Robyn retires from Mary Mac's

After six years helping struggling Peninsula families and individuals, Ms Robyn Schacht of Mary Mac's Place has retired as project coordinator.

Ms Schacht of Hardy's Bay said that although she was looking forward to catching up with family and friends and having more time to pursue her interests and hobbies, she would dearly miss the friends she made with Mary Mac's Place volunteers and companions.

"I still hope to stay in touch with everyone at Mary Mac's Place but I know it will be tough now that we do not have the common interest of helping out with the charity," Ms Schacht said.

"My fondest memories of Mary Mac's are of the people - our companions and all our wonderful volunteers."

"I shall miss my Mary Mac's family more than I can say.

"However, retirement will mean that I can spend more time with my other family.

"I certainly aim to keep in touch with all the comings and goings at Mary Mac's."

Prior to joining Mary Mac's Ms Schacht was a family support worker for six years with Centacare Broken Bay's North Shore Family Centre as well as an employee of Centacare Broken Bay for 12 years.

"I hadn't heard of Mary Mac's prior to learning, through Centacare, of the coordinator's position becoming available," Ms Schacht said.

"I had moved up to the Central Coast in October, 2003, and was commuting to Centacare's Naremburn office."

Ms Schacht said she would like to thank everyone involved in keeping Mary Mac's Place alive and well and would be forever grateful for their steadfast support.

"The challenges Mary Mac's Place face for the future is in keeping pace with the ever-increasing need for our service and in planning for the years ahead," Ms Schacht said.

"I feel very confident that our new coordinator Christine will steer Mary Mac's to great success."

Newly appointed project coordinator Ms Christine Burge said she was looking forward to working and helping out her local community.

Ms Burge of Umina has been living on the Peninsula for 24 years and was aware of Mary Mac's Place and its generosity and support, but not the ever-increasing demand for the service.

"I have been working with youth with disabilities as a community work coordinator and commuting to Sydney," Ms Burge said.

"It's great to be back on the Coast and working within my community.

"I hope to bring compassion and knowledge of the hardships that may be affecting the less privileged members of our community.

"Having worked in community services for a number of years I have knowledge of services that we can refer people to.

"My roll will be to oversee the valuable service the volunteers give to companions who use this service

"I am looking forward to working at Mary Mac's - the volunteers and steering committee have been nothing but supportive.

"The non-judgemental attitude of the volunteers creates a real sense of community.

"I can already see the companions who use the service respond to and benefit from this tremendously."

Email, 15 Jun 2010 Christine Burge, Mary Mac's Place Email, 11 Jun 2010 Robyn Schacht, Mary Mac's Place