As luck and other circumstances would have it, Awesome Newcastle went back online last night for another Awesome Newcastle. Videos were watched, drinks were poured and, most importantly, money was transferred. We’re not gonna let a pesky pandemic stop us from giving 1000 bucks to amazing ideas!

Last night’s guest board members were three returning legends. We welcomed Oliver Gaywood of Civic Web Media, Declan Edwards of BU Coaching (and previous Awesome Newcastle winner) and Emma Levine, original Awesome Newcastle Custodian, and all around great lady.

The videos were sent off and then several of us Zoomed and discussed the finalists, and if you’re curious you can check them out too!

We welcomed  and watched H-Foot’s video. H-Foot is the official mascot of Newcastle, and he wants to cut a giant H-Foot artwork into separate jigsaw puzzle pieces using a CNC machine and hide the pieces around Newcastle.

We welcomed and watched Hunter Homeless Connect with Dave Couri. Hunter Homeless Connect (HHC) works in the Greater Newcastle and surrounding regions, taking an active lead to address homelessness. Hunter Homeless Connect is a volunteer not-for-profit organisation.

And for our final finalist welcomed and watched “What Were You Wearing” with Sarah Williams. Sarah is a university student and her project is based around the issue of sexual assault and defeating the myth that it happens due to what someone is wearing.

We loved the variety of the different finalists; it was such a tough call to make.  After plenty of discussion and debate, we all cast our votes, and Dave with Hunter Homeless Connect was the winner. Congratulations, Dave! We hope this money is quite useful, particularly as parts of the Hunter have just entered another lockdown.

We thank you to all our finalists and board members for their time and efforts. We couldn’t do it without you. Remember, applications never expire, so we might see you again soon for another Awesome Newcastle!