April: Month in Review
- GO Admin
- Apr 29
- 5 min read
April at GO was a month of celebration and reflection.
Easter
Right throughout the month of April, our participants got excited and got involved in preparing for Easter. A fantastic time of the year for art, crafts, enjoying the outdoors, and the company of others, Easter brought out the creativity, and the joy in everyone!
The GO Craft group kicked things off with some DIY Easter baskets, followed closely by other groups creating magnificent Easter bonnets and decorations for upcoming Easter celebrations.
Our Woodwork crew - having already worked so hard in the weeks leading up to April -- produced some absolutely stunning Easter ornaments which they came together with the Literacy Group to sell as a fundraiser for GO in Station Street, Seymour. We completely sold out of everything for sale on the day and couldn't thank the community more for their energetic support!
Then, on the Thursday before Good Friday Group Programs celebrations really hit their stride -- Easter activities were held throughout the day including Pin the Egg on the Bunny, Cornhole, Egg Role, and (of course!) an Easter Egg hunt. Support Worker Gaylene put in a massive effort as our 2025 Easter Bunny, bringing much joy and excitement to all participants.
ANZAC Day
Hot on the heels of the Easter long weekend, came ANZAC Day, a favourite of many participants who appreciate the opportunity to reflect on our shared history, and show ongoing support and appreciation for the generations come before us.
This year, Supported Independent Living participants Andrew and Carol proudly represented Goulburn Options at the Seymour Anzac Day Memorial Service, and laid a wreath on behalf of the organisation. We'd like to thank Andrew and Carol for being excellent representatives on the day.
Art, Art, Art!
April also saw two massive events for GO Art, and all our Goulburn Options Artists. On Tuesday 15th April, in celebration of World Art Day, we hosted an Online Art Sale across our Instagram and Facebook pages. 25 artists each contributed a work to the sale, of which 14 were sold - a total of over $700 going directly into the pockets of our artists. Our community (and art fans!) really amazed us with their support, and we offer huge thanks!
And then, of course, it was time for the Tastes of the Goulburn Festival - an annual festival held right here in Station Street, Seymour, promoting local growers, farmers, wineries, foodies and artisans. Goulburn Options was once again proud to be a part of the festival, as we opened our studio doors wide and invited attendees into our Pop-Up Art Show.
The biggest art show of our calendar year, our artists spend months in advance of the show producing large bodies of work to display and sell. Our participants also take the opportunity to talk to exhibitiongoers about Goulburn Options, giving guided tours of the buildings, and spruiking all that our organisation has to offer. From manning the reception desk to taking payments, and promoting their wonderful artworks, our participants did an absolutely fantastic job on the day! Well done to all GO Art participants and staff for the immense amount of work involved in putting on such a spectacular show.
And thank you to everyone who dropped by to check out the show -- we especially thank everyone who got involved with our inaugural Community Canvas! As a part of the show, we invited everyone to contribute a painted flower to a large canvas which will soon be displayed in the foyer of 16-18 Station Street. This bright artwork will serve as a reminder of Goulburn Options' place in the community, and all the love, support and connection people have with our mission of supporting participants to live their Biggest Lives Possible!
Survey Time
As a part of Goulburn Options' ongoing commitment to improving our services for all - participants, employees, volunteers and community members alike - we are always looking for feedback. Whilst the feedback we receive regularly through our staff meetings, feedback forms, emails and meetings are so, so valuable, we also make sure that every year, we seek formal feedback from all our stakeholders.
In April, we kicked off 2025's feedback cycle with our Employee and Volunteer Surveys -- and the results are in! Overall, both our employees and volunteers are overwhelmingly satisfied with their employment at Goulburn Options and offered thoughtful responses to how we can continue to improve. We saw an increase in engagement across both surveys and notable improvement in responses related to communication and culture -- an absolutely fabulous response borne of all the hard work completed by our team in the past twelve months. We are now in the process of incorporating opportunities for improvement into our annual planning -- our workforce can expect to see more specific focus on workforce development and supervision.
Next up in the survey schedule is our Participant Survey, which is live now, until May 9th. All Goulburn Options participants are encouraged to tell us what they love about GO, what could be improved, and share their ideas for making our service even better!
Welcome to the Team!
As if all that wasn't enough, we welcomed new members to our administration team and Board this month!
Joining the Goulburn Options Board are Jane Challis, and Michael Molony, who will be stepping into the role of Treasurer.
We also welcome Kacie Graham as our new Programs and Community Team Leader and can't wait to see what her dedication and experience will bring to our Group Programs and participants.
Phew!
What a month! It's amazing that so much can be packed into only a few weeks -- and that's on top of all the usual activities, outings and events which happen at GO each and every day! As we head into May, the forecast is looking colder, but GO doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon -- in fact, we've got even more in store, so make sure you stay tuned!
If you'd like to follow along with Goulburn Options, and all our participants get up to through the month, make sure you follow us on Facebook and Instagram for regular updates.
Until next month!
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