When it comes to being an advocate for people living with disability, it would be hard to find anyone more dedicated than Peter Roodhouse.
Peter’s son Matthew was born with Down Syndrome in 1969, and this began many decades of involvement with an array of disability organisations for the Roodhouse family.
Matthew went to primary school at St Patricks Special School in Dulwich, during which time Peter was on the school’s board, including a stint as chair.
As Matt’s high school years approached, Peter, along with his wife Angela, was instrumental in the creation of St Mary’s Unit, a special education unit at Cabra Dominican College in Cumberland Park formed in 1982.
Following high school, Matthew began working for Community Vocational Services (CVS), an organisation which formed part of the Diocesan Association for Intellectually Disabled Persons (DAIDP). Now well-versed in board processes, Peter joined the CVS board while Matt was working with the organisation.
CVS amalgamated with Bedford in the mid-1990s, with Matt moving over to officially work under the Bedford banner.
And so too began Peter’s involvement with Bedford.
Attending Bedford parent meetings every two months, Peter says the openness and transparency evident at the meetings was always appreciated by the parents.
"Lots of parents went to the meetings, to give feedback, and find out what was going on. If ever there was a problem, you could tell Bedford and it would get fixed," Peter says.
These meetings formed the majority of Peter’s involvement with Bedford for more than two decades, with Matthew working as a staff member in the Packaging Department from the 1990's onwards.
Peter enjoyed watching Matthew’s continued sense of satisfaction while working at Bedford.
"A lot of Matthew’s old school friends were also at Bedford, and he loved having lots of people all in the one place to talk to," Peter says.
"He lived independently, went to Bedford on the bus, and went home on the bus – that sense of independence was really rewarding for Matthew."
Mathew sadly passed away in 2021, and while Peter is no longer involved in Bedford, he continues to look upon the organisation favourably.
"Bedford always has been, and always will be, a friendly organisation. It has become more commercial over time in order to provide more opportunities for people with disability, but you can still walk in there and speak to people," Peter says.
Alongside Peter’s interest in Bedford, he was on the board for Holiday Explorers – an organisation running holiday programs for people with intellectual disability. All this involvement fitted in around Peter’s career in sales, and later running training sessions in the community housing on house maintenance – a far cry from his early working days as a motor mechanic.
Having been retired for nearly 20 years, he enjoys sailing, bird-watching, photography, and bush-walking, alongside wife Angela.
"Angela and I have enjoyed the same hobbies throughout our 58 years of marriage – although we’ve downgraded from bush-walking just to walking now,” Peter says with a laugh.
