And just like that...

.... 2009 is almost over.

It's been several months since my last blog entry... There's always been the intention to blog but as it will, life just got in the way.

This last 6 months has seen life throw at me the unexpected, the challenging, the exhilarating, some lessons learned, many first times and (with a dash of luck) a few last times too.... and all the while, loved ones and friends have been close.

... and so for this entry, my last one for 2009, I smile and share some of the good-time moments over the last 6 months.

Here's wishing everyone a safe festive season. I'm looking forward to 2010. I hope you are too.

Livvi's Place

Here it is.... and we were proud to share it with 20,000 others :)


A personal thanks to family and friends who came out to support the playground!

                    

Note:- I'm cheating. At the time of writing it's actually December but the fair to launch Livvi's Place took place on 15 November 2009. 

Olivia's First Playground

For those who know me or have been reading this blog, you will know that I’ve been on a journey the last couple of years - a journey that back dates to November 2006 when 8 month old Olivia Perkins passed away.

In March 2007 we launched the Touched by Olivia Foundation through our first butterfly ball and we announced to the world our vision to build an all-abilities playground in Timbrell Park, Drummoyne – the local playground to the Perkins family.

Later in the year, we had our first family fun fair with Dora, kiddie rides, a petting zoo, pony rides, all-day entertainment, stalls galore (and a special crystal stall :))). It was a day for the community and it turned out to be a great day but in truth we had been a little concerned, none of us having experience in organizing a community fair and the day forecasted to rain (and it did not!)

In 2008, a second butterfly ball happened and the local community of Drummoyne wanted us to organize the family fun fair again… and we did :)

This year we’ve moved the ball to a slicker location and in these economic times, we achieved great things. $150,000 was raised and given to the Sydney Children’s Hospital where two positions focusing on lymphangioma (the condition Olivia suffered from) have been created.

All the while there have been endless talks with the council, community consultation, inquiries with sponsors, lengthy discussions with playground experts, quiet organizing and planning in the background.

And now we’re here.

On Sunday 15 November of this year, that playground we first dreamed about will be launched…. stemmed from the support of the local council, the local community, numerous sponsors including Leighton Constructions who is actually building the playground pro bono, the support network of the Perkins family, the support network of Touched by Olivia, the TBO family, my family and friends who have shared this personal journey with me.

It feels good to tell people that this is now happening. For those who were at that first ball, I hope they remember the way I do, how little we knew, how much we’ve learnt, how indeed we’ve grown.

I still remember that call from Justine (Olivia’s mum) not long after Olivia’s funeral. I took that call on my balcony and not long after, Justine, Phil and I were sitting around the lounge room of my Burwood apartment sticking up post-it notes on the walls. It marked the milestones to launching Olivia’s foundation, this Touched by Olivia Foundation and Justine’s dream to achieving this playground inspired by Olivia.

It’s been sometime coming. I am a little teary at the thought but I am quietly excited.

I am grateful. Because.

We have all experienced those moments, perhaps rare for some of us, which we find precious…so precious, we want to keep it to ourselves. Because it is special. Because it means something. Because it’s a moment that counts.

So I don’t really want to say except that this weekend I was given a most beautiful gift. It is beautiful for many reasons but one is that it will contribute towards a dream of making a difference.

Thank you, stewOZ.

TBO video presentation...

... and here's the video shown on the night. Thanks to Geeks Give Back, the designer geeks, Neil and Scott.

Yes, that's my music being played in the background. A quiet tribute.

the actual amount raised.....

is actually

$150,115.

Amazing... given the economic times. This is truly an amazing result.

A research fellowship for Sydney Children's Hospital, a step in the direction for treatment of vascular malformations and tumours.

Touched by Olivia - Butterfly Ball 2009

This Saturday that just went by was the annual Touched by Olivia butterfly ball. With a theme of "an enchanted evening", the night promised pretty colours of pink, yellow and blue, shiny things, feathery stuff and sprinkles of sparkles. An entertainment line up of Brent Street dancers, So You Think You Can Dance performances and a Cirque du Soleil aerialist dazzled the crowd. Our MC, Jay from Playschool and Star Wars, gave the crowd of 600+ a warm and fuzzy feeling.

We raised about $130,000 and in this economic climate, this result is completely overwhelming.

Our volunteers were amazing. We could not have done it without our troop of cheery and colourful volunteers who each contributed to this outstanding result and gave up their Saturday night to give our guests endless smiles and a warm reception.

Here's a few photos to share:








More photos here.

Geeks v Hip Hop Artists

Hello :) A few weeks ago I had blogged about our Geeks Give Back program inviting participants of ICE's urban music program into the house and spending an afternoon of swapping stories of struggle and success, workshopping helpful social media ools and creating an online presence for these budding filmmakers and hip hop artists...

Here's an article that ICE has written up on the event:

http://ice.org.au/newswire/2009/04/hip-hop-artists-v-geeks/

A sprinkle of Red Dust.....

I was very fortunate to participate in a Red Dust Role Model tour (www.reddust.org.au) in May 2007. A plane trip from Sydney to Ayers Rock and then a 4WD to the indigenous aboriginal community of Mutijulu... there are no words, nothing that can be said, that can capture this experience.

Here's some pictures.... and there are a thousand more.

Gloria's Head Shave - the Bill Walsh Cancer Research Institute

Gloria Best. She was indeed.

For about two and a half years, I worked in the same team as Gloria. It was my honour. She was my director's PA and at the time, I was managing the Vodafone Australia Foundation. We sat in our little corner but mind you, her devilish laughter, I'm sure, could be heard from all four corners of level 20.

Gloria wore a pink vest and would promptly ask to go out for coffee at 10 o'clock. As she didn't have any children of her own, she affectionately adopted me as her 'work daughter', always correcting my posture and warning me from good looking guys...

Gloria died in August 2007. Her 'recurring' cancer recurred again... and I still remember that day when I heard her take the phone call from Dr Bell. Having beaten cancer twice before, she cried (who wouldn't?) but by the end of the day, she was back on the phone leaving Dr Bell a message that she was ready to fight it again.

The next day Gloria approached me and asked whether I could help her with her fundraising idea. She wanted to shave all her hair off ('It's going to fall off anyway!" she exclaimed.) This was a magnificent gesture from a brave, brave woman.

Together we created 'Gloria's angel network' and in front of about 200 colleagues, Gloria's head was shaved. Along with a lolly jar count, raffle, 'best baldie in the building' competition and auction of one of Gloria's personal pieces of decoupage (which brought in $400 alone), she raised $7,155.10 for the Bill Walsh Cancer Research Institute for research into Peritonial cancer (the 'whispering cancer'). Her BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) was $5,000.

Importantly, this fundraiser and Gloria's condition raised awareness on the importance of all women taking a CA125 test.

The months that followed were filled with medical tests, needles and all things nasty. I accompanied Gloria a few times to the Royal North Shore Hospital, when was she receiving treatment, when she had to find out the results of tests. It was tough. When I went to visit her and realised she had been moved into palliative care, it was tougher. In the end, it still remains that speaking at Gloria's funeral has been one of the toughest thing I've had to do my life....

But Gloria's brave fight to the end remains fresh in my mind.

And I will leave you with Gloria's words, 'Don't forget to go and have a CA125'.

Detour - for a smile :)

There are those occasional moments in life when you can sit back and let out a contented sigh….

A long weekend has just passed in Sydney, Australia. I’ve had such a lovely, lovely weekend where I got to spend time with favourite people and do favourite things... (including kicking a soccer ball (wildly) about in a park).

For dinner, I’ve boiled some rice and made myself a fried egg. There’s some other stuff in the fridge but really, it’s enough.

Tonight I sit back and hum a little tune.

Have a listen… and smile with me please.

Happy Easter :)

A Trailwalk - Oxfam Australia

Team 325.

I still remember.

Physical torture for the ideal of a fairer world. Yes, I know it's crazy.

Once upon a time I was much against these gimmick-type events but I realised (the hard, stubborn way), sometimes it's what gets people to sit up and listen... and now I'm all for it.

A large part of my memory of 2006 is taken up with weekend walks into rough terrain, getting excited over Kathmandu sales, support crew jingles, cadbury raisin bars, coming up with all sorts of funny fundraisers (including a Trivia, a bowls day, a Eurovision dress up (organised and supported by my beloved legal colleagues, shout out of a special thank you to Lisa M!).

My inspiration for participating in the 2006 Oxfam Trailwalk was that in the year before, as a volunteer, I had registered a man who was blind, another with one leg on crutches, teams of grandmothers and grandfathers with bulging muscles.... these people I registered at the start of the 2005 event had all completed the walk.

There was no excuse. I had to do it.

In the end, Team 325 (a team comprised of 3 fit athletes and one tortoise (guess who?) raised $24,537 to go toward a vision to combat global poverty and injustice.

The picture above is of our supportive colleagues at registration.... I still remember their cheers :)

Oh and by the way, I had my own special moment out there on the trail... I got to walk next to Charlie, the blind man I had registered the year before. I walked with him and his team for a little while before having to go along my merry *cough* painful way to catch up with the rest of my team. It was an awesome feeling to be there standing next to him.

Elaine

Team 325 'In Hindsight'

Head of Cadbury Raisin Bars Committee (still)

A Vision for Uganda - World Vision

I'm gonna take you for a trip down memory lane for the next couple of blog entries....

In March 2006, I was part of a group of colleagues who organised a charity cricket tournament. It was on the back of the year of the Tsunami and this same group of colleagues had run a charity cricket torunament to raise funds for the Tsunami victims the year prior. In 2006, they were back, keen to raise for another cause.

I know nothing about cricket but facilitated this streak of enthusiasm. Sadly, the corporate sector's initial reaction was not so supportive. The cause we chose was World Vision's Pader Emergency Education Project. We wanted to raise funds to build a nurturing, supportive education centre for children who had been rescued from the Rebel Army in Pader, Northern Uganda. These children had been forced into child soldier and sex slave situations and needed a trusted place for them to heal prior to being returned to their home villages.

A worthy cause, I'm sure you'd agree. But it was not a high profile cause. It wasn't anything like the tragic Tsunami that had unexpectedly taken the lives of so many people in South East Asia on Boxing Day, 2004. We had a lot trouble getting corporates on board and for a corporate cricket tournament, obviously the support of the corporate sector was vital.

But in the end they came through - Vodafone (of course), Willoughby City Council, IBM, Hutchison and on Tuesday 14 March 2006, we held a bat for povery at the local Chatswood Oval.

And I still don't know anything about cricket.

I was persistent in my pursuit of holding the tournament for many reasons. Obviously, for those children in Pader, for causes which are real and exist but are virtually unknown.... When my colleague, in the early days of organisation, came up to me and told me he felt it was getting hard and that perhaps we should not proceed, I wanted to tell him, to reassure him, to show him, that determination can go a long, way... a way to war-torn Northern Uganda.

In the end we raised over $210,000. $50,000 builds one school. With over $200,000, World Vision can build three and over 1,500 displaced children in Uganda now have a safe learning environment.

Olivia's Lullaby

If you've visited my composing website, you will have come across Olivia's Lullaby. It is my personal dedication to Olivia and my first improvised piece on my piano.

It is 2 minutes and 13 seconds in length.

Touched by Olivia Foundation

Every second Tuesday night (or Thursday night) for the last two and a half years, I’ve been part of a very special group of people who sit around a dining table discussing fundraising strategies to achieve of a vision of happier and healthier children.

This is Touched by Olivia. It is the legacy of Olivia Perkins who tragically passed away at 8 months to a rare condition, lymphangioma in November 2006. Til today I still have the picture of John carrying his baby daughter’s casket down the aisle… I will always remember his words at the funeral, ‘If we knew the outcome of today, we would still go back and do it all over – a million times out of a million times.’

Being part of a small team that created and administers this Foundation remains one of the proudest, most meaningful achievements in my life.

The Touched by Olivia Foundation stands for all abilities playgrounds across Australia so that every child (regardless of their abilities) can enjoy a playground. This is every child’s right and this beautiful vision begins in Timbrell Park, Drummoyne. The Foundation also raises funds for life-saving equipment for the Sydney Children’s Hospital and creates strategic partnerships with other charities with a focus on young children.

Since our formation, we have successfully held 2 butterfly balls and 2 family fun fairs with the last fair having over 12,000 in attendance. There’s a ball coming up on 2 May (tickets still available, shout out for volunteers). I myself particularly look forward to the fair every year, a day all families can enjoy and we can let the locals know something special for Timbrell Park is on its way.

Everyone involved in the Foundation is a volunteer. There’s John and Justine (my friends and the parents of Olivia). There’s also Fleur, Phil, Patrick, Sonja and Bec. These names probably mean nothing to you but they are like family to me. A mix of ex-Vodafone colleagues, mothers of Justine’s mothers group and subject matter experts, we are a bit of a funny bunch…. And to date we’ve raised over half a million dollars for Olivia’s beautiful legacy.

Tonight I am a tired gurl but as I sat around the living room, like most Tuesday nights, I have to admit the feeling is still very special, the privilege to be there is still mine. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

I am realistic. I recognize at some point I am going to have to revisit the growing list of charities I do volunteer work for but Touched by Olivia is one I know, one way or other, will be a lifetime commitment.

Oh… and I should mention we’ve actually very recently moved on from the dining table to the living room. It’s become second home.

Here’s also some pics from the ball launching the Foundation to its most recent event, the family fun fair of 2008.

It's 12.13am. I’m just finishing a draft of the volunteer plan against a revised running order…. and we’re still looking for volunteers so let me know if you’re free on the night of 2 May.

Good night, world.