Awesome Newcastle August Winner – Frontline Yoga

Awesome Newcastle August Winner – Frontline Yoga


Our August round of Awesome Newcastle kicked off last Thursday night at The Village of Useful. There was a particular energy in the room that one can only describe as ‘money’.

It could be that we did AwesomeNTL a little differently this round, or maybe it was the awesome board members that were excited to give away $1,000, it could be the delicious salsa that was on the table, but really it was the electric and innovative finalists that took it to a whole new level.

We had our Awesome Board Members ready and firing. Technology consultant and Dean of Awesome NYC, Jesse Chan-Norris, had a perfectly timed Australian trip allowing him to experience Awesome Newcastle the Australian way. Chan-Norris was joined by other guest board members Richard Tribe from ski.com.auAlison Hough from Wine Selectors and Measured Marketer Jacqui Reed.

Our finalists for August were Lily Collins presenting Albert, Mark Brown from Purple Pear Farm and Kate O’Donoghue from Sprout & Bean Yoga talking about Frontline Yoga.

First to speak was Lily Collins who applied to Awesome Newcastle to use the money to put towards her children’s illustration book, Albert. Collins’ creation of Albert came after one blue day and since that first illustration she has created multiple storyboards, drawings and plans to take Albert on a journey we can all relate to. Albert is a little bit bear and a little bit cat, but mostly he is a symbol of the everyday person that Collins will use to help children learn through imagination and emotion.

Purple Pear Farm’s chief farmer, Mark Brown told the board members about the sustainable permaculture farm located in Maitland that has become a victim of it’s own success. Brown spoke about the increased interest from the public about the organic way of living. Starting out with monthly tours, the farm has now grown into a hub for permaculture education. Due their successes they want to put the awesome money towards building facilities for the public such as larger bathrooms, a mothers and bub room and ramp for access to the disabled bathrooms.

Lastly Kate O’Donoghue from Sprout and Bean Yoga presented Frontline Yoga, which helps to deliver Trauma Aware Yoga to members at the Frontline including Police, Paramedics, Fire-fighters, Defence, Healthcare Workers, SES/RFS and Surf Life Savers. O’Donoghue spoke about the increasing demand for these services and how yoga can help those living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). O’Donoghue wants to use the money to create a series of educational training videos for registered yoga teachers to further their practice with this trauma aware program and make it more widely available.

After some very high calibre presentations our board members had a hard decision ahead of them. Behind the closed doors our board members debated and voted, and it was a very close win.

NYC Dean, Chan-Norris presented the $1,000 bag of cash to the lucky winner, Frontline Yoga.

Congratulations Frontline Yoga Inc. on your awesome win!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
If you would like to be in the running for an Awesome Newcastle grant, apply online.