by admin | Jun 1, 2020 | Projects
- We worked to bring change to government policy towards asylum seekers and to challenge the inhumane treatment of those held in Australian Detention Centres. Our Trust founded the Bega Valley Rural Australians for Refugees and the Bermagui-Narooma RAR. A proposal written by Sr Laurel and submitted to the Bega Valley Shire resulted in Bega becoming the first official ‘Welcome Town’ in Australia which offered an alternative model for a caring and humane approach to the processing of asylum seekers. Sr Laurel was invited to the U.S. to speak on this action to bring change. More information http://www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au
- The ‘Sydney Body Art Ride’ was held bi-annually over several years. The Elm Grove Sanctuary Trust sponsored this ride by providing book-keeping and accounting facilities. It was organised by our former Director, Jake Lloyd-Jones. This event involved a large group of people, adorned with body art, riding bicycles from Randwick to Maroubra Beach to raise funds for the Children’s Cancer Institute of Australia and to promote healthy, sustainable living. The aim was to support Sydney’s Mayor, Clover Moore’s vision for a viable system of cycle-ways for Sydney to offset the damaging effects of fossil fuels on our environment. The ride was an art project named the Human Rainbow, with painted volunteers riding in bands of colour, creating a human rainbow travelling to the sea. “The ephemeral ‘Human Rainbow’ aimed to be a devotional artwork for a secular, sophisticated community”- an art project of the SBAR organiser Jake Lloyd Jones (a Director of the Elm Grove Sanctuary Trust). For details of this former initiative see this link– Jake Lloyd-Jones
- Our Trust previously supported ‘Voice’, an independent quarterly of comment and review, published by Canberra’s Ginninderra Press, and edited by Bill Tully, Stephen Matthews and Ian McFarlane. Voice has now become an online publication. The EGS Trust supported Voice believing that it provided readers with a valuable resource enabling democratic, social, cultural and political comment. The editors organised public forums to reflect the theme of each issue. These were usually held in Canberra, however for two years the Elm Grove Sanctuary Trust sponsored a Voice forum in Bermagui on the far south coast of NSW. These forums ‘Apocalypse Postponed – Global sustainability in a world divided by terrorism, economic imperialism and predicted climate change’ were hugely successful. Two high-profile speakers Dr Carmen Lawrence MP and writer/activist Rosie Scott from PEN Australia and two local high-school senior students Sven Helland & Tiffany Hart provided excellent input. A fuller report can be found on our News and Articles page. For further information/subscriptions regarding Voice visit their website https://www.ginninderrapress.com.au/