It’s all about champions in the making

CARDINIA mayor Bill Ronald has commended former Windermere chief executive Ray Canobie for his selflessness in life.
Cr Ronald said it was important that Mr Canobie be recognised for his service to Windermere.
“Important people should have things said about them,” he said.
This is well said.
Ray Canobie, however, is the last person to seek praise for his work.
His passion was in doing the things he did and his frustration was in not getting things to work out, as they should have for the community.
So he made many things happen that may have gone through to the keeper.
One amazing thing about his work is that Windermere went on with the job when government funding was not always readily available.
This to a degree was a part of Kids in Crisis.
But of late, the Kids Becoming Champions (KBC) program comes from Windermere’s own fundraising.
Ray saw a great need for this program and people such as Windermere’s inaugural chairman Peter Meeking, former treasurer and chairmen Kevin Thomson, Brendan Rice, and current chairman Carl Strahan, with help from the Windermere Auxiliary, had set the scene for fundraising projects that established the basis for the support needed.
Ray was to drive the programs forward to what is now considered to be a necessary part of welfare in the southeast.
It is simply a case of identifying children at risk and seeing them through.
KBC at least shows children there is another way, assures them that their predicament is not their doing and that they have the same rights as anyone.
Cr Ronald said local government restructure was a disaster for many people, including Ray Canobie, the council and the whole region.
“We had in Ray one of the best chief executives in the place, but one of the upsides of restructure was that Windermere got Ray Canobie.
“Windermere at the time had a whole range of problems and Ray was the perfect person to take on the job of sorting it out,” he said.