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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now, a well known

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Speaker 1: territory and the lovely Donna Rusham. Good morning to your Donna.

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Speaker 2: Morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Now, I'm very well. I understand at the moment, I

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Speaker 1: know a lot of people will be aware of the

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Speaker 1: Starfish Swim Group, which is a learned to swim group

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Speaker 1: for kids with disabilities. I've had you on air before

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Speaker 1: and we've spoken about it. But Donna, at the moment,

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Speaker 1: you are in need of a bit of help.

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Speaker 2: Aren't you. Absolutely, I'm reaching out and I'm reaching out

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Speaker 2: to you. I've tried desperately through channels that I know,

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Speaker 2: different avenues, and I just can't seem to pick up

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Speaker 2: a person to get a person. Now, this is just

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Speaker 2: difinue it. This is a nationwide problem at the moment

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Speaker 2: with swims teachers. So I think to myself, well, yeah, okay,

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Speaker 2: we're behind the eight ball again, just even with off

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Speaker 2: swim teachers, just with the schools and whatever, they're really

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Speaker 2: short of teachers. I was talking to a lady in

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Speaker 2: Melbourne the other day and they've been doing eighteen hour

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Speaker 2: ships trying to run all their classes down there. So

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Speaker 2: it is a national problem. But I know Darwin and

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Speaker 2: I know Darwin can dig deep and we can find

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Speaker 2: somebody and through that, I think you're the person that

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Speaker 2: needs to bring well Donna.

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Speaker 1: I was thinking to myself, I no longer have my

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Speaker 1: own swim qualification. I think it's expired.

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Speaker 2: Otherwise i'd be able to help you. I think you

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Speaker 2: could go back and get it. I'm sure if you've

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Speaker 2: got a Saturday morning, you could go back and.

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Speaker 1: Get Donna tell us exactly what you need, because hopefully

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Speaker 1: there is somebody out there listening this morning who is

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Speaker 1: able to help.

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Speaker 2: Yes, okay, what we are, what we're after is a

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Speaker 2: teacher of infants and preschoolers, so the little one. So

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Speaker 2: it's a Saturday morning, it's run on the Saturday morning.

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Speaker 2: We've got our other classes running, but the Saturday morning,

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Speaker 2: so we got it's mums and bugs, infants and pre

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Speaker 2: up to preschoolers. So we've got six months. We start

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Speaker 2: with our first as a little group, so there's five

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Speaker 2: or six in a group, so six months to say

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Speaker 2: one and a half, and our next session is probably

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Speaker 2: one and a half to probably two and a half

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Speaker 2: somewhere there. Three then we've got a three four year

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Speaker 2: old and then a four or five, so there's four

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Speaker 2: different classes. Parents in the water, with the child, with

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Speaker 2: the teacher, and yeah, so it's a forty five minute session.

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Speaker 2: But within that time, if your child only lasts for

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Speaker 2: thirty minutes, that's okay, that's understandable. But we just said

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Speaker 2: it a little bit of extra time. Sometimes they were running.

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Speaker 2: You know, these are little kids, so they're unning a

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Speaker 2: bit late and the kids to get a bit cranky,

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Speaker 2: they want to get out whatever. So it's every Saturday morning.

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Speaker 2: We had a teacher last year, a most wonderful teacher,

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Speaker 2: and she relocated to Melbourne, so we're all, you know,

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Speaker 2: I'm getting phone calls every day. We got somebody. I

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Speaker 2: tried desperately because especially you'd understand we've got these little

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Speaker 2: kids who have been coming every Saturday morning and now

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Speaker 2: since I think the second week of December, we've had

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Speaker 2: no lessons and this is just not good little kids

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Speaker 2: to be out of the water.

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Speaker 1: No, And Donna, look, a lot of people listening this

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Speaker 1: morning will be thinking, hang on a second, Wilfi. You

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Speaker 1: don't usually do ads for different jobs, and I don't.

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Speaker 1: We're talking about a wonderful group of little kids. They

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Speaker 1: are our Staffish swim group, which is that learn to

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Speaker 1: swim group for children with disabilities, and these swimming lessons

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Speaker 1: are so incredibly important for them, aren't they.

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Speaker 2: It is now they don't have to have When I

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Speaker 2: go from like junior school six year old upwards, the

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Speaker 2: teachers then have to have their TAI, which is called

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Speaker 2: Teacher of Accesses Inclusions, so they must have their disability training.

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Speaker 2: But in this early stage group it's a little bit

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Speaker 2: more open. As long as they've got the teacher of

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Speaker 2: infants in preschool is qualification I swim qualification, they're right

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Speaker 2: to go with us.

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Speaker 1: Oh, Donna, I really hope that somebody out there listening

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Speaker 1: this morning has their old swim qualification and that they're

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Speaker 1: able to help out because, like I said, this this

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Speaker 1: Starfish swim group, it does so much for the little ease.

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Speaker 1: They just absolutely love being able to get out there

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Speaker 1: and go for a swim on a Saturday, don't they.

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Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely, If you got a chance here, I just

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Speaker 2: come any part any Saturday that you want to come.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's just amazing the kids that actually know,

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Speaker 2: the little ones, the babies. We've actually got probably about

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Speaker 2: an eighteen months old that knows by mum's actions on

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Speaker 2: Saturday morning that they're going swimming, and like they come

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Speaker 2: through the gate. There is a little pram stroller thing.

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Speaker 2: They come through the gate and it's like, I'm not swimming,

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Speaker 2: you know, the non verbal quite you know, with disabilities,

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Speaker 2: but it's just their face just lightens up. To know.

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Speaker 2: The hands go like, oh, I'm going to swimming lessons. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I just somebody we think. We didn't think that somebody

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Speaker 2: might have got transferred. That we weren't panicking until this stage.

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Speaker 2: So I wouldn't normally ring the radio station. I don't

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Speaker 2: agree in doing that, but in desperation, I've gone how

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Speaker 2: to we reach further out? Yeah, and other than the

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Speaker 2: ways that I've gone, So yeah.

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Speaker 1: I think it's fair enough. And Donna, you know, I'm

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Speaker 1: always always happy to try and help, particularly in a

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Speaker 1: situation like this, because, as you know, I love my swimming,

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Speaker 1: but I also think it's so incredibly important that our

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Speaker 1: little ones learn to swim. And when you're talking about

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Speaker 1: these little ones that do have disabilities, it is something

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Speaker 1: that they look forward to and that their families look

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Speaker 1: forward to and they really need.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well listen, and it's because they're a little small groups.

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Speaker 2: It really is is catered for their needs rather than

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Speaker 2: be in a big group whatever. The teacher can go

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Speaker 2: around each you'll give an instruction. Then you'll go round

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Speaker 2: each of the parents with their child and show them

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Speaker 2: what that instruction is and see where they're up to.

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Speaker 2: And so there's some individual within its little group session,

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Speaker 2: so they're pretty they're well catered for in that group.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, I really want to get this up and going.

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Speaker 2: And hope somebody's arrived in town or he's on a

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Speaker 2: flight just flying into day and hear it and go.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, Well, Donna, what's the Is there a Facebook

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Speaker 1: page or is there a what's the best way for

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Speaker 1: them to contact you? Well, look, I'm.

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Speaker 2: Happy to get my mobile to you.

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Speaker 1: Oh well, we'll keep it here at the station and

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Speaker 1: if anybody wants to contact us for that number, we'll

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Speaker 1: pass it on. And then there's also a Facebook page.

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Speaker 2: There is Starfish Variety NT Starfish Swim group, so they

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Speaker 2: can go on to there and they can see what

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Speaker 2: there's all the information about all our other groups and

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Speaker 2: everything on there. So and yeah, don't give me a

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Speaker 2: call or email or whatever they need to do, but

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Speaker 2: they want to ring you first, and then you can

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Speaker 2: pass the information onto them.

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Speaker 1: Well, Donna, I hope, I hope that we're able to

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Speaker 1: find a swim teacher for the Starfish swim group. It's

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Speaker 1: an amazing, amazing thing that you know, you guys do

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Speaker 1: for the Little East, So I think it's so important.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well they could all who's to know? They could

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Speaker 2: all go one day after you know, fifteen years and

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Speaker 2: be champions like Tarni.

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Speaker 1: That's exactly right. I was going to say, you know

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Speaker 1: better than anyone. You are the mum of a daughter

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Speaker 1: who's a world champion, so you know better than anyone.

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Speaker 2: Good on your daughter. It started in the water when

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Speaker 2: she was three months old, so who's to know with

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Speaker 2: all these other.

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Speaker 1: Little Yeah, that's exactly right, Donna Rusham. It's always lovely

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Speaker 1: to talk to you. I will talk to you again

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Speaker 1: very soon.

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Speaker 2: Likewise, Katie, and thanks for your hair, TIMD no worries.

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Speaker 2: Thank you,