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‘I’ve been fighting for Marriage Equality since my youngest son married three years ago.  It was a happy occasion, but tinged with sadness because it struck me that my oldest son would never have this opportunity’, says Geelong for Marriage Equality’s (GME) Sharyn Faulkner. ‘I initially approached Rodney Croome of Australian Marriage Equality, in 2014. He suggested I start a local campaign for Corangamite as they were about to embark on an electorate-by-electorate journey to try to convince MPs to support Marriage Equality.

Photo: Sharyn with her two sons.

‘And so the groundbreaking Geelong for Marriage Equality (GME) was formed. http://www.facebook.com/GeelongForMarriageEquality Our group met local Federal MP, Sarah Henderson, who challenged us to demonstrate that the electorate supported Marriage Equality.

Continue reading “Geelong for Marriage Equality, Sharyn” →

Driving home to Geelong on the Melbourne highway most of us would not give a second thought to a burnt-out tyre by the side of the road, a scrap of debris or a random object gone astray, but Merinda Kelly is different. She is the kind of person to stop the car, pull over and look at the tyre in the ways that most of us would not.

Where the world sees wreckage, Merinda sees opportunity. Where there are broken pieces, she sees value and a chance to re-invent and re-imagine.

Continue reading “Art for Urban Renewal, Merinda” →

‘The number of fellows living in their cars who say they never expected to find themselves in this place! Our mantra is “it’s not just about the food” because the way people are treated with respect is just as important.’ Jan McGowan tells us about the Christ Church Community Meals Program. ‘I grew up in East Geelong.  Mum was a teacher. I went on to become a teacher myself, teaching all around Geelong and loving every minute of it. I gave up teaching to do this. Out of the blue, last year I received an OAM. I love working with like-minded people who are willing to go the extra mile.’

Continue reading “Christ Church Community Meals, Jan” →

‘We witnessed a lot of inequity and separation. That’s why OneCare was established seven years ago with the purpose of creating links across communities. Our motto is ‘building community, restoring hope, changing lives’. We are located in Geelong West and people are happy to come from all over Geelong.’ I’m talking to Corrie Inei.

‘At noon on Thursdays we hold a community meal which is open to anyone. Some appreciate the free meal, others appreciate the social contact. We get around 60 each week and had 110 for our Christmas lunch on the Thursday before Christmas. The people who come are mostly individuals, ranging from recent arrivals to those with mental health issues. The group has become like a family and they all look out for each other.

Continue reading “OneCare, Corrie” →

Brad Roylance tells us how the @Smith Family supports education in Geelong.

What do the Smith Family Do?

In Geelong our role is to support Northern Bay P-12 College and the 3214 community by offering 600 educational scholarships and programs, to families from low income backgrounds that are referred to us by the school.

The scholarship funds are mainly use for extra-curricular activities that students are interested in, and those that parents might not normally be able to afford.  Typically, a scholarship might be used to support learning through things like music lessons or instrument hire, school sport, school camps, study camps or sessions and other school activities such as drama events.

Continue reading “The Smith Family, Brad” →

‘Training everyday heroes.’ Hero Town Geelong believes every ordinary person has the power to do extraordinary things. ‘Too often knowledge sits in publications, practically unused. Hero Town delivers workshops based on psychology research, most notably that of Social Psychology , Dr Philip Zimbardo.’ We hear from its Founder and President, Sylvia Gray, and Karli Mynott (Learning and Resource Coordinator).

‘After the controversial Stanford Prison Experiment,’ (the experiments findings have since been called in to question) explains Sylvia, ‘Dr Zimbardo understood how easy it is to create environments that cause good people to do bad things. He’s since devoted his life to fostering heroic behaviour. We are extremely grateful to count him as one of our advisors.’

Continue reading “Hero Town, Sylvia and Karli” →

‘One experience that resonates with me was visiting mud huts by the side of the track in South Korea- the people were so lovely they would have given us their last potato.’ I’m interviewing Kathy Ryan, Assistant Governor of Geelong’s Rotary District 9780 Group 9. ‘I was born in the US and in the 60s I studied Sociology. Soon after I found myself in South Korea working for the Peace Corps. We were living with the locals out in the countryside, looking for tuberculosis cases to help eradicate this horrific disease. We’d ask them if they got the night sweats or other symptoms and, if so, get them tested. It was a wonderfully life changing experience that set me on my way.

‘I’ve been back to South Korea a couple of times recently, including for the International Rotary Conference, and I’ve seen such big changes there. Now they are sending volunteers all over the world and taking in refugees from Myanmar.

Continue reading “Assistant Governor of Rotary, Kathy” →

17 year old Geelong teenager, Shaun, committed suicide in January 2009. His mum, Lisa Castle, vowed his death would not be in vain. She formed SPAN (Suicide Prevention Awareness Network) made up of people affected by suicide, concerned community members and health professionals who decided to work together to try to reduce the number of lives lost.

SPAN’s annual SUICIDE AWARENESS WALK, now in its 8^th year, will be held on Australia Day, Jan 26, from Johnstone Park, Gheringhap St Geelong at 9.30. http://www.spangeelong.com It is a positive, active community event where people can come together and pay tribute to lost loved ones, offer support to those hurting and ultimately embrace the gift of life.

Continue reading “SPAN, Lisa” →

Leisure Networks’ aim is similar to Humans in Geelong. It is all about connecting people with their community. I interviewed Libby Mears, CEO of Leisure Networks, at Sports House. ‘My three children were young when we decided to relocate from Melbourne to Airey’s Inlet. We wanted to bring our children up in a small community. I went from President of the local Kindergarten to holding the position of Mayor of the Surf Coast Shire Council. It was through this position at local council that I saw how important it is to build strong communities.

Continue reading “Leisure Networks, Libby” →