Manny's take on Finance and Payroll Manager Sally Wright

Sally started with CTS as the Administration Officer in March 2008 and since then has worked in all areas of office and student administration - she is currently the Finance and Payroll Manager.

Prior to working at Combined Team Services she was employed in various HR, payroll and administrative positions within private enterprise and government departments and was the Student Services Supervisor at Curtin University of Technology Kalgoorlie - VTEC.

Doing payroll and accounts keeps Sally fairly busy but she can always find time to catch a coffee and a chat with me. She also helps Karen, Monique and Angela with their student enrolments and reporting. Other than that I am not quite sure what it is that she does!

She recently completed her Certificate IV in Human Resources and the Quality Auditing Skill Set and would like to complete further study but is not quite sure what she wants to tackle next. Hopefully it will be something that we will find useful!

When not busy at work, Sally likes to spend time gardening,talking to her chooks, renovating and socialising with her friends. She also spends time surfing the internet for "useful" bits of information and playing Plants vs Zombies.

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Manny looks forward to the Labour Day Holiday - 5 March 2012

John B updates Manny on the latest news

Manny can hardly believe his luck - yet another Public Holiday!! He said it seems like only last week that he had Australia Day off but I did remind him it was over a month ago but I guess as he has had a trip to Kalgoorlie-Boulder recently that it just seems like he has days off all the time!

Whilst he has not yet made plans for the day, I am sure that someone from the office will take pity on him and invite him over for a weekend BBQ but time is running out for an invitation to be issued.

Although we all enjoy a paid break, we should remember that we have this day off to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. This day has its origins in the labour union movement which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation and eight hours for rest.

Want to find out more? Then follow the link to Wikipedia.

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Manny's take on Resource Developer Erica Childs

Erica Childs

Erica started at CTS on a casual basis in September 2009 after completing her Certificate IV in Training and Assessment with us. At that point she was mainly involved in the creation of our RPL assessment tools.

In 2010 she worked as a Learning and Development Consultant and co-delivered the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment course. She was also our student liaison officer, did coaching, mentoring and assessing and continued with the creation of resource development tools and manuals.

THEN, she decided she would prefer to work from home so she could spend more time with her young family and is now working solely on resource development for us.

Erica tells me that some of her best moments at work have been:

" -  working with fantastic students who all had amazing skills to offer - many wonderful topics and discussion through students training delivery sessions (many big laughs as well)

  - involvement with coaching and mentoring of students to the end of their qualification - very fulfilling to finally present them with their certificate! (ie to tell them it was all over!!!)

  - working with students who had 'given up' and working intensively with them to help complete their qualification

  - seeing students have a 'light bulb' or an 'ah-ha' moment, when they suddenly grasped an idea or concept - it was like they were moving to a new level

  - as for resource development - its a bit like putting together a jigsaw puzzle!! You have to take it apart before you can put it back together! Love the detail!!"

Before coming to us here at CTS Erica was an investigator with the Commonwealth Government, a travel consultant and an HR Officer with BHP.

Her qualifications include the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, Diploma in Frontline Management, Bachelor of Economics (Political Science Major) and a Graduate Certificate in Management. She also has a Certificate II in Sport and Recreation, Coaching Principles 1 and is an AUSTSWIM Teacher of Water Swimming Safety. As you can see she is a life long learner and we certainly can't wait to see what she tackles next!!

When Erica is not busy developing resources for us or burying her head in a text book, she enjoys travel and spending time with her young family whilst she tries to keep up with their ever increasingly busy social, music, dance and sports schedules. You can also find her paddling in a Dragon Boat and swimming at the Bunbury AUSSI Swimming Club. Her aim is to participate in the Busselton Jetty Swim in 2013 and I will certainly be there to cheer her on!

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Manny visits Kalgoorlie-Boulder, WA

Earlier this week I took a trip to Kalgoorlie-Boulder to check out the town and scope out some training opportunities for me and the rest of the CTS team. What a fabulous town!!! No wonder our students who come from there rave about the place.

The Superpit is enormous but I was only allowed a brief look at the gaping hole as one of the KCGM workers came up to tell us all to leave the lookout as there was a code yellow which meant there was lightening in the area and as we were on the highest point, things could have got tricky. And, as you know, being slightly rotund, I was a sitting duck for more than one strike. The township of Boulder was extensively damaged by the earthquake in 2010, especially the Boulder Town Hall, with so many of the buildings covered in scaffolding - a few working safely at heights tickets needed there! - it looks like it will be a while before the main street looks really good again. The Superpit Shop had some fantastic products for sale and a tricky mathematical problem for us to solve about how much the gold bar was worth at the daily gold price per ounce - it was a good thing there was a large calculator handy!

I also checked out two lunch places, a Hannan's Street tour and the WA Museum Head Frame and kept a look out for companies that may require our services.

Kalgoorie-Boulder is a large thriving city with plenty of training opportunities available so expect to see us in the area before too long. I've put a few of the happy snaps of my trip up for you to check out.

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Boulder Town Hall

View of main street from Head Frame

Coffee Club Kalgoorlie

Head Frame at the WA Museum Kalgoorlie

Super Pit

Quality Auditing Skill Set training commences 12 March 2012

Our popular Quality Auditing Skill Set is confirmed for Monday 12th March 2012. The course has 3 days of training with some assessments to be completed out of class. After attending the course and completing the assessments you will gain competence in 4 of the 8 units within the Diploma of Quality Auditing.

If you have completed the Diploma of OHS or other relevant Diploma level qualifications, you may be able to credit transfer the remaining 4 units and gain your Diploma of Quality Auditing. Any remaining units you need to complete can be undertaken on a flexible basis.

Orlando Fazzolari is the trainer for this course and he brings a wealth of auditing knowledge to the classroom. With our small class sizes you can be sure that Orlando will devote plenty of one-on-one time to help you gain this Skill Set.

Places are limited so if you would like to join the class in March, please call us on 9791 6611 or email us on training@ctsconsult.com.au . Additional information about the units and the qualification can be seen on our website.

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Manny's take on Learning and Development Consultant Sheryl Clarke

Sheryl Clarke

Sheryl started with CTS in September 2011 and it just seems like we have never been without her! She was quick to become one of the team and her "way out there" sense of humour ensures she keeps everyone well and truly on their toes. Sheryl is our main Resource Processing trainer and also facilitates our Safety Representative Course and helps our lead OHS trainer, Orlando Fazzolari, on some occasions.

The majority of her time is spent off-site seeing students and clients in the Greenbushes, Bunbury and Leinster areas. Rumour has it that she will soon shake the gold dust from her feet and head to iron ore country to train a whole new group of people, This could be a great opportunity for me to tag along, so, pick me, pick me, my mate Sheryl!

Sheryl also flies to Port Hedland and Newman to facilitate the SafeStart component of the BHP Blue Leadership Progam and is trying to emulate John Brom and earn enough Frequent Flyer points to get somewhere for free but it looks like it will take quite some while to amass that many points. Hard luck Sheryl!

Sheryl is also a great help to John Williams, John Bromham and Orlando Fazzolari when she assists them with their ThinkSafe Audits. And did I say she also does the Safety Representative course training? She is hoping that there will be more site-specific training in this area so she can travel to even more camps than she has already! So, if you are a site that requires a number of Safety Reps to be trained all at once you will probably find it cheaper to have us send Sheryl to your site to do the training there rather than pay all the associated costs to have your employees trained off-site. Interested? Call us on 9791 6611 and see how we can help.

In the couple of months Sheryl was with us last year, one student completed his Certificate IV in Metalliferous Mining Operations (Processing) under her guidance. Quite a few more are nearing the end of their traineeship so it looks like 2012 will be a good year for completions for Sheryl - check back this time next year for an update and see how she has done if you have not become a follower of the blog.

Sheryl's qualifications include the Certificate IV in Process Plant Technology and the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and if we ever need her to drive a forklift, she can!!!

When not busy on CTS's behalf, Sheryl is a recreational cyclist and can be see both here and overseas pumping the pedals. Her most amazing talent is that she can mirror write with both hands and sometimes when she leaves us messages we wonder if she would not be better off joining forces with Johnny English and becoming another 007!

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Classroom training in Certificate IV in Training and Assessment - still a few places available

Jeanette Denham

Jeanette Denham is back from Parental Leave!!!!

Next week Cluster 1 of our popular Certificate IV in Training and Assessment classroom-based course will be running and she will be the facilitator. This Cluster covers 6 of the 10 units needed to complete the course and Cluster 2 will run in March.

Prior to taking a family break, Jeanette was our Operations and Training Manager so many of you reading this blog should know all about her! We are glad to have her back on deck as she is a fantastic trainer - see our testimonial page and check out what her students have said about her!

We like small class sizes as it gives our students more one-on-one time with their trainer so although we are happy with the number enrolled so far, we could fit one or two more in!

So, call us on 9791 6611, take this important first step towards a more rewarding career and sign up for the class!

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Manny's take on Director Karen Williams

Karen Williams

Director Karen Williams runs the financial and RTO side of the business and has been doing so since she and John started up in Augusta in 1998.

Prior to opening CTS Karen managed two regional Telecentres in the South West for approximately five years and was an Internet and Computer Studies lecturer for TAFE. She spent time working and travelling around Australia during the 1980's and 6 years in Papua New Guinea. Whilst in PNG she taught music, played keyboards in a band and played the piano for international and local school choirs in Tabubil.

An advocate for not-for-profit organisations, she has delivered their programs and helped with fundraising. She is an active board member of Pathways and the current Vice President for the Bunbury chapter of the BNI. Prior to that she held the position of BNI Education Officer. AND she also manages to fit in being a member of the Network South West Business Club - she arrives late to work every second Friday as they all have breakfast together at the Lord Forrest Hotel!

Both Karen and John are passionate about their business and I have watched them grow from strength to strength. They and CTS are well known and respected through-out the training community and they continue to attract training and coaching contracts with many local and national companies.

When not working Karen enjoys dreaming up all sorts of fun team activities for staff get togethers, spending time with her family, kayaking, playing the banjo, piano and any other musical instrument she can get her hands on, bike riding, walking and cheering on the West Coast Eagles. Go Nic Natanui!!!!

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Mayhem at the Office!

We have had a really "trying" week at the office, just let me tell you about it!!

At about 1.30pm on Thursday 2nd February 2012 our phone lines and internet access just ceased to exist! A contractor in the Bunbury area damaged two Telstra cables which severed landlines in east and central Bunbury. Reports tell us that between 500 and 1500 customers were affected.

Eventually Telstra were able to divert one of our phone lines to a company mobile so we have had one line in to the business. If you have been trying to contact us but just haven't been able to, we apologise. For those of you who managed to make it through, well done!!! However, our internet came back up on Saturday night so you can reach us at any time on training@ctsconsult.com.au .

Although still not operating at our usual level we are finding innovative ways to continue to work as productively as possible and we are hoping that all our services will be restored by Friday this week. But last Thursday and Friday Karen and Sally just lost the plot - hopefully those of you they talked to managed to make some sense of what they had to say!

With no students around this week - the SHREP ones were here last week - Manny spent time trying to decide which course he should enrol in next. With safety being his passion, I am assuming something in the Occupational Health and Safety area but we'll just have to wait and see.

Don't forget, call us for all your OHS, Business, HR, Management and Resource Processing training needs.

CTS - where your training matters

Manny celebrates Australia Day 26 January 2012

Manny made time and took the opportunity to laze by the pool when Australia Day was celebrated last week.

Waving the flag

Kicking back

A paid day off mid-week certainly suits his lifestyle and was a great opportunity for him to take a 4 day break - not that he really needs one - he spends most days he is not helping Sheryl, Orlando, John and Rob slumped at his desk or chatting to the clients! The staff kitchen takes a bit of a battering as well!!!

Seriously though, he also took time to reflect on the fact that the day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and to check out who was on the Australia Day 2012 Honours List.

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Manny's take on Learning and Development Consultant John Bromham

John Bromham

John started at CTS in July 2010 and from day one has been flying in and out of Bunbury so we have hardly ever seen him! He is a coach and mentor for mining companies and also turns his hand to training in the nationally recognised qualifications in Management and Metalliferous Mining and the Skill Set for Mining Supervisors undertaken by our students.

When not with his students on or off site he can be found flying regularly to Port Hedland and Newman to assist in the facilitation of the SafeStart component of the BHP Blue Leadership Program. With all his flying back and forth across Australia and throughout WA he has amassed a HUGE number of frequent flyer points which he and his family will be happily using for an extended holiday later in the year. Way to go John!

He also helps John Williams and Orlando Fazzolari with their Thinksafe and OSH audits and some of the OSH Consultancy work.

Having a military background and a knack for getting himself in to interesting, sticky and odd situations, John tells a pretty good yarn and can have us laughing so much that our sides will ache (my sides are quite large so I do get a mega dose of aching!). Ask him about the parachute jump and see what you think!

Last year 2 students completed their qualifications under John's guidance - one in the Cert IV in Frontline Management and one in the Cert IV in Metalliferous Mining (Processing).

As John Brom lives in the Pilbara for approximately 20 days a month, he is seldom at home to do those things that Lesley his lovely wife has on her list. "Most women write lists and most happily married men do the jobs on them." John said. It could be that John knows that Lesley's list is getting longer so that's why he stays away so much!!

Seriously though, John is a family man who enjoys being with them when he is not working, throwing the ball for his mammoth of a dog, Rex, gardening, painting, doing whichever job on Lesley's list takes his fancy and the odd meal and movie in the Bunbury CBD.

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Manny's take on Managing Director John Williams

John Williams

John Williams is the Managing Director and guiding force of CTS, a business he started with his partner Karen Williams in 1998 whilst residing in Augusta, WA.

Prior to opening the business John worked in leadership and development within the mining industries in Papua New Guinea, South Africa and Western Australia. John has been very successful in gaining mentoring and coaching contracts with large organisations and he and the Learning and Development Consultants (but never me!!) spend a lot of time off-site in Port Hedland, Newman, Indonesia, Brisbane, Sydney, New Zealand, Mackay, within the South West and remote mine sites in WA and the NT. More contracts are in the pipeline to commence later in the year so if you call to speak to the trainers and they are not on-site this will be the reason why!

Even though John is currently spending 50% of his time off-site, he still conducts one-on-one and classroom training in nationally recognised qualifications. Last year 10 students completed their qualifications under John's guidance - one in the Certificate IV in Frontline Management, one in Cert IV in Human Resources, 3 in Cert IV in Career Development, 2 in Cert IV in Employment Services, one in the Diploma of Drilling - Water Well and 2 in the Advanced Diploma of Occupational Health and Safety. He also spends time conducting OSH consultancy and auditing contracts.

John is currently scheduled to facilitate the training for our next Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 of the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. These classes run from 20th to 24th February and 19th to 23rd March so if you would like to benefit from John's expertise please enrol as soon as possible as the course is already half full.

John's qualifications include the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, the Certificate IV in Human Resources, the Diploma in Frontline Management, the Advanced Diploma of Occupational Health and Safety and the Vocational Graduate Diploma of Management (Learning). His professional memberships include the Australian Institute of Training and Development and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

When not working in the business, John enjoys kayaking, golfing, fishing and enjoying the occasional glass of red wine when camping around the south west. His next adventure is to travel and camp on the Holland Track so be sure to ask him how it all went next time you see him!

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Manny's take on Receptionist/Administration Officer Angela Bruce

Angela started at CTS in March 2011 after completing a couple of months of "trialling" office work to see if office work was for her. Fortunately she liked working with us, so Coles loss was CTS's gain!

Ange is the first point of contact for most of our clients and students, so if you have called us in the last year you are sure to have heard her voice! She goes out of her way to assist our clients as much as possible and is pretty good at keeping the rest of us in line as well.

When not greeting clients and students, manning the reception area and organising our training room, she is busy completing her Certificate III in Business. Outside of work she enjoys camping, hanging out with her mates and travelling all over Australia. In addition she has 2 dogs who follow her everywhere - Ziggy and Milly.


CTS - where your training matters

Upcoming classroom training in Cert IV Training and Assessment

Classroom training dates for Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 in the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment are now available. Cluster 1 concentrates on six units of the qualification with the remaining four units being covered in Cluster 2.

Take the plunge and enrol today as places are limited - 50% of the places have already been filled so we only have 6 places available.

Cluster 1:  20/02/2012 to 24/02/2012
Cluster 2:  19/03/2012 to 23/03/2012

Call us on 9791 6611 or email training@ctsconsult.com.au to make an enquiry.

CTS - where your training matters

Manny's take on Learning and Development Consultant Lisa Donaldson



Lisa Donaldson

Lisa started with CTS in July 2009 and has proven herself to be a valued member of our team as she is truly multiskilled, turning her hand to just about anything she is asked to! She is our Traineeship Co-ordinator and is currently developing and implementing our on-line learning programs utilising the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS). In addition, she is a trainer and mentor for Cert II, Cert III and Cert IV in Business, Cert IV in Small Business Management, Cert IV in Business Administration, Cert IV in Frontline Management and Cert IV in Training and Assessment.

Her time is spent both on and off site as she has students outside the Bunbury area and also flies regularly to Port Hedland and Newman to assist in the facilitation of the SafeStart component of the BHP Blue Leadership Program.

As CTS flexible students can enrol at any time throughout the year, Lisa is pretty busy meeting students both on site at CTS and in their workplace, as well as keeping them on track to complete their qualifications by phone or by email.

Last year 12 students completed their qualifications under Lisa's guidance - one in Cert II in Business, one in Cert III in Business, two in Cert IV in Business, one in Cert III in Frontline Management and 7 in the Cert IV in Training and Assessment. 

Being the Traineeship Co-ordinator keeps Lisa very busy as she has to ensure adherence to strict government guidelines and only once she is satisfied that CTS has achieved these requirements will she give Admin the go-ahead to produce the qualifications. Last year Lisa kept track of more than 60 trainees and has now received notifications to commence additional students, most significantly in the newly funded Safety Officer traineeship.

Lisa's qualifications include the Cert IV in Training and Assessment, the Cert IV in Business, the Cert IV in Small Business Management and the Cert IV in Frontline Management.

When not busy on CTS's behalf, Lisa likes to spend time with her animals (cats, sheep, chickens and ducks!), hitting the open road on her motorbike, socialising with her friends and enjoying time in the garden.

"Hi Lisa

My time with CTS has been very adventurous, to say the least.  I have had loads of personal problems, specially when I had serious complications when my son was born.  That is when the staff at CTS rallied around and made sure that I had all the support I needed. 

Lisa drew the short straw when Annette left, with having to get me through.  That she did. !!! I couldn't of asked for a more patient and understanding teacher.  These ladies did their utmost to help me understand the course.  Lisa went way beyond the call of duty holding my hand coaching me every step of the way. 

I will always appreciate and admire Lisa for how she helped me achieve this qualification.  What a great role model. !!!

Thanks Lisa and the CTS Team for all your support over the time, and also for the great support when I was in coma after my son was born. I'll never forget you all !!! 

the very

Kindest Regards

Shane

Trainer and Assessor :)"

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Manny's take on Learning and Development Consultant Orlando Fazzolari

Orlando Fazzolari

Orlando started with CTS in July 2010 and since then has become a very valued member of the team - he can turn his hand to most safety related issues and is our lead OSH trainer. He is the trainer and mentor for Cert III, Cert IV and Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety and also facilitates the Quality Auditing Skill Set.

His time is spent both on and off site as he has students and clients outside the Bunbury area. He flies regularly to Port Hedland and Newman to facilitate the SafeStart component of the BHP Blue Leadership Program.

CTS flexible students can enrol at any time throughout the year, so Orlando is kept pretty busy when on site meeting, calling and emailing his students. Along with John Williams, John Bromham and Sheryl Clarke he also undertakes ThinkSafe audits for small businesses, predominately in the south west area. He is also part of the team that undertakes our OSH consultancy work and is a back-up trainer for our 5 day Safety Representative Course so yet more to keep him busy!

Last year 36 students completed their OSH qualifications under Orlando's guidance - one in the Cert III, 17 in the Cert IV and 17 in the Diploma. One student completed their Diploma of Quality Auditing. Photos of some of our graduates and their testimonials can be seen on our website, but a few are shown here.   

Jon Miller - Dip OSH

 

Julie Gaunt - Dip OSH



We anticipate Orlando will help even more students in 2012 as we have recently taken on a number of Safety Officer traineeships (lots more in the pipeline - sorry Orlando!) and our on-line OSH enrolments are proving very popular.

      

Andy McDonald - Cert IV OSH



Nu Phanupen - Cert IV OSH



Orlando's qualifications include the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, the Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety and the Diploma in Quality Auditing. 

 

Outside of CTS Orlando is kept busy being lead singer for local band Top Shelf, playing golf and enjoying leisure time with his family. 

  


"Hi Orlando

Thank you so much for your very welcome notification of my sucessful completion of Cert IV in OHS.

It has been my pleasure to be associated with CTS, an organisation I would have no hesitation in recommending as a training provider to any person or organisation. The professionalism shown by all staff is of a very high standard and in my opinion is enviable amongst your fellow providers.

I also take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to you. I consider myself very fortunate to have had you as my Facilitator and, especially, my mentor, you assisted me greatly to overcome difficulties that i considered too great to allow me to carry on and complete the work. I can honestly say that i am most fortunate to have had a very fulfilling association with you and look forward to continuing with further possibilities.

Kindest Regards

John"

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Enrolments still being taken for Safety Rep Course from 30/01/12 to 03/02/12

Our first Safety Rep Course for the year is being held between the 30th January and 3rd February at our Bunbury offices - 92 King Road.

Our interactive five day course provides the essential knowledge and skills that elected Safety Representatives and other relevant supervisory/management personnel require to work within legislation. By completing the course and being found competent in the assessment set at the end of the week, you will gain partial completion of the Certificate III in Occupational Health and Safety (BSB30707) and receive a Statement of Attainment for 6 of the 12 units with your Certificate of Attendance. If you decide not to undertake the additional task you will still receive your Certificate of Attendance for completing the course.

The cost of the course includes 5 days of training, a comprehensive workbook, free assessment against six nationally recognised units of the Certificate III in Occupational Health and Safety and morning tea, a light lunch and afternoon tea on all 5 days of the course. As a BONUS and in the interests of promoting safe work practices we are giving all participants on this course date a FREE St John's First Aid Kit for their car once all course fees have been paid and the course completed.

PLUS you may be eligible to receive a subsidy through the Construction Training Funding.

Places are filling fast as we had a heap of calls last week for this course date so call us now on 9791 6611 so you don't miss out!

CTS - where your training matters

Manny and the CTS staff ready to take on new challenges in 2012

Started back at work this morning  - admin support were also back this week, they took lots of phone calls so plenty of training coming up - no more time for relaxing for quite a while by the look of it! The trainers start back on Monday.

Had a fantastic holiday down south fishing and catching up with my mates. Windy Harbour was absolutely spectacular so I recommend the Windy Harbour camp ground to you all.

Will update you soon on upcoming course dates and the current CTS staff so you know who to ask for when you call!

Any one want to tell me about their holidays?

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Manny's final words for 2011

Thought I would just wish you all a very happy and safe festive season and let you see me in my new hat! Thank you very much Lisa for my pressie!

I'm really looking forward to 2012 as there are lots of exciting things coming up at Combined Team Services so there will be plenty to fill you in on. So, don't forget to come back in January to check it all out!

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Christmas Greetings from Manny!

Check out what me and the guys at CTS get up to!  Here we are dressed up as elves having loads of fun. http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/HLSCi2Z2DMHavy8n?cmpid=ey_url
(My mate is on annual leave and while Manny's mate is away Manny plays!!)


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