Sex toy features at Dinner Dance, event a disgrace say attendees

Last night's Dinner Dance for Carenne Support Limited, the organisation central to the Carenne Gate affair was a complete disgrace according to a number of attendees. The Dinner Dance was held at the Bathurst RSL Club to raise funding for a sensory wall at the school. Attendee and Carenne Special School whistleblower nedkelly told Carenne Gate that she was shocked at the conduct of some of her colleagues and at Paul Knight's speech where he took aim at whistleblowers.

Paul Knight's speech mentioned that the school had been engulfed by problems for the last two years and that the only way for Carenne Special School and Carenne Support to survive was to "stick together". Attendees said that it was obvious that Mr Knight was having a shot at whistleblowers who are attempting to clean up Carenne Support and Carenne Special School.

According to nedkelly's estimates only around 80 people were in attendance and of those only two were parents not employed by or associated with Carenne Support or the school. "It was pretty bad considering that they told us that there would be at least 150 people there," Ned told Carenne Gate.

"It just shows how much support the school has lost, the school is really unpopular in the Bathurst community now, people are really over it all."

Another attendee told Carenne Gate that he wasn't surprised by the lack of interest and found it comical that after all the promotion of the event that hardly anybody showed up. The attendee said that it was apparent that the school no longer had the support they once had and that the bus debacle had made the public think twice about giving any money to Carenne Special School or Carenne Support.

"How do you know the money is going to Carenne for what they say. The whole community thought the buses were for the school, nobody told them that they weren't to be owned by the school but an organisation attached to the school which uses them to earn a huge profit," said the attendee.

Another attendee said she was surprised by the absence of Carenne fan Gerard Martin. "Gerard continues to support the rorts at Carenne yet didn't even show up for a supposed charity event for the school."

"I wonder if people know that because of Carenne Support using the buses for themselves that students in wheelchairs can't go on overnight excursions" he said.

All of the attendees who sent complaints to Carenne Gate complained about the conduct of staff at the charity event. One attendee said "how we as staff behave in public is how the school is perceived by the public, when you carry on like they did last night it sends a negative message to the public about the school."

Nedkelly told Carenne Gate that Carenne Support employee Mary Housler, known for attacking people on this blog was terribly drunk and had to be told not to stand on tables and "sexually harassing" a number of attendees including Paul Knight and Geoff Salmon. Nedkelly claims that she was "overly friendly" with Geoff Salmon who appeared very uncomfortable with Mrs Housler's advances.

According to one attendee, he was completely shocked when Karina Molenkamp and Angie Cranston showed the secret item they had bought to the event. "I'm not easily shocked but I couldn't believe it when they pulled out a vibrator, it was so inappropriate. How the department can let this happen is just beyond me, it has to be some sort of serious misconduct to take a sex toy to a school event at a place like the RSL" said the male complainant. Another attendee commented that Mrs Molenkamp and Mrs Cranston's behaviour was unacceptable and that it was only because they shared a table with Lee Churches, Margaret Rowe and Kym Tattersall that they got away with it. "If it had been anyone else, Neil Moon would have thrown them out."

Comments were also made about staff absences from the night. Nedkelly told Carenne Gate that she couldn't believe that Anne Baskerville, one of the people calling for a sensory wall didn't show up. Another attendee commented about Michael Auld breezing in and out of the event. "He might as well not have came along," said the attendee.

According to Carenne Support, they have raised enough money for the sensory wall they want for the school.