THE ACHIEVER Retina Australia Victoria Registration # A0002991 W SPRING EDITION OCTOBER 2007 ROSS HOUSE, 4TH FLOOR 247 - 251 FLINDERS LANE MELBOURNE VIC 3000 PHONE (03)9650 5088 FAX (03) 9639 0979 Email: support@retinavic.org.au Web site: www.retinavic.org.au INSIDE From the President AGM Reminder Tax assistance Social Functions Cars of the World Spectacled Owl Badge World Retina Day Christmas Raffle Christmas cards Great Ocean Road Tour Retina International RECORD PROFIT & MAJOR FUNDING BOOST Retina Australia (Vic) Inc. receives $112,000.00 donation from the Victorian Ladies Bowling Association! Professor Robyn Guymer to speak at the Annual General Meeting read more on Page 3 From the President As taken from the 2006-2007 Annual Report This year marks my second year as President of Retina Australia (Vic) Inc and it continues to be a pleasure to work with a great team of Council members, staff and our volunteers. The past year has seen many significant achievements in our organisation’s life, and also in the wider world of eye research. An early milestone of the year was securing funding to enable Professor Gerald Chader to make the trip from the USA to speak at Retina Australia’s biennial Congress held in Canberra in September 2006. Council has set a number of goals to achieve. The two main goals are to become more financially stable and secondly to improve on our governance. Never an easy task, particularly as a volunteer organisation, however I believe we are now well on the way to achieving this. This year we have commenced a new fundraiser called Magic Mania. This fundraiser has already proved quite beneficial for Retina Australia (Vic) Inc in providing us with a solid amount of income for the latter half of the financial year. The organisation bounced back from a disturbing loss in 2005-2006 posting a Nett Profit for the 2006-2007 year of $21,052.86. This is an outstanding result, which comes from increases in revenue from a number of fundraising areas including Owl Badges, Entertainment Books and the Cars of the World event. The year also brought an office move. The new office, which is located just down the hallway from our old one is now functional and more user friendly to all, with space for people to mingle and provides a good work environment. In anticipation of a donation from the Victorian Ladies Bowling Association*, Council has approved the purchase of a number of office upgrades. New software items include a computer back-up system, three LCD monitors, and upgrades to the MYOB Accounting system. For a long time now the accounting system within MYOB, has been based on a cashbook approach. This year Council and Julie-Anne Adams (part-time Administration Officer) has created a new Chart of Accounts. What seemed like an easy task became an arduous one, however we are now able to generate better financial reports which assists our quest for better governance. The Achiever newsletter has changed editorial ship in the past year with long-serving volunteer Kate Giles retiring from her position; however, the quarterly newsletter has continued to achieve great member feedback. Part of our three-year Strategic Plan was to undertake a Membership Survey, completed by members in May. Jane Evans took on the task of collating the data and providing Council with analysis. Comments from the survey are listed further in the Annual Report. Our very active Council has also looked at our Model Rules, which are now, in some areas quite dated & a revised Constitution has now been prepared. Retina Australia (Vic) Inc now sees itself in a most beneficial financial position to look forward. Our aim for the next year is to continue to develop this solid financial base, enhance our professionalism and governance and further develop our ability to raise awareness and fundraise for research. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the support of my Council members including Jane Evans, Graham Owen, Fiona McNabb, Jim Parke, and Bill Dear, Leighton Boyd and Rosemary Boyd & all others for their support across the 2006- 2007 year. The vision is ours, Charles Rogers President 2007 Annual General Meeting Reminder The Annual General Meeting will be held next Saturday 13 October at 1.30pm in the meeting room on the third floor of Ross House, 247-251 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. We are very fortunate to have Associate Professor Robyn Guymer from the Centre for Eye Research (CERA) in Melbourne as our guest speaker. It is not too late to register your attendance. Please come along and hear all of the latest information about eye research. There will be opportunity to ask questions. Achiever Editorial Committee The editorial committee hopes you have enjoyed this edition of the Achiever. Your feedback is always most welcome. Editorial Committee Graeme Lawry, Shirley McGregor, Deb Thomas, Carmel Georgalas, Jocelyn Davies, Stephanie Rosenfield, with guidance and support from Council. Achiever copy deadlines 15 November – December IssueTax help for people with a print disability e-tax Prepare your tax return or baby bonus claim by computer, using screen reader software, and lodge online. Download e-tax from the Tax Office website at www.ato.gov.au Tax Tapes AUDIO summaries of TaxPack, TaxPack supplement and Retirees TaxPack are available on tape. TaxCD AUDIO summaries of TaxPack, TaxPack supplement and Retirees TaxPack are available on compact disc. TaxDisk TaxPack, TaxPack supplement and Retirees TaxPack are available on DISK for computers with screen reader and speech synthesiser. Cars of the World Point Nepean Quarantine Station Portsea, Mornington Peninsula Sunday 2 December Enjoy a picnic with the family inside Australia’s oldest intact Quarantine Station – the new home of Retina Vic’s annual awareness event. Arrive from 10:30am Entry is $10 per person or $20 family/couple Further details via the office or on www.carsoftheworld.com.au hone the office on 9650 5088 if yo Remaining SOCIAL dates for 2007 will be comingso that we can save 6 December Young members 11 December Christmas drinks Member, friends and volunteer Christmas lunch Spectacled Owl Badge arrives The 2007 Owl Badge has arrived in the office. This year we are featuring the “Spectacled Owl”. If you would like an owl, the price remains at $2, please send a stamped self-addressed envelope with your request, and payment, to the office. This large round-headed forest owl, has an unmistakable face pattern that accounts for its name. Its most typical call is a series of rapid, low- pitched hoots. The Spectacled Owl roosts by day on a branch and hunts at night. Prey includes insects, tree frogs, birds, mammals, and in mangrove forest, crabs nests in a large hole or cavity in a tree. Can be found from Mexico south as far as N. Argentina, Paraguay, and S. Brazil. If you are willing to sell these owls to family and friends simply ring the office on Mondays or Thursdays with your request so that this can be accommodated. To date we have a wonderful collection of Owls established during the last few years. For those of you who have purchased one each year, who knows, they may be a collectible item in the future and worth a considerable sum of money for a complete set. World Retina Day Once again this year, World Retina Day was celebrated on the last Saturday in September. The Australian slogan “Give two hoots about Blindness” was circulated throughout the media and as mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter, the 2007 Owl was launched. Many Chemists and Optometrists throughout Australia are now selling these Owls on our behalf and this program commenced from 29 September in accordance with world Retina Day. Christmas Raffle Shortly all of our members will be receiving raffle tickets to purchase, or sell to family and friends. This year we will be combining the annual Christmas Raffle with the raffle being held alongside the Cars of the World event. Prizes are still being finalised but you can be sure that one of the prizes will be the magnificent Christmas Hamper which is donated every year by one of our long-time members. Be sure to enter for your chance to win. Christmas Cards This year the Council has decided reluctantly not to purchase any new stocks of Christmas Cards. There are many reasons for this but a major one is that we do not have a volunteer who is able to look after this very time-intensive project. As a consequence we have sent most of our remaining stock to the regular card shops and have a limited number of “mixed” sets of cards available from the office. If you are interested in purchasing any of these sets of ten cards for $3, please contact the office for further information. GREAT OCEAN ROAD – 75 YEARS OLD The VACC 75 Years Great Ocean Road Celebration Tour will commemorate the Official Opening of the World’s Largest War Memorial from 25-28 November. Members and friends of Retina Australia Victoria are invited to join in on the celebrations as they pass through South-west Victoria. Forty vehicles built prior to 1933 – including the Minerva illustrated above will take part in the four day tour. Day 1: Melbourne Docklands to Torquay Day 2: Torquay to Apollo Bay – 75 years on to the day (26 Nov 1932) Day 3: Apollo Bay to Warrnambool Day 4: Warrnambool to Portland There are many highlights throughout, including celebration events in most townships along the road. Most notably is the re-enactment of the Official Opening at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Lorne. Full details of the tour can be obtained from the office on 9650 5088 or by emailing enquiry@carsoftheworld.com.au Collector lapel badges marking this special event in Australia’s history will be available for purchase by members shortly. Sales price list Entertainment Books Melbourne $60 Geelong and Ballarat $50 Other regions/states $50-$60 Key Ring Light Chains $4 Owl Badges $2 Owl Badge Collector boxes (limited supply) $20 Retina Victoria Commemorative spoons $5 Range of Christmas Cards $3 per pack of 10 Time to prepare for treatments for inherited Retinal Diseases Press Release by Christine Fasser – President, Retina International World Retina day took place on Saturday, September 30th 2007. This year’s event marks a time of extraordinary development in the global effort to find treatments and cures for Inherited Retinal Diseases such as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). These conditions affect people of all ages from infancy through to adulthood and although they are generally genetic they can also occur sporadically in patients with no family history of the disease. Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is part of the family of Inherited Retinal Diseases which cause the retina to degenerate over a period of time specific to each individual. The more time goes by without treatment the more sight is irreversibly lost. However, hope is now very definitely in sight. This year, for the first time, clinical trials for RP are taking place in several countries around the world. With leading researchers and clinicians at the helm of these projects we are confident that a cure or therapy for these conditions is within our reach. Now with more projects reaching human clinical trial stage patient involvement is more crucial then ever to the development of potential therapies. On World Retina Day, Retina International, an umbrella group of patient-led organisations concerned with Inherited Retinal Degenerations from all over the world will call on governments to establish patient registries. Without these registries, potential treatments and cures can not be further developed. Clinical trials face major financial and legislative difficulties and it must be the task of each countries government to become involved in the process from proper genetic diagnosis and genotyping through to establishment of registries. If this issue is not addressed now, millions of people around the world and future generations may never have access to treatments. Clinical trials investigating the potential of Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT-CNTF) are being conducted by Dr. Weng Tao and her team at Nurotech, Long Island in the United States. This trial is showing huge promise as a potential treatment for RP. Groups in Germany and the United States working on clinical trials that hope to restore sight to the blind through the use of a retinal microchip implant. Also, at University College London Prof. Robin Ali and his team have commenced a clinical trail looking at a potential gene therapy for a specific form of RP (RP65) It has taken the international retinal research community more then thirty years to reach this exciting point. With so many clinical trials on-going and more approaching this vital stage in their development, patients now have a real hope of a brighter future. The establishment of patient registries is essential to the translation of these research projects to realistic therapies that will not only treat patients but will also have added economic benefits. As inherited retinal degenerations mainly affect the working population, treatments options will allow those affected to re-enter the work force and fully contribute where they may otherwise have had to depend on social services. Millions of adults and children are waiting for treatment for retinal inherited disease and with treatment options becoming a reality the time for action is now. CHANGE OF ADDRESS OR OTHER DETAILS To advise change of address or name, please enter your new particulars below. Then mail the whole of this page, which includes your existing particulars, to: Retina Australia (Vic) Inc., 247–251 Flinders Lane, MELBOURNE VIC 3000, Fax to 03 9639 0979 or email to support@retinavic.org.au NAME: NEW POSTAL ADDRESS: ............ POSTCODE: ............... TELEPHONE/S: ..................................................................... NEWEMAIL: ........................................................................