Centre for Participation board members elected 2022

The in-person event was a unique opportunity for the group, who like many organisations, had to face the difficulties of working remotely and COVID-19 restrictions throughout the year.

Four new community members were welcomed to the centre's board of directors, with the terms of board members Anne Bothe and Natasha Piskovatckova ending.

ByFive project manager Sally Marcroft, Dunmunkle Lodge Clinical Care manager Meredith Knoop, Rupanyup Rural Migration Initiative worker Sally Boyd and McCallum Disability Services operations manager Leigh Cooksley were the four new members to the board.

Centre for Participation board chair Ray Kingston said it was great to see interest in volunteering had recouped as the region made its path out of the pandemic.

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"I think that, at least anecdotally, a lot of organisations have struggled in recruiting people for those volunteer positions. We struggled last year," he said.

"To have four new quality members is really exciting. So it is a nice balance of new and stability.

"It was genuinely brilliant. Historically, AGMs can be a bit dry - but to sit in a room full of people and talk about an organisation that a lot of people have strong connections to, share a few nibbles and a light beer afterwards - it was a really lovely thing to do."

Mr Kingston said much of 2020 and 2021 we spent modifying the centre's existing programs in the face of restrictions.

However, the pandemic also provided an opportunity to consolidate the group's vision, and focus on what the group wanted to achieve.

"It was a challenging year. Some programs either had to be modified, or we had to back off on our expectations of what we could deliver," he said.

"Personally as a board member I found the year quite stressful because there was so much uncertainty.

"We had our Laneway Cafe, and we had to completely change what we were trying to achieve there. We were able to modify that and focus on home deliveries, but we had to let go of the shop front and that was sad, letting go of a vision - but it was the right thing to do.

"We have certainly spent that time consolidating and focusing on what we see to be our core purpose."

Centre for Participation chief executive Robbie Millar said the centre was in an improved financial position heading into 2022, and looked to build on the group's vision.

"Like many organisations, the global disruption of this year also gave us the chance to review all parts of our business with our long-term direction in mind," he said.

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"While any disruption can be difficult to manage, it gave us the opportunity to rethink what we do and finesse our vision for future development and stabilisation, so we can continue to deliver sustainable programs for our community in the years to come.

"Earlier this year saw the Board and management team further develop our vision for the future through the completion of our 2021-24 strategic plan.

"It brings together the insights uncovered during strategic planning workshops held in late 2020, exploring where we are now, where we're going and how we'll get there.

"Having solidified our financial position and as restrictions begin to ease, we are looking forward to continuing to building on our vision."

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