Month: October 2017

Who said kids these days don’t care? A group of us were extremely fortunate to attend the Highton Primary School Exhibition that proved the exact opposite. The Exhibition, presented over two days last week by Grade 5 and 6 students, is the culmination of the seven years spent at this International Baccalaureate school. The International Baccalaureate is a unique, worldwide education system where the focus is on inquiry while displaying empathy, tolerance, understanding and ultimately taking action to make a difference.

‘Each year the Exhibition just gets better and better’ noted Ms @Carly Stafford Acting Principal. This year’s transdisciplinary theme was ‘Sharing the Planet’ allowing students to inquire into causes. As a provocation, students were treated to guest speakers, many sourced from the Humans in Geelong website such as Jeff Smith of CREST, Alison Marchant anti-fracking, Jan Johannasen of Bali Smiles, Liz Lester re caring in Ethiopia. Students then chose their line of inquiry and took action, most in small groups, some individually.

Continue reading “Highton Primary School Exhibition” →

As I entered through the doors of the Kids Plus clinic, I held the door open for a father and his son. The receptionist greeted them with a bright smile. “Hello, Harvey!” she greeted the child cheerily. This is just an everyday occurrence in this clinic, a family support service for children with physical impairment.

Particularly, many of the children who attend this clinic have cerebral palsy.  Cerebral palsy is a general term referring to a group of disorders that affect the way a person moves. It is diagnosed soon after birth and is a permanent condition. Cerebral palsy occurs when a part of the developing brain is damaged. I spoke with Shaun Cannon, Kids Plus Foundation Chief Executive. Kids Plus was founded by a collective of therapists and community members in Geelong who wanted to provider more targeted and specialist therapy support.

Continue reading “Kids Plus Foundation, Shaun” →

By Hamish West, Year 3, Ashby Primary School, winner of the Primary Section of the Humans in Geelong ‘Discover your Inner Journalist’ student writing competition.

I was amazed by how much Mary has helped people in the community throughout her life. Mary has helped the community by volunteering as a mentor with the Big brother/ Big sister program through BAYSA (now known as Barwon Child, Youth & Family). Mary was employed for over a decade supporting teenagers from difficult backgrounds. Now Mary has retired and is starting to volunteer with the The Salvation Army Australia’s homelessness program The Lazarus Community centre. 

Mary says bad health will be the only thing to stop her from volunteering, however not even a knee reconstruction has stopped her. Mary now has some help from her electric scooter (which is the most epic thing of all time, as it has motorbike handlebars). 

Continue reading “Mary, a life of helping people that need it most in Geelong.” →

NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES – Bridie Griffith, Year 7, The Geelong College – First Prize Winner of the Secondary section of the Humans in Geelong “Discover your Inner Journalist’ student writing competition.

If you were to open up your newspaper, what would you see? Most likely, the front page would be about some sort of celebrity who has made some sort of mistake. The cover stories rarely talk about the important things that we want to see; no one cares about which celebrities are dating, or how much a sporting star is making. Newspapers and magazines have very altruistic intentions; they only care about their ratings. They will do anything for their pages to be turned. We should be reading about what is relative to our everyday lives or true achievements of good people. A story about a flashy superstar who made a small donation is not as admirable as one about an everyday person who has done a good deed without expecting anything back.

No matter what position you are in, you always have that one person that you admire and look up to. Whether this person is from your family, a friend or a complete stranger you can always look to them for inspiration or help. Your idea of a hero may be very different to mine. When I hear the word hero, I do not think of someone with superpowers and a cape, I do not think of my favourite celebrity or sports star. My mind wanders to everyday people and someone who does not do anything for recognition or money. I think of my generous, loving and strong grandmother.

Continue reading “Not all heroes wear capes.” →

The #HumansinGeelongExpo held on Sunday October 8, at Deakin University Waterfront Campus has been described as a vibrant, diverse, inspirational celebration of Geelong and district!

The Expo saw 44 amazing groups exhibiting, 16 thought-provoking speakers, 8 uplifting performances, the boat building display put on by Peter Doyle from the Royal Geelong Yacht Club and the Syrian refugees, Cycling Without Age, dance demonstrations, crafts for kids and lots of fun! We had 40 enthusiastic student volunteers, from St Joseph’s College Geelong, Belmont High School (Victoria) and Better2gether. There were an additional 25 adult volunteers apart from the voluntary Humans in Geelong team.

One of the key features of its success was it being a free community event with something for everyone. Activities included workshops, live music, face painting and presentations by uplifting speakers. The speakers, too many to list in this article, represented a range of inspirational locals.

Continue reading “The Humans in Geelong Expo, Part 3” →

‘Kim barne barre Wadawurrung D ja. Welcome to Wadawurrung county!’ In brilliant sunshine and to the accompaniment of Norm Stanley’s emotive didgeridoo, Corrina Eccles, traditional custodian and Wadawurrung woman, welcomed us to the inaugural Humans in Geelong Expo 2017. The Expo, held at Deakin University Waterfront Campus promised a day full of inspiration, music, laughter and sharing. The Humans in Geelong Expo did not disappoint.

One of Humans in Geelong’s tenets is, ‘We aim to inspire’, and inspiration was very much the feature of the day. A hard working, voluntary and creative Expo team packed the program with an impressive range of thought-provoking speakers, workshops and performers all designed to make you think, feel, meditate, smile and often, laugh out loud.

Continue reading “The Humans in Geelong Expo, Part 2” →

This photo sums it up, sharing, connecting, inspiring! Imogen Broughand Peter RobertsMusic. Here is a quick rundown of the amazing #humansingeelongexpo 2017 .
We had over 1,500 people attending
– 44 amazing exhibitors – all people giving back to their community locally, nationally or internationally, whose stories have been told by Humans in Geelong
– 16 thought provoking speakers
– 7 amazing Masters of Ceremony
– 8 uplifting live performances
– Welcome to Country by Corrina Eccles and Norm Stanley on the didge
– Official opening by Deakin University Vice Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander
– ‘Discover Your Inner Journalist’ student writing competition prize winners announced
– Mental Health Week Awards presented by Leo Coolhass, Barwon Health and Mandy Squires, Geelong Advertiser
– Boat building display Peter Doyle Royal Geelong Yacht Club and Syrian Refugees
– 6 Danish men from Cycling Without Age, they’d ridden rickshaws from Newcastle to Geelong for the Expo and took people for rides around the courtyard
– Free face-painting and crafts for kids, thanks Angela Grace
– Dazzling Dan the Magic Man and Dame Edna Average
– 35 Council Candidates interacting with the community
– 40 student volunteers
– 25 adult volunteers
– 12 Humans in Geelong team members

Thanks everyone for an amazing day. Here’s to Expo 2018!

Student Writing Competition ‘Discover your Inner Journalist’

We were thrilled to receive 100 entries! The winners are:

Primary Section

First Prize:  Hamish West, Year 3, @Ashby Primary School, ‘Mary – A life of helping people that need it most, in Geelong’ (Pictured)

Second Prize: Indigo Niblett, Year 6, @Clairvaux Primary School, ‘Georgia Clark’

Continue reading “Student Writing Competition 2017” →

‘A place of hope, support and healing. The Sanctuary Counselling Centre provides care and support for individuals and their families experiencing life-challenging illness or bereavement.’ We hear from Tara McKinty. ‘The people we meet are already coping with enough challenge so we want to make our service as accessible as possible. Many people are touched to find this service is a gift from our wonderful community. http://www.sanctuarycounselling.org.au/

‘Our underlying philosophy is that although we cannot always choose the challenges we may face we can, with positive help, choose the way we respond.”www.facebook.com/The-Sanctuary-Counselling-Centre-216528698380243/

‘My training is in social work and counselling. I’d worked in many settings before I felt ready to establish an independent service that reflected my deepest values, availability of informed compassionate care for all at the times when we are challenged the most. It was when I moved from the UK to the Yarra Valley that I met Scott, now my husband, and Lou Vickers-Willis who asked us to come to Geelong and set up The Sanctuary.

Continue reading “The Sanctuary, Tara” →

Roxie Bennett (a name just about synonymous with Geelong) is one of the 16 inspirational speakers at the Humans in Geelong Expo 10 – 3pm this Sunday at Deakin University Waterfont Campus. Hear Roxie at midday. Roxie is well-known through her on-air career at Krock and Bay93.9 but her impact on the Geelong community extends well beyond the microphone.

The effervescent and passionate Geelong-ian has supported hundreds of local groups including Geelong Relay For Life, the Salvation Army, Red Shield Appeal, Geelong Animal Welfare Society, Kids Plus, Give Where You Live and the Barwon Health Foundation.

Roxie’s personal experience with breast cancer has given her a particular passion for cancer services in Geelong and sharing her story of survival.

We recently spent a morning with this lovely human (and coffee addict) at one of her favourite haunts, The Federal, ahead of the #HumansinGeelongExpo.

Tell us about you, Roxie

I was born and raised in Laver’s Hill deep in the Otways. We were dirt poor but had an awesome life – we lived on fresh fish, had a cow and veggie garden in the backyard and spent all our time by the ocean.
Continue reading “Roxie Bennett” →