United by a commitment to supporting others and a philosophy that community is built on compassion and connection, Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce alongside his wife Liz have championed that message as joint Patrons of AnglicareSA for the past 10 years.

A Patron of a for purpose organisation such as AnglicareSA serves in an ambassadorial role, leveraging their community profile to lend their name and standing to an organisation to enhance its reputation, credibility, and visibility.

AnglicareSA CEO Grant Reubenicht said the organisation was deeply honoured that Kevin and Liz had accepted the role of Patrons of AnglicareSA.

“We are sincerely grateful for the active involvement in amplifying the impact of our community work,” Grant said.

A distinguished naval career later followed by seven years as Governor of South Australia, Rear Admiral Scarce has said that leadership is about service – service to your people, your community, and your country.

“In our lives and through our various roles over the years, we have had an opportunity to look at lots of communities throughout South Australia,” Rear Admiral Scarce said.

“What sticks in your mind is those who are experiencing hardship, and we saw AnglicareSA providing a breadth of services that frankly surprised us.

“The employees were caring, connected to their clients, and we saw good outcomes so when we were asked if we would like to be Patrons, it was an easy decision.”

AnglicareSA supports more than 50,000 South Australians each year across portfolios of Community Services, Aged Care, Disability and Wellbeing, Housing, and Social Enterprise.

 

 

Mrs Scarce, a former Women’s Royal Australian Navy officer, said taking on the role of Patrons had enabled them to use their profiles to help shine a light on the work of AnglicareSA, introducing it to individuals and organisations.

“I think most people are aware of the name, but they are not necessarily sure what it does,” she said. “They might just think it is just aged care, they might think it’s something to do with children, or they might think it is something that they will never have anything to do with, which is why it is up to us to spread the word.”

For Mrs Scarce, the encouragement and incentive for individuals and organisations within the community to support the work of AnglicareSA was simple.

“You never know when you are going to need it,” she said. “I think most of us just never know what is around the corner, and we can’t necessarily do things individually, but together, we can.

“We can change lives.”

 

Walking alongside those in need of support

Amid the crippling cost-of-living crisis and an unprecedented housing crunch, AnglicareSA Patron Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce said the divide between those who have and those who have not was increasing – making organisations like AnglicareSA even more important.

“AnglicareSA has the ability because of the breadth of the organisation, the breadth of what it can offer,” he said. “It can help, it can advocate; AnglicareSA can bring partnerships together.

“I don’t see the dynamics of our society changing much in the positive sense at the moment – I certainly hope I am wrong – but there is a need for AnglicareSA and other organisations into the future.

“Alongside that though, hopefully the community comes to help each other in a much more structured sense because we can’t rely on the government to look after everyone.

“We need to think about how we bring a community together to help those who are less fortunate.”

Walking alongside Rear Admiral Scarce in his advocacy is joint Patron Liz, his wife and long-time campaigner in health, education, disability services, and veteran support.

“I grew up in a town in Queensland where people helped each other,” she said. “My mother impressed two major things on me: the importance of education and the importance of giving back to the community.

 

 

“Today, we see that homelessness is increasing and so is family and domestic violence.

“The incidence of women and children being forced out of their homes and left to fend for themselves is shocking.

“Our work with AnglicareSA has been an eye-opener. All the programs – whether it is emergency assistance, homelessness, or domestic violence through to autism services and support for young people leaving state care – have been an eye-opener for us.”

Rear Admiral Scarce said the recent Divine Dining event at St Peter’s Cathedral, which brought together AnglicareSA’s community of changemakers in support of our Turning Point and Post Care Pathways programs, showed there were people out there more than prepared to help.

 

 

Turning Point provides safe and stable accommodation for women and children escaping family and domestic violence, while Post Care Pathways provides support and accommodation for young care leavers aged 18 to 25 who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability or are at risk of homelessness.

“We need to get the message out and provide the infrastructure for them to join and do that, and that is why opportunities like Divine Dining are important for us as Patrons to connect with the broader community, to talk about what we do and what we need.

“It is good to see an organisation that is not driven by profit, it is not driven by loss either, but an organisation that is there to care for clients and customers as its primary role.

“I think that’s always encouraging.”