After two years of Covid-related disruption and twice having to be rescheduled, it was a thrill to finally have the Lutheran Care team back together again for the All Staff Day on 20 October, 2022.

With the venue being the iconic Adelaide Oval, it was apt that staff were challenged to come along dressed in the theme of ‘Sport’. From a group of technicoloured tie-dyed hula hoopers, to a cheer squad and a gaggle of golfers, the teams showed great creativity and good humour in embracing the theme and getting into the spirit of the day.

Around 140 staff attended the event, which kicked off with a generous Welcome to Country and a Smoking Ceremony shared by Kaurna Elder Uncle Mickey O’Brien. He encouraged staff to share a gum leaf with each other to symbolise the sharing of knowledge and wished the group well for their day of learning, collaboration and leadership.

Another special guest, Bishop David Altus from the Lutheran Church of Australia SA/NT, joined the group to give a Blessing. He shared some recollections of his experiences as a young pastor in Queensland and encouraged the staff to keep trying and doing their best, because “you can make a difference in someone’s lives even though you might not realise”.

Chief Executive Officer Rohan Feegrade shared an extensive list of organisational highlights including new sites, and new and extended service offerings, all helping us to “build more communities, change more lives”. In just nine months, the number of Positive Behaviour Support clients supported through Lutheran Care’s disability services branch, Elcies Disability Care, had grown to an impressive 100. Mr Feegrade was proud of the organisation’s focus on early intervention and prevention and encouraged individual staff and teams to continue to innovate and find better ways to support people, particularly before they reach crisis point.

Guest speaker for the day was resilience expert and author, Stacey Copas, who shared how a diving accident at age 12 left her a quadraplegic and how she eventually learned to cope with and thrive through this change. Stacey shared how mantras, music and being grateful are important in keeping her grounded and positive. She also shared how a simple flip of the language we use can help us feel more positive, for example, we don’t “have to go to work tomorrow”, we “get to go to work tomorrow”. Stacey encouraged staff to rewrite obstacles as “opportunities”, problems, as “possibilities”, and shared that “when nothing is certain, anything is possible”.

Acoustic musical duo Mel and Rob provided the soundtrack for a networking lunch, with staff taking the opportunity to soak up some sunshine, add a message around what drives them at work to the inspiration wall and take some photos with colleagues at the photo booth.

The afternoon’s team building activity was the Helping Hands program, which challenged teams to put together a prosthetic hand for an amputee from a third world country. With every participant’s dominant hand rendered out of action through having to wear a stubbie cooler, completing the complex task required a high level of teamwork.

The day concluded with a series of awards and ribbons acknowledging the best dressed on the day across a range of categories.

Thanks to the Lutheran Care All Staff Day committee, participants, special guests and Adelaide Oval staff for contributing to such a memorable day, and we look forward to the next All Staff Day in 2023.