July 1 marked one year since our two organisations Villa Maria and Catholic Homes united to become one and we are pleased to say the transition has been a successful one.

To acknowledge this great milestone, staff and volunteers from service sites celebrated the day with various events including a prayer service, Foundation Day cake and a rose bush planting service.

Someone who has been instrumental in driving this successful merger has been our inaugural CEO Greg Pullen and I want to take this opportunity to recognise his strong leadership during this time of transition.

Greg has advised that due to health reasons he will be resigning as CEO of VMCH on September 30, 2016.

He is also on leave until this time to concentrate on recovering from recent surgery – which I am happy to report went well and his prognosis is positive.

Until such time as Greg’s replacement has been chosen, I have willingly accepted the role as VMCH’s Acting CEO.

I hope you will join me in wishing Greg a full and speedy recovery and to thank him for undertaking his role with great skill and dedication.

Last month we told readers of this magazine about our Make a Splash campaign to raise money to transform our swimming pool used by adults and children with a disability.

I am delighted to say we have raised more than $270,000, which is more than halfway towards our target of $400,000.

Thank you to everyone who has generously supported this worthy campaign.

Our spring edition of Seasons shares more stories about the programs and support VMCH is able to provide to people of all abilities, largely thanks to the support of our generous donors.

The NDIS has recently started its full rollout throughout Australia and is a time of great opportunity for us as an organisation and the people we support. We share the story of one family and their NDIS dreams and how we hope to help them and many more families.

Michael Dillon

Acting Chief Executive Officer