Afternoon Tea Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Ipswich Meals on Wheels

Ms Jennifer Howard MP; the Honourable Shayne Neumann MP; Mayor Pisasale; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure for Kaye and me to be here this afternoon, to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of Meals on Wheels in Ipswich.

This organisation today is a tribute to the initiative and enterprise of Rhoda Cameron. Many of you, especially the members of the Cameron family who have joined us today, will know of Mrs Cameron’s inspiring story.

Having seen a meal delivery service operating in England after World War Two, Mrs Cameron returned home and set about preparing two-shilling meals in her family kitchen here in Ipswich and delivering them to needy residents in pudding basins and thermos flasks.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that she would be truly astonished to see that Meals on Wheels now operates throughout Queensland and delivers one point nine million meals a year.

That is an extraordinary achievement and, as Governor and Patron of Meals on Wheels, I thank and congratulate the management committee members, the staff and, especially, the many hundreds of volunteers who have dedicated their time and effort to this service since nineteen fifty-six.

It is marvellous to see more than a hundred current and former volunteers acknowledged in today’s commemorative booklet and to see the organisation’s history re-told.

That history is a sixty-year record of successfully overcoming challenges, and while I know that there are new challenges such as tougher regulatory compliance, declining volunteer numbers, and the introduction of the Home and Community Care Program, I have every confidence that they, too, will be confronted with the organisation’s trademark determination.

This is a service which has always provided more than just a meal, and it is that care and compassion which is delivered with every meal that will ensure the future of this iconic service.

Congratulations to you all once again, you are truly wonderful, inspirational Queenslanders.