Maggi Barnard

Compassionate and dedicated are two words commonly used to describe McGrath Breast Care Nurse Dianne Green. Her tire- less contribution to the community was officially recognised on Australia Day when she was named the 2017 Citizen of the Year.

Dianne offers support to breast cancer patients from the time of diagnosis to be- yond recovery, and extends this support to the patient’s family and loved ones as well. Dianne said the community response to her award made her realise how many people she has supported, and just how far-reaching breast cancer is.

Her proactive approach to her role, such as facilitating support groups, and hosting and catering the yearly field of women morning tea demonstrates her extraordinary commitment and care to her clients.

“It’s a traumatic time in their lives, so I want to make a difference to them, especially being so isolated out here,” she said.

Although nursing is a vocation that runs in the family, Dianne’s role as a breast cancer support specialist grew out of a real need within the community. When she was working as a community nurse, a number of her patients received breast cancer diagnoses, and she found she didn’t have all the an- swers. Her desire to support her patients spurred her to complete a Grad Cert in 2007. Then, in 2011 the McGrath Foundation funded a breast care nurse for the re- gion, and Dianne was appointed to the role. She completed a Master’s Degree in 2013.

“When I went for my Masters it was about learning to identify areas of need, it took a lot of family time away, but my family is very supportive of my work, and that makes a huge difference.”

“It’s a huge privilege to be able to give back to the community,” she said. “I really love what I do.”

By Raen Fraser

Duncan Clement is a man of many talents. The multi-instrumentalist is very proactive in the local community arts scene, but he’s not one to blow his own trumpet. Which is why it really struck a chord when he was awarded the Parkes Shire Adult Cultural Award in recognition of his contribution to music in the Parkes Shire.

“It was a big surprise, I was not expecting the nomination at all,” he said, “And I really wasn’t expecting to get the award.”

Duncan’s involvement with the Parkes Shire Concert Band goes way back to 1986 when it was called the Parkes Town Band, but life and other duties led him elsewhere. He has been back for about three years, and for the past two of those he has volunteered as the music director for the Parkes Shire Concert Band, as well as for Lachlan Valley Pipes and Drums. Duncan also runs the Parkes teaching band learners group.

For Duncan music has always played a role in his life. “I had piano lessons when I was five or six years old, and then decided to learn the trumpet when I was at high school. I played music throughout school and for the HSC, and then studied at the Newcastle Conservatorium for one and a half years.”

Duncan said music was reasonably accessible in Parkes, but it often competes with other activities, like sports. “Everyone should give an instrument a go at least once in their life,” he said. “There’s plenty of teachers around town.”

Duncan works as a mechanic by day, but still manages to give so much energy and enthusiasm to local bands because it is something he really enjoys. “If you love something it’s not an effort,” he said.

By Raen Fraser

Netball is ranked as the leading women’s participation team sport in Australia for 15 to 24-year-olds. It is a great sport to develop health and fitness in a team based environ- ment regardless of the level of competition. Like any sport there is an inherent risk of injury. National insurance data indicates that as high as 25% of all major injuries are at- tributed to Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries. Furthermore ACL injury comes at high physical, emotional and financial cost to the athlete.

The ACL is the main stabilising ligament in the knee. Females are four to six times more likely than males to rupture this liga- ment. There is also further risk associated with athletes participating in sports involv- ing deceleration, pivoting and twisting. This means that netballers have a high risk of in- jury to the ACL and lower limbs.

Research tells us that 50 to 70% of all ACL injuries can be prevented with neuro- muscular training programmes. These types of programmes are basically designed to improve the strength, flexibility, control, balance and co-ordination of the athlete. Not only can they decrease the incidence of lower limb injuries, they have the added benefit of enhancing performance.

With this in mind Netball Australia, along with the Institute of Sport, has developed the KNEE programme to provide education to coaches, players and parents. The KNEE programme is a netball specific neuromus- cular training programme and can be ac- cessed at www.http//knee.netball.com.au.

Whether you are a coach to your child’s netball team, support staff, athlete or parent, this programme is designed to keep players on the court for longer and moving more ef- ficiently when there.

Linda Reilly