THE HUGH WILLIAMSON
FOUNDATION GRANT
2015
Arts, Culture & Environment - Capacity Building
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VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
Thank you!
On behalf of the Victorian Regional Community Leadership
Programs I would like to take this opportunity to thank The
Hugh Williamson Foundation for the Leadership Diversity
Program State-wide Grant.
This publication has been produced to depict the outcomes
from our second year of the grant and includes a vast array
of community projects across regional Victoria. The projects
are as diverse and individual as our programs, impacting
on multiple regions across Victoria and range from an Arts
trail, Sounds of Meran festival and sculptures made from
recycled rubbish as part of the Tragedy of the Commons project
delivered by Rivers & Ranges Community Leadership Program
in their inaugural year.
The grant has enabled programs to provide scholarships
to applicants from the arts, environment or Indigenous
backgrounds ensuring our programs remain representative of
our regional populations.
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
The programs collectively develop leaders capable of tackling
regional Victoria’s biggest challenges.
It is with the ongoing generous support of The Hugh Williamson
Foundation that we can ensure regional Community
Leadership Programs will flourish.
I do hope you enjoy this publication.
Katrina Baddeley
Chief Executive Officer - Victorian Regional Community
Leadership Programs Secretariat Inc.
Proudly supported by Regional Development Victoria
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VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
Contents
04
SculptEd Arts | Leadership Great South Coast
05 IlliminArtMyPark | Leadership Wimmera
06 Merbein Common | Northern Mallee Leaders
08
Creative Communities | Leadership Ballarat & Western Region
10 Show us Your Pitch | Alpine Valleys Community Leadership Program
12
Tragedy of the Commons | Rivers & Ranges Community Leadership Program
14
Transforming Geelong through Leadership | Leaders for Geelong
16
Benalla Railway Station Underpass | Fairley Leadership (Goulburn Murray)
18
Sounds of Meran | Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program
20
From the Garden to the Kitchen | Gippsland Community Leadership Program
21 Scholarships
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GRANT 2015
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SculptEd Arts
Trail
Project Description:
Inspiring an arts trail to reveal and celebrate the hidden
scientific and cultural history of the Great South Coast region.
Project Aim:
The Great South Coast SculptEd Art’s Trail project will
commence with the construction of one large-scale educative
and interactive public artwork. This artwork will be located in
the Moyne Shire. The piece will honour the Indigenous history
of the area, and also consider the scientific knowledge of the
area, including geology, flora and/or fauna. Environmental
sustainability principles will be incorporated into the design
and development of this initial piece. The 2015 project seeks to
inspire the construction of further art works, creating the trail,
across coming years.
Project Update:
The SculptEd Art’s Trail project has successfully leveraged
The Hugh Williamson Foundation seed funds of $6000 to raise
$21,000 to date.
An expression of interest (EOI) has been advertised to attract
a suitably experienced artist who will upskill our local artists
to create environmental sculptures with the view to continuing
the creation of further sculptures into the future.
As part of the artist’s workshop process the lead artist / trainer
will create the initial commissioned sculpture which will be
installed in the Moyne Shires on the Koroit to Port Fairy Rail
Trail. The sculpture will enhance the experience of trail users
and entice further participation from the community. Interacting with the sculpture will foster education about facets of our
environment and the arts.
The piece will refer to cultural histories from the site (with
particular focus on the stories of the Gunditjmara people) and
to scientific knowledge of the region, such as the geology, the
astronomy, the flora and the fauna.
Importantly, the SculptEd Art’s Trail project is intended to be
the beginning of a long-term initiative to create and install
artworks across the Great South Coast region.
The SculptEd Art’s Trail launch is scheduled for 18 March 2016
onsite in Port Fairy.
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VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
IlluminArtMyPark
Project Description:
The IlluminArtMyPark project’s principal goal was to
engage young members of the Horsham North community to
assist in fashioning one of their local recreational spaces into a
safer and more attractive place of enjoyment for local community members of all ages. Upon its completion in April 2016,
the IlluminArt My Park project will see the installation of 4
re-purposed street lights at Charisma Park, with some native
garden plantings included as part of the site improvements.
The scope of the project increased to include revegetating
the area to make it more attractive and inviting to the
local community. The project team worked closely with Brodie
Mines on the revegetation aspect of the project. Project team
member Lisa Oliver utilised her skills and connections and
approached Goolum Goolum to engage the student homework group, the Kookas; to be involved in planting native plant
species in the park, she also engaged with other community
and government organisations throughout the project to
secure grant funding for the plants and to promote the project
to local Council and the Mayor.
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
Mars Drum’s primary role within the project was to
organise the street poles to be re-painted creatively by
members of the local community who would be most likely to
use the park. She has been facilitating the creative painting
workshops with ten teenage students from MacKenzie Creek,
using the former Art Department site at Federation University
as the studio site. The poles were finished in mid-September
and they have been moved to a council storage site until the
project launch in April 2016.
The group engaged numerous community sectors to make
sure the project outcome is suitable and then less likely to
be vandalised. The project was supported by a Horsham City
Council priority. It is the group’s mission to make this area
more attractive for the people who will make use of the area,
while being sustainable at the same time.
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GRANT 2015
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Merbein Common
[Year 2]
Background:
Results:
Merbein Common is located on the Victorian Murray River
floodplain, approximately 12km North West of Mildura. The
site encompasses a complex system of wetlands, including
Cowanna and Brickworks Billabongs. The wetlands are of
national significance and are registered on the directory of
important wetlands.
The data was interpreted using a waterway health bioindicator
score that considers macroinvertebrate tolerance and sensitivity ratings and then gives a “stream health” based on the
scoring. Cowanna had a stream health of good to very good,
in 2015, with a number of species that were not observed in
the 2014 survey.
The natural water regime of Cowanna Billabong consisted of
wet and dry phases, but this changed to permanently wet when
the Wentworth Weir was installed in 1929. An environmental
regulator was installed on the inlet to Cowanna Billabong in
2013-14 to enable the wet and dry regime to be reinstated and
improve the health of the Billabong. The Regulator gate was
closed in 2014, initiating a drying phase for the Billabong, the
first in many decades. In 2015 the drying phase was complete
and water was supplied to the Billabong to begin a wet phase.
Some Macroinvertebrate species can be sensitive to pollution
and poor stream health. Very sensitive species such as stonefly larvae and mayfly nymphs, dragonfly larvae were observed
in the 2015 survey. The drying had also excluded mature
Carp from the Billabongs, the carp screen on the regulator
prevented large carp re-entering the system. Fifteen tadpoles
were also collected, including a mix of pobblebonk and other
unidentified species, tadpoles that were not recorded in
2014. Frogs are also good bioindicators and like the some
macroinvertebrates tadpoles are sensitive to degraded water
quality and poor wetland health, therefore, the presence of
tadpoles in the 2015 survey demonstrates that reinstating the
wet and dry regime has increased wetland health.
The drying phase enabled the wetland sediments to settle and
consolidate, allowing terrestrial vegetation to germinate and
provide habitat for a range of floodplain fauna. The wet phase
allows nutrients to be released from the wetlands sediments
as well as from the decaying terrestrial vegetation which
creates optimum conditions for aquatic plants to germinate.
Plankton remains dormant in the form of eggs when the
wetland is dry and hatch in abundance once water is introduced,
due to nutrient availability. In turn, they create a food source
for macroinvertebrates and other aquatic fauna such as
fish. These cycles improves the productivity and recruitment
of native flora and fauna, and contribute to the long term
restoration of rivers and floodplains.
The macroinvertebrate community in the both Billabongs were
surveyed twice, prior to the drying and then when water was
reintroduced, 26 May 2014 and 25 September 2015 respectively, and used as an indication of the health of Cowanna and
Brickworks Billabongs. The local community participated
in collection and analysis of macroinvertebrate data.
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VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GRANT 2015
7
Creative
Communities
When LBWR advertised for our 2015 Bug Blitz Arts scholarship we received many applications and through the process
decided to allocate a full scholarship and two part scholarship
as the quality of applicants was so high. In return for each
of the scholarships artists choose to collaborate with the
program to deliver art outcomes in the community. We have
been over-joyed by the outcomes and impact of the artist’s
community engagement and extremely grateful that the funding
has enabled this to occur.
Pauline O’Shannessy-Dowling was the recipient of our full
arts scholarship to undertake the Leaders Forum program
and Jade Smithard and Morgan Williams received part scholarships for the 2015 program year.
Through our art projects we were also able to engage with
other arts leaders who form part of our alumni to capture various
outcomes that have been shared within the community,
covering various themes of diversity, play, sustainability and
well-being with arts being the catalyst for the conversations,
activities and outcomes completed.
COMMUNITY ARTS PROJECTS
Diverse Communities Golden Book
In collaboration with the Ballarat International Foto Biennale
and Eclectic Taste to celebrate 10 years of community
leadership we created a golden book that included the
community stories of 17 our of graduates and captured
images of our 5 shires to show their beauty and diversity of their
environment. This exhibition was help for a month and included
Morgan and Jade as current participants as well as Aldona and
Michelle as 2014 artists.
Rug Up Ballarat
Rug Up was held on a weekend in June and saw 2900 people
visit our community space and stay for hours. As a community
we raised $4000 for our local Breezeway Meals Program for
those in need, gathered bags of thermals and coats and made
375 stars to prevent violence against women.
Jade spent two days capturing the enjoyment of our Rug Up
winter event in photo and film formats. Jade captured beautiful images of young people and their families engaging in arts
play to make and create. Pauline run a sculpture play area
with a large community sculpture made from recycled items
being added too over the 2 days.
Community Leadership Reflection
Pauline has kept a journal of her thinking throughout the
year of learning and these sketches and thoughts have been
transformed into a art piece that reflects the journey of
learning for the program participants and will then be
produced for our sponsors as part of our 10 years celebration.
ContainART
Morgan created artworks that focus on the environment
moving into urban landscapes. He used plastic bottle caps that
have been degraded to have them visually flow through the
8windows of the shipping container to create an
environmental story. A community exhibition was held at the
Gong Gong reservoir.
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VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GRANT 2015
9
Show us your Pitch
In July 2015 the AVCLP Board approved implementation
plans for the Bug Blitz Show Us Your Pitch grants program.
The primary objectives of the Show Us Your Pitch project
are to:
•Support the delivery of the The Hugh Williamson Foundation Bug Blitz program objectives – stimulate and support
the implementation of projects that benefit environmental
education, the arts and young people
•
Leverage the opportunity the Bug Blitz grant program
provides AVCLP to:
-
Increase awareness of AVCLP across North East
Victorian businesses, community organisations,
individuals and government agencies; and
-Further develop connections between AVCLP and local
environmental, arts and youth communities.
Bug Blitz “Show Us Your Pitch” Session:
On Tuesday 6th October, seven community groups presented
their ‘Bug Blitz Show Us Your Pitch’ projects to an AVCLP
Board panel. These groups consisted of the shortlisted finalists from an initial response of 24 applications received from
Community groups from across North East Victoria.
•
Jamieson Community Group Inc Matthew’s Reserve Walking Track
•
Wodonga Flexible Learning Centre
Sensory Garden, including cement leaf sculptures
•
Myrtleford Rotary
Rail Trail Enhancement
•
The Centre for Continuing Education
Young Person’s Photographic Competition
‘My Environment’
• P
etaurus Education Group
‘Bring Ya Bug Along’ events and Book compilation
• Winton Wetlands
Learning space construction
• O
vens Landcare Network
Graffiti Art Workshops for Local Youth to create large
environmental messages
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VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
Successful projects:
Each of the panel members used a common assessment
scorecard to rate each pitch. At the completion of all pitches, scores were tallied and a further discussion held regarding each of the pitches to determine which projects would be
selected to be funded and the amount of funding awarded to
each project. Three projects were selected for funding.
• My Environment Youth Photographic Competition
•‘Bring Ya Bug Along’ Community Sessions + Resource Books
• Sensory Garden Construction
In addition to a grant, all finalist groups were offered free
leadership skills training via skills workshops that will be
negotiated between the groups and AVCLP.
The “Show Us Your Pitch” grants program has provided many
benefits for both AVCLP The Hugh Williamson Foundation and
the Bug Blitz program:
•
The “Show us your pitch” concept was welcomed by
community groups as a different way to secure funding
rather than arduous grant applications.
•
It has provided an increased awareness of AVCLP The
Hugh Williamson Foundation and the Bug Blitz program to
community groups that previously had little knowledge to
either program.
•Most short listed groups saw the exercise as beneficial and
they have pulled together presentations that may be used
again in other forums.
•It has strengthened the “brand” of AVCLP and The Hugh
Williamson Foundation and the Bug Blitz in this region.
•
AVCLP has a greater understanding of the work being
carried out by community groups in the areas of
environmental education, young people and the arts and
has increased their database through consultation with
these groups.
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
•It has encouraged community groups to work collaboratively to develop and implement projects.
•The Project can be easily repeated as we now have all
the necessary forms and correspondence available in
templates.
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GRANT 2015
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Tragedy of the Commons
[Year 2]
Collection and photographs of rubbish
Participants took photographs of rubbish and collected litter
from across five shires; Yarra Ranges, Nillumbik, Whittlesea,
Mitchell and Murrindindi to highlight the volume of rubbish
and litter dumped in common areas. Each participant collected
litter in their local area to use for the creation of the trees.
Demonstration trees – Brunswick
A metal worker was commissioned to design and create steel
trees. The participants worked with Liz Walker to prepare materials and create demonstration trees for the community participation days. Cans, plastic bottles, packets and boxes were
crushed and drilled for placement on the steel tree branches.
Trees of the forest – Community involvement
The RRCLP participants identified that illegal dumping of
waste and litter in public areas is having a negative impact on
the region’s landscape and environment. Large waste items
include general household rubbish, large domestic items (e.g.
mattresses), garden waste, construction materials, hazardous waste and abandoned vehicles and tyres. Litter includes
smaller items such as drink cans, take-away food wrappers,
cigarette packets and plastic bottles.
The RRCLP participants decided to address the issue using
media – art, sculpture and technology. Artist, Liz Walker assisted the group to create three art projects to display the litter and rubbish collected. The artwork is also being used in a
social media campaign to raise awareness in the community
of the negative impact litter and rubbish dumping has on our
environment.
The participants used the project as an opportunity to work
as a group and develop their teamwork and leadership skills.
Research the issues
Participants in the five shires researched the amount of litter
and rubbish dumped, its impact in the rivers and ranges area
and local government programs for dealing with rubbish.
Several meetings were held to identify the strategies to address
the issues and how to best represent and promote the message
that litter affects us all. Liz Walker was invited to assist the
group in developing the artistic elements.
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VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
Community workshops were held at Kinglake, Broadford and
Epping to involve the community in the construction of the
trees and create awareness of littering and dumping in local
areas. In Broadford the local Scouts group and other youth assisted in the creation of the trees.
Postcards and quilt
Photos of litter were sent to Liz Walker who created a “quilt”
titled ‘Tragedy of the Commons- uncovered’ depicting a water
course and the effects of littering. Postcards were developed
with phrases addressing the issues of littering – these will be
printed and used for publicity and promotion of the project.
‘The Discarded Forest’ Display and Launch
The trees were displayed at the Whittlesea Community Festival
in March and at the ‘Try Scouting Day’ in Broadford in May. The
project was officially launched at the RRCLP graduation with a
display of all the project elements.
Social Media Campaign
To promote the ‘Tragedy of the commons” project, the social media team utilised Facebook as a platform and created
a campaign page. The page, titled ‘Tragedy of the Commons
RRCLP”, is used as a medium by RRCLP participants to
publicise the current issue of dumping and littering in the rivers and ranges regions. It is also utilised to share environmental/sustainable/upcycling ideas and links publicly to the wider
community.
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GRANT 2015
13
Transforming Geelong
through Leadership
Provision of seed funding to establish five Community Projects
across the region.
1. Eastern Park Precinct
AIM: To showcase and stimulate interest in Eastern
Park, including all its assets and features, and engender
interest from partners to further develop Geelong’s most
significant piece of urban open space, building a legacy for
future generations to enjoy.
AIM: To better understand the homelessness issue in
Geelong and test whether a mobile outreach service could
work in Geelong by filling any gaps in the existing service
provision.
Outcomes
•Developed a detailed business plan that can be utilised by
the Salvation Army.
Outcomes
• Implemented a successful trial of the service.
•
Increased the public and stakeholder’s awareness,
usability, attractiveness leading to increased visitation
which will result in greater benefits for greater Geelong.
•Gained an ongoing commitment to continue agency
support to run the service.
•Developed a 3D model of the future park via a stepped
process or ‘layers’ to demonstrate how the park can evolve
and take shape over the next years.
•
Aligned the Eastern park precinct to the City of
Greater Geelong’s Master Plan to ensure the consultation
previously undertaken is taken into consideration.
•Developed a visitor guide and ‘MyParx’ app to promote and
increase the community and stakeholders awareness of
Eastern Park in its current form. The guide outlines the
numerous activities and attractions the park currently has
across all demographics.
2. Barwon Produce Map
AIM: To showcase high quality local produce from the Barwon
region by connecting consumers to producers.
Outcomes
•Developed and populated a database of local producers
and products from existing data supplemented by data
arising from additional research.
•Gained agreement and signed up major of local producers
in the G21 region to the database and have local producers
populating and maintaining the database.
•Designed an integrated and easy to maintain responsive
website (at www.dibble.com.au) and integrated smart
phone App (i phone and / or android) which uses GPS
location.
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3. Geelong Outreach Van
VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
In addition a number of positive, practical, short term benefits
were gained from trialling the Outreach Van model including:
•Providing access to food and blankets to people in need.
•Directing people to appropriate accommodation for people
living on the streets.
• Helping various individuals to travel and gain employment.
4. Navigating the Health System
5. Surf Centre of Excellence
AIM: To understand the reasons why some consumers may
have difficulty navigating the health system, through such
issues as fragmentation and current health system design.
These issues especially impact people with chronic and
complex conditions due to the number of funding streams,
restrictive eligibility criteria and service gaps.
AIM: To explore the opportunity available to the Geelong and
Surf Coast region to leverage the existing surfing industry to
create a world class Surf Centre of Excellence (SCE).
Outcomes
•Undertook a detailed literature review on factors impacting
health service system navigation for consumers.
•
Obtained views from local consumers and key service
providers regarding the concept of consumers having
access to a trained volunteer to assist them to navigate the
health system.
•Obtained key information from local consumers and key
service providers regarding their current experience of
accessing health services in Geelong.
•Identified and explored a number of successful initiatives
designed to address the issues.
•
Made recommendations for health services providers
based on actual consumer feedback.
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
Outcomes
•Undertook extensive research (and workshops) with key
stakeholders, surf industry leaders and medical experts to
discuss the concept of surfing excellence, understand the
surfing industry and engage with local industry about what
is required for ‘surfing excellence’
•
Reviewed current coaching programs adopted by more
developed sports, such as the AFL.
•Programs were contrasted with surfing and identified
areas of similarity and / or opportunity for this region.
•Reviewed surfer ‘holistic’ needs including physiological,
psychological and medical needs.
•
Conducted a survey of recreational, aspirational and
competition surfers, which was rolled out via the Surfing
Victoria website, ‘Surfers in Suits’ event breakfast, and
Facebook.
•Produced a comprehensive proof of concept report that
details three key areas within surfing that need to be better
understood, namely understanding the surfer; coaching
pathways; training and development. On that basis made
a series of recommendations for further consideration by
the Steering Committee.
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GRANT 2015
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Benalla Railway
Station Underpass
Fairley Leadership used The Hugh Williamson Foundation’s
environmental arts grant to update a mural at the
Benalla Railway Station Underpass. This project had a strong
partnership approach with VLine, the Fairley Leadership
Program Cohort and the Benalla P-12 School delivering the
project, with community support from CFA and Lions club.
Background
The underpass at VLine’s Benalla Railway Station had a
mural painted by the Benalla P-12 school approximately
20 years ago. The mural was looking tired and starting to
attract graffiti. It had been identified by VLine as needing to
be updated as it was pulling down the amenity of the Railway Station. The Northern Regional Manager for VLine was a
participant in the 2014 Fairley Leadership Program and
suggested that this might be a nice partnership project for
The Williamson Foundation BugBlitzTM environmental arts
project, so discussions were started with all involved.
The Project A truly community partnership approach
The Benalla P-12 School was keen to be involved in the
updating of the Benalla Underpass Mural and liked the
challenge of producing a mural with an environmental theme.
Following a discussion on bugs and critters in the environment
and the different shapes and sizes they might be, the Benalla
P-6 students set about to design the bugs for the Mural under
the theme of ‘Bugs and things I like about Benalla’.
The designs from the P-6 students were then converted
into suitable stencils by the 7-10 students with the Year 11
students from a special program to keep students engaged
in school undertaking the actual Mural project at the Benalla
Railway Underpass.
The site was prepared by the Fairley Leadership Program
participants with paint stripped, walls washed and sanded
over several days. The CFA provided their support through
washing down the walls. The Lions Club provided the catering
for the students whilst they were working on the Mural.
The final design was based on a light blue sky background with
leaves applied and the bugs and critters applied to the leaves
in a multi-layered effect.
The whole project took approximately six months from
inception and includes a plaque acknowledging the various
partners.
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VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
The Outcome
The finished product is a montage celebrating the smaller
creatures in our environment.
The Benalla Railway underpass is now much brighter and
more appealing to the public and the Railway staff have
received many compliments from customers.
The students have a much better appreciation for the smaller
critters in our environment and a very public exhibition of their
work which will last for years to come.
The Fairley Leadership Program participants enjoyed
working on this community project which has so many positive
outcomes.
Thank you to The Hugh Williamson Foundation and BugBlitzTM
for providing the funds for us to make a positive difference in
the rural city of Benalla, demonstrating that Fairley Leadership Program participants can be catalysts for positive change
in our Goulburn Murray community
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GRANT 2015
17
Sounds of Meran
Culture encountered the environment on the foreshore of
Lake Meran Culture on Friday 2nd October. Dance, music
and stories of the natural oasis were shared at the inaugural
event. The Sounds of Meran, was managed by a steering
committee representing Friends of Lake Meran, Lake Meran
Public Purposes Committee and Lake Meran Tennis Club
headed by LMCLP graduate Angela Hird.
Funding, provided through the Bug Blitz program by The Hugh
Williamson Foundation and CLLM, allowed organisers to plan
a quality event that would provide the structure and resource
to allow for the possibility of the event becoming an annual
fixture planning support and guidance was provided by Kim
Bennett, Regional Arts Vic, and Kristen Orr, Gannawarra Shire.
The requirements of the funding agreement were the event
was to include arts and environment, be family friendly and
completed by end of September. This gave the committee a
six week turn around but with clear vision and great community spirit they were able to pool resources and make the night
a great success. There was a fear we might not have been
able to attract great numbers, given so many other activities
were happening around the area that same weekend, however through strong advertising, word of mouth and great press
from the Gannawarra Times we were able to attract a crowd of
150+ people from all round the Shire and wider region.
The event commenced with storytelling and presentations
about the environment from locals and indigenous leaders
and included a welcoming ceremony and art activities. The
evening started off with cultural dance and music provided by
Jason Kirby and Barapa Barapa family. It was great to see the
children join together to learn some of the aspects of dance
under Jason’s instruction. After a bbq tea supplied by
Rotary Kerang, Melbourne-based bush band, The Willie
Wagtails hit the stage. The Willie’s and Jason put on a
moving performance of bush ballad and didgeridoo as the sun
set to the west, followed by a couple of sets into the night by
the band.
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VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
It was an opportunity for Indigenous and bush music to
come together with the artistic aspect. With the recent
publicity around the sustainability of the lake, it was a perfect
opportunity to foster the enthusiasm from the community
to build awareness of the importance of the lake, from a
cultural, environmental and agricultural point of view.
Overall, the night was an outstanding success and provided
the local community with so many opportunities for the future.
The event brought skills learned from Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program out into the wider community,
brought together a number of community groups for shared
benefit, encapsulated the arts and environment perfectly and
have given the local community an event model that can be
built upon.
LMCLP 2015 End of Year Painting
Our journey is represented by the river winding its way through
the Loddon Murray Region and beyond. Commencing from the
bottom left corner, our path has widened as flowing tributaries
have brought new knowledge, new networks and colourful experiences to broaden our perspective.
The large circle in the background represents the meeting place
created by LMCLP and our group coming together in this unique
and exhilarating experience.
Our story begins with 25 strangers and culminates with 20
graduating friends, filled with confidence and the ability to
strongly and courageously continue their leadership journey.
The white stars symbolise our 5 friends unable to complete the
program with us. While they have taken a different path, they too
are shining lights in their community.
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GRANT 2015
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From the
Garden to the Kitchen
[Year 2]
The first two years of The Hugh Williamson Foundation project
were blended to enable a larger project to take place.
The exciting feature of 2015 is the completion of the book of the
work of the students and staff of St Thomas Catholic School in
Sale. The book is a stunning testament to the ability of young
people to learn and to become passionate about their world.
Small children - aged 8-9 years were able to describe the water
cycle - why rivers and rainfall are so important; they could talk
about setting up worm farms at school and how they collected
organic waste - mostly food scraps to feed their worms, feed
their chooks and to produce compost for their newly built vegie
gardens. They conducted their Expo at the end of the year and
more than 400 parents, grandparents and friends came to see
and hear what they had learned.
Their book - From the Garden to the Kitchen is due to
be launched in early December, and thanks to The Hugh
Williamson Grant every student involved (110), their teachers,
the school, the local Catholic Education Office, GCLP and
others will receive a copy.
From the Garden to the Kitchen will also be published as an
eBook and can be located on the GCLP and school websites and
at www.vrclp.com.au.
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VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
Scholarships
Programs were able to offer full or partial scholarships to a number of participants during the course of the year. The scholarships
were awarded to participants from either arts/environment or Indigenous backgrounds. As well a number of programs utilised the
grant to aide in the success of their environmental and/or arts program days.
Arts and Culture Program Day
Northern
Mallee
Leaders
Arts and Culture Program Day
Arts and Culture Program Day
Leadership
Wimmera
Loddon Murray
Community Leadership
Program
Leadership Ballarat
& Western Region
Fairley
Leadership
Program
Alpine Valleys
Community
Leadership
Program
Rivers & Ranges
Community
Leadership Program
Leadership
Great South Coast
Leaders for
Geelong
Gippland Community
Leadership Program
Mid Year Retreat
Inclusion of an evening arts/
cultural event
Proudly supported by Regional D
evelopment Victoria
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GRANT 2015
21
Scholars
Tahni Froudist
Rosie Koop
Angie Russi
Alpine Valleys Community Alpine Valleys Community Fairley Leadership
Leadership Program
2015
Leadership Program
2015/16
2014/15
22
Vanessa Randle
Gippsland Community
Leadership Program
Pauline O’Shannessy
Dowling
Leadership Ballarat &
Western Region 2015
Jacqui Suares
Jacqui McKimm
Phil Hose
Lisa Oliver
Mars Drum
Leaders for Geelong
2014/16
Leaders for Geelong
2014/16
Leadership Great
South Coast
2015
Leadership Wimmera
2015
Leadership Wimmera
2015
Leonie Wright
Andrea Soebardi
Jane Ryan
Loddon Murray
Community Leadership
Program
Northern Mallee Leaders Rivers and Ranges
2015
Community Leadership
Program
2014/15
VICTORIAN REGIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS
Angela Warren
Rivers and Ranges
Community Leadership
Program
2014/15
L to R: Phil Hose - LGSC, Amanda Hennesy - LGSC, Barry Rogers - GCLP, Vanessa Randle - GCLP,
Katrina Baddeley - VRCLP, Rosemary White - LFG, Amanda McClaren - FLP, Sofia Fiusco - LBWR, Jacqui Suares - LFG,
Pauline O’Shannessy - LBWR, Angie Russi - FLP
The
Hugh Williamson
Foundation
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GRANT 2015
23
Katrina Baddeley | Chief Executive Officer – VRCLP
M: 0418294694 | E: [email protected]
www.vrclp.com.au