Despite another night of wind and rain, on Wednesday team Awesome Newcastle gathered at the Young Street Hotel in Carrington. We huddled next to a roaring fireplace, making merry and ready to give away $1000 no-strings attached cold hard cash.

This month we welcomed returning guest board members consultant Craig Browning, Kara Sullivan of Guts Creative and first time guest board member Merran Magill of Mutual Bank.

Our finalists this month were Joe Mintoff of Common Ground, Anthony Tuite of In You Corner and Emma Levine of Hamilton Cat Walk.

Anthony went first. He uses his sporting background and team building skills to bring together clients with mental health needs. He teaches them boxing and works with a range of people in need throughout the Hunter New England Health District. They train at PCYC, and he would use the money to buy team singlets, training towels, wet packs with toiletries for which provide a sense of wellbeing and inclusion for all who attend.

Joe went next. He’s a retired Philosophy lecturer from the University of Newcastle, and he spoke about a recent study that demonstrated that Australians are more politically divided than ever. To address this, he has created Common Ground which hosts a variety of events and debates at The Base Health. He aims to increase critical thinking and demonstrate that it is possible to have a conversation and learn from someone with a completely different opinion to yourself. He would use the money to pay for accommodation for debate candidates he brings in from outside of Newcastle.

Last but not least was board member Emma Levine, who offered to ceremoniously pitch as our third finalist failed to show. She said the suburb of Hamilton needs a lift and has had a bunch of incidents and bad publicity lately, leading to people viewing it as a dangerous and ‘unsavoury’ area. She would like to host a Hamilton Cat Walk, a one-off guided walking tour through the suburb to view cats and meet neighbours. The free event will be in September and will build community connection and give Hamilton something fun and positive to talk about. She would use the money for a photographer and videographer to capture the fun and promote it next year.

The board members went to work debating and discussing and at last a decision was reached. Craig passed the money to Anthony! Congratulations to In Your Corner, we can’t wait to see how this money helps you and your clients, and Alex is very excited about the singlets with her face on it. 😉

Congratulations also to Joe and Emma for your great pitches. We are looking forward to Emma’s cat walk in September, and the upcoming Common Ground Debate on diversity, equity and inclusion with Brianna Mckee and Jeremy Bath.

See you next month for another Awesome Newcastle! Start brainstorming your next big idea!