I am writing to tell you not of a business partnership, but of an enduring friendship.

Ken and I met in 1993, I was from the Gold Coast and Ken from Rocky. We met on the QUT campus just outside of Brisbane. Ken was totally the cowboy; he wore his cowboy hat and cowboy boots everywhere he went around campus. We were brought together and bonded by that form of bad choices and good luck, for which there is no therapy, only more commitment. For me it was a bachelor degree in social science, and for Ken, a psychology student at that time, the program had use work together on human develop and a range of other things.  

​

This, a number of takeout pizzas and an endless discussion that explored many subjects and the purist of happiness, which only young men know! I met his Family on a trip Byfield , where Ken laid out what country living was all about.

​

Ken then was married and had two children, each born with a disability. By this time, I had started a small consultancy in quality management and project work in disability. We have worked together many times, such as speaking engagements on the value of friendship with securing the future for families and people with a disability. Ken opened opportunities for me to support his ground breaking research on epigenetic and PSTD, which we continue to discuss till this day. I would like to think that in the future we will still continue working on this emerging area of work, as we know that genetic disorders is currently under recognised. We will do this by working with people on the social impacts and social barriers that arise and experienced by people with disabilities and their families. Here we are in the position to do this, as we form up a partnership going into NDIS. Unsurprisingly this has come about by Ken and I returning to QUT, to complete our Masters of Social Work. Now we go to restaurants for pizzas.       

​

Now and into the future, with our strong partnership, our vision is for More Than Normal, to provide resources to families and people with disability in the Rockhampton area. This intentionally includes, the defence services families and individuals who service our nation. We intended to develop and deliver resources, to support self-management, and self-direction, in ways that achieve individual goals, as well as enhancing health and using the lessons learnt from the field of , and services leadership, giving you greater access to enhance your skills and knowledge for greater independent living, and enjoying better health, wellbeing, social and community connectedness.

​

At SwiftGroup, Ken has leadership as our expert on stress, PTSD and coping strategies. We support Ken’s vision of a conference centre on his property. We look forward to opening the SwiftGroup Northern Hub, to provide families with retreats and workshops. The first step towards this is working together to design an accessible conference centre and cabins.

​

SwiftGroup is also there for you when things go wrong. We are in a position to provided mediation, to rework your vision plan and support with your agency. We advocate for you on both an individual and systemic level, we can engage and assist you in navigating agencies and systems across your life with NDIA and Centrelink; as social workers we can provide a holistic support. We want to bring about the community that we should be living in, where we have the freedom and the support to pursuit our happiness. This can achieved, with personal and technological support that can then connect and enable your community social and economic life, and thus completing a circle of belonging, that enhances positive health and wellbeing.

​

Through all of this, our friendship will endure the road head. So if you are currently involved with Ken in therapy and wondering where it's going or if you are a person with a disability that Ken is talking to, my personal message to you is that “He gets it !" - as a parent and as a person who is on the journey to completing the circle of health and community.