Knoxbrooke’s COVID-19 Taskforce continues to monitor events locally and globally and considers all new Federal and State Government announcements. The health and safety of the people we support and our staff is front of mind when undertaking such reviews.

Recent changes

Become a Zoomer!

Knoxbrooke has been trialling using Zoom at Yarra View Nursery and Knoxbrooke Outsource as a way of connecting with people we support whilst we follow Government advice and stay at home as much as possible. It’s been a terrific success and the groups look forward to connecting with each other through the zoom sessions. Over the coming weeks we will be building on this by having discos at home, scavenger hunts at home, meditation, yoga, karaoke and many other activities.

To get involved, visit our Facebook pages and join the private page. Below is a quick guide to get you started depending on which Knoxbrooke services you use:

Service area	Facebook page to like	Request to join Facebook private group
Basecamp	Knoxbrooke	Knoxbrooke Community
Achieve	Knoxbrooke	Knoxbrooke Community
Yarra View Nursery	Yarra View Nursery	Yarra View Nursery Community
Knoxbrooke Outsource	Knoxbrooke Outsource	Knoxbrooke Outsource Community
Mawarra Day Service	Mawarra	Mawarra Community
Jigsaw Industries	Mawarra	Mawarra Community
Waratah Gardens	Mawarra	Mawarra Community
Mawarra Op Shop	Mawarra	Mawarra Community

Jigsaw Industries

Knoxbrooke Board and management wish to advise that Jigsaw Industries was unfortu- nately shut down on 2 April for at least 2 months due to circumstances beyond our control.

We are extremely regretful that this decision has had to be made, however for the safety of all our employees, their families and the community, and for the long term survival of Knoxbrooke we must make these very difficult decisions.

Office arrangements

Both Knoxbrooke offices (Ringwood and Warragul) are closed. You can still call the main line and it will be redirected to Knoxbrooke team members working remotely. Payment of accounts in person is unfortunately no longer possible. Payments can be made through bank transfer, direct debit or cheques/bank cheques mailed.

Yarra View Nursery (partial) and Bushland Flora arrangements (partial)

Knoxbrooke Board and management wish to advise all Yarra View Nursery and Bushland Flora will continue to operate in partial, skeleton crew capacity with new social distancing and hygiene practices in place.

Mawarra Op Shop (partial) and sorting centre arrangements

The Mawarra op shop continues to operate on reduced hours 10am-2pm with a limit of 5 customers at any one time. The Sorting Centre will be closed to the public until further notice. Keeping the Mawarra Op Shop open is becoming increasingly challenging and will be reviewed after the Easter break. Once again, we would like to thank our wonderful volunteers for their assistance.

Knoxbrooke 365 support (in-home respite)

Knoxbrooke 365 continues to be available and has seen significant demand for this wonderful in-home support and family respite. 365 home care workers are available to provide restricted in-home support and are limited to working with no more 5 customers each. 365 staff are provided with hygiene kits and are required to observe Government guidelines having undertaken mandatory online training.

If you would like 1:1 in-home support by a 365 homecare worker, please email or call 0419 109 321 if residing in Melbourne’s outer east and or call 0418 311 516 if residing in West Gippsland.

COVID-19 Coronavirus and Knoxbrooke

Please be advised that Knoxbrooke does not have any cases or suspected reported cases of COVID-19 coronavirus. Should you have flu-like symptoms, please follow the advice of https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus and call the Government COVID-19 HOTLINE on 1800 675 398.

Please also alert Knoxbrooke through either the Knoxbrooke HOTLINE or email below:

HOTLINE: 0475 500 550
Email: covid19@knoxbrooke.com.au

For up-to-date information on Knoxbrooke services, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 website: www.knoxbrooke.com.au/covid19

Thank you for your continued support and we wish you and your family a wonderful Easter. Stay safe.

Kristian Dauncey
Chief Executive Officer

Next Scheduled Communique:  15 April 2020