For some, the donation of a few two-way radios might not seem like much.
However, this isn’t the case for the Tirkandi Inaburra Curtural and Development Centre.
If somebody's ... bitten by a snake ... we can now easily call the main site so they can ring for help.
- Thomas Hooper
Last week the Griffith Lions Club donated eight of the radios so that staff at the centre can communicate more effectively with one another.
Centre manager Thomas Hooper said the radios had been a big help.
“We're not wasting time walking around buildings now,” he said.
“We have over 15 acres here and the mobile service isn't that great.
“We can stay in the workshops and concentrate on programs more effectively.”
It’s not just time management that’s key for Hooper.
It’s the increased safety that these radios will provide.
“If somebody's out a fair way and they're bitten by a snake, it could take 20 or 30 minutes for someone to get help,” he said.
“Now we can easily call into the main site so they can ring for help.”
When Griffith Lions Club president Brian Bortolin and other members were invited out to the facility, he had no idea what to expect.
“They gave a big talk about what they do out there and how they help these kids and it was pretty inspirational really,” he said. “They’ve had they’re government funding cut back so we all got together and tried to figure out how we could best lend a hand.
“They said they needed some new radios, so we went back to our board, they approved it and that was that.”
The centre aims to get young boys back into school and Mr Bortolin said it was a shame not many people knew the work the centre was doing.
“They have a tremendous impact on these kids’ lives and their education,” he said.
“Ninety percent of kids who come through the doors end up going back to school, which is outstanding.”
