Our September Awesome Newcastle event quietly marked a huge milestone. It was the 10 year anniversary of the Chapter, which means we gave away our 100th grant; that’s $100,000 total cash given away, no strings attached. Not bad for a community-driven group who gives money out of their own wallet just to see more awesome projects take place in Newcastle.

As usual, we had a number of guest board members joining us. Carol Duncan from Lost Newcastle and Scott McShane from Reflections Holidays were returning guest board members and Lisbeth Pena from HNE Health, journalist Michael Parris and Frances McCafferty joined us for the first time. Frances is a previous Awesome grant winner, so it was wonderful to have her join us on the other side, to give back to the community.

Our first finalist was Joe Frost with “Forgotten Bombs – Bali 2005”. Joe, a writer who has worked for several publications and in corporate communication realised it was time to tell his own story.

‘Forgotten Bombs – Bali 2005′ is the definitive account of the 2005 Bali Bombings – who really planned and committed the attacks, the impact they had on the innocent people maimed and murdered, and the long-term impact an attack like this has. This multi-part podcast series is a uniquely Newcastle story. Because three people from our town were killed, while 15 suffered life-changing injuries.

Interviewees to date include 8 of the Newcastle survivors; a doctor from Newcastle whose bravery and heroism in treating the wounded earned him the Order of Australia and Newcastle’s Citizen of the Year; the AFP Detective Superintendent who led the investigation into the bombing; an ex-member of the terrorist network blamed for the attack; and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who was coincidentally on holiday in Bali at the time. It’s a Newcastle story. But it has global impacts.

If he were to win, Joe would use the money to help get insurance.

Next up from Alex Sugars from Carrington Public School P&C with “Swimming Intensive”. Carrington PS is a small school of 110 students. At this year’s swimming carnival it became apparent that around half the students couldn’t swim confidently.

The Principal has enrolled the whole school in a two-week Swimming Intensive Program to address the recognised need of improved water safety within their student cohort. This program costs approx. $14,500. The P&C is aiming to fund as much of that as they can.

$1,000 would cover costs for 10 students so they could attend the  two-week program.

The final finalist was Jacinta Durney with “Flow Bijou”. Jacinta is a dancing exercise physiologist that loves to create and foster spaces for expression and growth. Last year she helped organise an event that was a combination of dance and spoken word poetry.

Flow Bijou is a celebration of two precious art forms that can bring ease and harmony into the lives of humans all over the globe, even amidst the chaos. Through dance and spoken word , Flow Bijou tells a story of harmony and connection. 4 dancers and 4 poets will gift audiences with a spell of grace and inspiration bringing together the diversity that makes up Newcastle.

She would use the money to pay artists, including a DJ.

All three finalists presented passionately and had very different, worthy projects. The judges deliberated robustly and then voted for their winner.

Lisbeth had the honors of presenting the winner – Joe with Forgotten Bombs was our 100th Awesome Newcastle winner. Congratulations Joe, we can’t wait to listen to your podcast, launching at the end of the month.

If you have a great idea, submit your application here. Applications never expire, and all sorts of projects are welcome, as long as they make Newcastle a bit more awesome.

We are always looking for guest board members to join us in giving away $100 of their own money. If you’re interested, apply here.

We’ve got two more Awesome events before the end of the year and our November one is going to be a bit of a party to celebrate the year that’s been and reaching such an amazing $100,000 milestone. Keep an eye out for more details.