Chairperson Rotarian Lyn Sickerdick with our guests from the Australian Lions Hearing Assistants Dogs. One in six Australians suffer from some form of hearing loss and this number continues to rise. Of these some 400,000 are dealing daily with the isolating challenges of severe or profound deafness. This means the services delivered through producing trained Hearing Assistant Dogs are needed now more than ever. David Horne the CEO of Australian Lions Hearing Dogs and trainer Nick Liemandt with Will the Terrier cross Hearing Assistant Dog showed Murray Bridge Rotarians the benefits of their program last night. The dogs take 6 to8 months to train at the Verdun Dog Training Centre the only one of its type in Australia. They are trained to respond to different sounds like alarms, the doorbell ringing, the baby crying etc. It costs about $37,000 per dog to train and the dogs are made available free to suitable users. There is a waiting list of 2 to 3 years and extensions to the Mt Barker Road facility are on the horizon. Lions run the program and Rotary as well as other service clubs assist. To date 267 dogs have been placed around Australia from this facility.

 

 

 

Stepping stones into Nature program conducted by Tricia Curtis from Trees for Life on Friday at the Murraylands Migrant Resource Centre in 5 Second Street Murray Bridge.

Topics include composting, fertilisers, mulching and potting mixes.

 

  

 

 

 

 

David Price will have a table set up each Tuesday meeting for to receive money & slips from members. If you can put a notice in the Bulletin in this regard, advising that payment can be cash, cheque or EFTPOS, that would be most appreciated.