HuG

Building communities and fostering community spirit are real articles of faith for Rory Costelloe. His philosophy is a personal one, born of a country upbringing where people are often closely connected, but it’s also a professional code he instils in new urban developments.

As a proud Newtown resident, he’s focused sharply on replicating the best of Geelong’s community attributes into the residential projects he develops. Rory is executive director of the multi award-winning Villawood Properties. He relocated from Bendigo with his wife Katrina and four daughters 16 years ago.

Continue reading “Building new communities with a tried, true recipe, Rory Costelloe” →

“Working together we can help beat cancer! I discovered that cancer of the uterus was not a cancer people spoke about and when they did it was often in hushed tones.” We hear from uterine cancer survivor and founder of the Geelong Region Cancerians, Phillipa Challis.

“Geelong Region Cancerians aim to increase awareness, educate and inform people about the detection and prevention of uterine cancer. We aim to raise funds for research into all cancers. My personal driving force is to give back to my community in Geelong and outside of the region.

Continue reading “Geelong Region Cancerians, Phillipa.” →

My name is Dana and I am a recovered gambler. I am proud to say I share my story in public through ReSPIN (a Gambling Awareness Speakers Bureau) and Humans in Geelong as it is now a valuable tool for the community and professionals to understand the harm that Poker machines can cause to innocent lives! Please share.

Here is a brief summary of my life.

I was born during the Second World War in Europe, my family was shifted between various displaced persons camps in Germany for over 5 years, until offers came for overseas migration. Through the mayhem of war, we were considered refugees living in the camps. The men gambled Poker, as there was nothing much else for them to do. As a child I cleaned their ash trays which was a nice treat – and I also learnt how to play poker simultaneously!

I migrated with my mother and sister to Western Australia by ship but later realised there wasn’t much choice for female labour there, so we moved to Victoria. I was very young, my mother and elder sister worked odd jobs, and we stayed in camps. My uncle was a huge help to us, all three worked hard and eventually bought a shack in Richmond together which finally was home.

Continue reading “Recovered Gambler, Dana.” →

Random Acts of Kindness – To raise awareness of Ramadan, peace and unity. Team member Brandon Dellow, along with Roghayeh, and Ramatullah gave out small bunches of flowers with messages of love and acceptance as a Random Act of Kindness, down at Geelong’s Waterfront. Brandon tells us:

“We met people, and talked to them about Ramadan, as well as just the generally wishing them a good day and sharing a smile. We all had warm hearts to see how appreciative people were to these random acts. I was also surprised to find that some people didn’t want to accept random gifts because they felt they didn’t deserve them, they wanted them to be gifted to someone else more deserving.

“One family was blown away that this happened to them, and couldn’t believe it would happen to them. Another asked where the cameras were. There was a total of 33 interactions.

Continue reading “Random Acts of Kindness.” →

On Monday 27th of May, in the lead up to the exciting presentation at the Victorian Government’s ‘Creative Sate Summit’, founder of Humans in Geelong, Jacqui Bennett, spoke with Mitchell Dye of The Pulse.

The podcast can be listened to here: http://mitchellsfrontpage.com/humans-in-geelong-to-talk-at-creative-state-summit/

Team members presenting at the Summit, from left, are Althea Abraham, Jacqui Bennett, Kim Cooper, Jesse Malthouse and Rini Lombard. Photo: Phil Hines Photography. Thanks Royal Geelong Yacht Club for letting us use your facilities to practice in front of our team.

Jacqui also spoke to Roxie Bennett and Daryl Reader on Bayfm. That podcast can be heard here: https://soundcloud.com/user-477864175/hug-on-bayfm-27519

We’d like to thank our team and the community for all the support.

Earlier this year, our gorgeous team member, Bec Thompson’s world was turned upside down after being diagnosed with cancer. Now, the 35-year-old is eager to raise awareness and encourage people to get their eyes tested and undergo regular health checks. PLEASE SHARE. The good news is, she’s undergone an op and hasn’t lost her eye.

As a writer, Bec’s usually the one asking all the questions. But here, she shares some of her journey with us…

~ Bec, how are you doing? ~

I’m ok. Sometimes it all feels a bit like a dream. I haven’t walked with cancer at close quarters before, so the learnings are many. Tell you what; the word ‘journey’ is perfect to describe this cancer caper. My emotions have generally been positive, but there have been some dark, down days. I’ve tried to treat the whole shebang as an adventure and learning experience, with a decent sprinkle of humour thrown in. Surprisingly (I’m a late adopter), social media, particularly Instagram, has been a helpful tool for me to process the journey, and to offer updates.

Continue reading “Regular eye and health checks, Bec.” →

Geelong Sustainability continues to inform, inspire and connect our community. We can’t thank them enough for being our Auspice for the State Government Grant ‘Pick My Project’, this will enable us to print the Humans in Geelong Book.

Like many socially progressive community groups, Geelong Sustainability are convinced of the truth in Margaret Mead’s famous quote. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Join their movement and be inspired by their events and opportunities.

FARMING SUSTAINABLY – Can farming be profitable and sustainable in the age of climate change? One local farming family says, yes it can! The Stewart family has been farming for five generations on their 230 hectare property, nestled in the Otway Ranges. Andrew and Jill Stewart farm sheep and trees on their property, Yan Yan Gurt West Farm in Deans Marsh. Their unusual but effective approach combines conservation and forestry.

Continue reading “Geelong Sustainability update.” →

There is nothing more empowering than student voice. This is what Cameron, Grade 7 at Northern Bay College, had to say about the Kids Thrive program. “We are so fortunate to have had this program at Wexford, so the kids have an opportunity to make a change in the community. If we didn’t have this program us kids would never have known that we can make a change in the community or have an impact on people in the community such as the elderly and new refugees to Australia.

“It’s up to this generation of kids to continue on giving to the community like the older generation and to make an even bigger impact than the older generation.

“We can make changes to others and the environment. It was such an amazing experience. I would now be happy to volunteer to help others make a change.”

Continue reading “Kids as Catalysts, NBC.” →

Be inspired! Humans in Geelong are SO excited to be presenting at Creative Victoria’s ‘Creative State Summit’. We’ll be showcasing our #clevercreative Geelong and our amazing, inspirational locals. Our 45-minute ‘Good News’ presentation by team members, is on Friday 31^st May at 2pm. PLEASE SHARE. We hope you can make it along to support us!

We’ll explain how Humans in Geelong (HuG) inspires, connects and strengthens our community. The Humans in Geelong team use the powerful medium of storytelling to create positive social change by sharing the inspirational stories of locals. We’ll showcase our innovative multi-media model, its successes and how it can be replicated elsewhere. Be swept away by the HuG movement!

Continue reading “Creative State Summit 2019.” →

BE DRAGONS is a six-part documentary series highlighting the inspirational players that make up Geelong’s first ever Football Integration Development Association, FIDA footy team!

Take a bunch of guys and girls who have been relegated to the sidelines their whole lives and give them a crack at participating in the game they love…that’s the premise behind Be Dragons and the FIDA league.

The Geelong Dragons are the first FIDA team in the Geelong region and we are delighted to be on board producing this heart-warming series.

The series showcases individual players as they share with us their lives, challenges and thrill at being included in a team competing in Australian Rules Football. Following the highs and lows of their maiden 2018 season, Be Dragons is an inspirational tale of inclusion, perseverance and friendship.

Continue reading “Be Dragons, update.” →