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“I realised quite early on in my sourdough journey that the gift of a humble loaf of bread could make any ordinary day feel a little brighter. So, when a close friend of my sister’s was undergoing treatment for leukaemia, I dropped a freshly baked loaf of sourdough on her doorstep, with a little note, in the hope that it would lift her spirits, if only fleetingly.

“I then asked her to give me the name of someone who could also use a kind gesture. She ‘payed it forward’ to a friend who had not long been diagnosed with breast cancer. The loaves of bread continued to be ‘passed on’ with heartfelt notes of thanks and gratitude and so ‘The Good Bread Project’ was born.” We hear from talented baker, Jo.

Continue reading “The Good Bread Project, Jo.” →

“My mentee Hadeel, reminded me of myself when I arrived in Australia 20 years ago. I wish a free careers mentoring program had been available then and that I’d had someone to guide me in the right direction.” We hear from mentor Dr Puva Arumugam. “Being part of the program was such a wonderful experience for me. I felt like I’d been living in a bubble with blinkers on. I’m a single mum of teenagers and often feel alone like I’m managing everything myself. Working with Hadeel and my other mentee, Rasha made me appreciate where I am, my burden doesn’t seem so heavy at all.

“If you have the opportunity to commit a little bit of time, I would urge you to join the Deakin CREATE career’s clinic as a mentor, or mentee for that matter. As well as gaining new friends in my mentees, I learnt so much. I reflected on my resume, and updated my CV and Linkedin profile too.”

Continue reading “Deakin CREATE, Puva.” →

The Humans in Geelong volunteer team hit the streets to find out what locals found was one positive thing that came out of lockdown, due to Covid-19. Everyone had something positive to say and strict hygiene rules were adhered to. Thanks all. Enjoy!

Presenter: @kimelisecooper

Videographer: @hs.stories.photography  Hadeel

Music: Steve Combs – Hope

Humans in Geelong INSPIRE – CONNECT – STRENGTHEN Community.

Remember Mad Max?  It was one of the first movies filmed in our region. More recently we’ve seen exceptionally crafted feature films such as @Undertow_feature_film directed by Miranda Nation.  With Geelong’s diverse landscapes, locations are ideal for filmmaking and a group of local businesses and volunteers @geelongwaterfrontfilm are doing something about it.

The vision is three mutually supportive activities:

• Staging of a Geelong Waterfront Film Festival to put us on the map
• A local film making competition to showcase up and coming talent
• Establishment of the Waterfront Film Foundation offering financial assistance in the form of a grant or investment to those filming in the region.

In exciting news, the Treasurer and the Minister for the Arts has recently approved the addition of the Foundation to the Register of Cultural Organisations.

Let’s put filmmaking on our agenda.

You can be a part of this exciting project.  Head to www.geelongwaterfrontfilm.com.au to become a Friend of Geelong Waterfront Film for just $20 or make a tax deductible donation to the Foundation.

Photo: @Undertow_feature_film @Geelongwaterfrontfilm

“There are not many places in the world where you can combine a rural lifestyle with an academic research career.” Dr Seetal Dodd, Clinical Associate Professor at Deakin University, is one of our region’s talented scientists, who shares with us his life balance of research dedication and equestrian ventures.

Moving from Belgium to Melbourne as a baby, Dr Dodd has called Lethbridge home for the past twenty years. When he wasn’t pursuing scientific discoveries, Dr Dodd was competing locally and interstate in show jumping with his horses. You might’ve even seen him competing at the Geelong Agricultural Show! Now he and his wife Angela own and run Lethbridge Equestrian Centre (https://www.facebook.com/lethbridgeequestriancentre/ ).

Continue reading “Dr Seetal Dodd.” →

I want people to know that it’s never too late. There’s a lot of stigma around weight loss surgery, that it’s the easy way out. For a long-time I believed that too. But at 167kgs there really is no easy way out. I was in my 20s and everyday life was hard. Harder than it should be at that age. My medical conditions were mounting – pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, aching joints. I hated the frequent visits to my doctor. Every time my GP would tell me I needed to lose weight, that I just wasn’t healthy. I hated hearing it. I knew it. And I’d tried. I think a lot of people assume that you aren’t trying or that you don’t know you’re overweight. I knew it. Anyone who is morbidly obese knows it. 

The world just isn’t made for people my size and every day I was reminded that I just didn’t fit in. It’s in the simple, everyday things that most people take for granted that I felt it the most. The shame of having to squeeze into train seats on the morning commute, holding onto seatbelts in cars because they didn’t clip in, not being able to put on socks without it being a full-blown event. These limitations perpetuated what I already felt and I began limiting myself in all areas of my life.

Continue reading “Little Audrey, Kirsty.” →

For those who love performing or viewing live music, the thought of months of lockdown could have broken them; not the talented and enterprising Matilda Hassall. Matilda was driven to start @undertherug.venue on Instagram where Geelong musicians and artists could keep connected and keep performing.

On Fridays, throughout lockdown, four bands or musicians live streamed ‘music magic’ from their loungerooms, garages or decks via the free, all ages, virtual venue so as not to be swept ‘Under the Rug’. Matilda tells us of their last hoorah:

“Under the Rug is calling it quits on the regular Friday Instagram lives – however, we want to go out with a bang. We are hosting one last live-streamed finale event on this Friday July 3rd. The ‘Rugged Up’ Livestream Finale will present 20min back-to-back sets from local artists and abroad – all fresh faces to Under the Rug! Go to our Instagram page @undertherug.venue for the full details.

Continue reading “Under the Rug, Matilda.” →

“Growing up I loved to watch spooky films and am thrilled to be working with a team researching, investigating, filming and sharing the spooky stories we find.” Matt Bonner, Projection Artist, talks to us about his life and latest project, one that you, dear reader, might just be able to help with.

Even if you haven’t heard of Matt Bonner before, you’ve more than likely seen his artwork. His projections on public spaces have captured the imagination and inspired many at local events over the past decade; Geelong Christmas celebrations, Geelong After Dark, National Reconciliation Week, the ANZAC Centenary commemorations, and White Night Ballarat to name a few.  Matt is a man of many talents, and has found a way to combine them all.

Continue reading “Matt Bonner, Projection Artist.” →

“Thank you, you have become my Australian family.” This was the heart-warming response from a refugee who was participating in the Deakin CREATE program over lockdown. He’d moved, by himself, to Geelong only a few months prior.

Deakin CREATE – Centre for Refugee Employment, Advocacy, Training and Education was founded February 2019 to support local refugees and asylum seekers in finding meaningful employment or higher education. It is run under the School of Business and Law and offers a number of services including a free careers clinic.

Karen, Luke and Alex coordinate the 7-week free careers clinic, a new addition to CREATE. It was due to run when covid lockdown struck and in 4 days it had to be turned in to an online clinic. “We found this had a silver lining as there were many benefits, including offering support for socially isolated new arrivals. Currently it is run in Victoria but could be run nationally. We can see the clinic eventually moving to a blended mode.”

Continue reading “Deakin CREATE.” →

“One year a wave washed in so far that it almost put our fire out and got spectators shoes wet!! We were all cracking up about it and thought it had to be a cheeky message from Shaun.”

Carlo Lowdon tells us about the Bells Beach 50 Year Storm Invitational big wave event (@bellsbeach50yearstorm), a local surfing community initiative opening up important conversations about mental health. More than that, it commemorates a life that was tragically lost, and symbolises the hope and support of people who care.

“The idea of a big wave surf event dedicated to Shaun Brooks who died after a long battle with his mental health, was initially founded by Gareth Habelle (@habbertron).

Continue reading “Bells Beach 50 Year Storm: We Surf For Mental Health” →