe.
Regards
Response from WWA to LifeForce:
"I am most disappointed with your response to our invitation. I did contact your Office and left a message a couple of times for you to ring me. At the same time Paula Duncan became involved with your organization and maybe the excitement overwhelmed the staff and the messages weren't passed on.
You are very correct when you say we would serve the community better if we all worked together however, we do not recall ever receiving an invitation to any activities LifeForce has held past or present. The White Wreath Association ensures that at every Momorial Service and White Wreath Day, all organizations are invited to attend. In fact we advertise many organizations on the day of services with placecards we paid for ourselves.
Our association receives no Government funding. All funds raised are through the hard work and dedication by an enterprising group of people all striving to make Governments and the general public aware of the epidemic situation of suicide in our country. Our support comes directly from the public Australia wide and our association is spreading quickly with Branches all over Australia.
We have created White Wreath Day for the victims of suicide which is on National and State Calenders throughout Australia marked for 29th May yearly. We hold Memorial Services as the coming Memorial Service to be held in Sydney as a lead up to White Wreath Day, 29th May so the people know and understand what White Wreath Day is when it comes around. We have travelled to Canberra twice, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast and now Sydney. These Memorial Services are held in open public areas so we reach everyone and we make it known that the White Wreath Association advocates changes to the disastrous Mental Health system we have in place today in our lucky country.
If you require further information regarding the White Wreath Association please check our Website www.whitewreath.com and we look forward to hearing from your Head Office".