Well last night was a very big night in Cairns. I was fortunate enough to be the MC of a fundraising event for Harald’s House (www.haraldshouse.com), a local initiative to raise $1 million to build an emergency accommodation house for street kids in Cairns. The founder of Harald’s House, Harald Falge, has been feeding street kids for almost 20 years and in an emotive presentation last night he told how his “customers” have been as young as 4. Hard to believe isn’t it?

Well 250 people got together at a mammoth gala event, held at the Cairns Sebel Hotel. Collectively we raised about $30,000. Not a bad nights work at all and it took the total raised so far over the $500,000 mark. There are too many people to thank individually here – but there were about 80 companies that got behind this event and the concept as a whole. An event of this size really is a huge project and I was very proud to see so many people having such a blast.

So to everyone involved, as organisers, sponsors, donors or participants on the night – thank you!!!

Now we have another $500,000 to raise…..and I have absolutely no doubt that the people of Cairns will make this a reality. 

Cheers,

AG

On October 15th bloggers everywhere published posts that discuss poverty in some way. By all posting on the same day we aim to change the conversation that day, to raise awareness, start a global discussion and add momentum to an important cause.

Every blogger has a unique voice, audience and perspective. By speaking to their readers on topic about an important issue we can discuss global issues like poverty in a new and hugely multi-faceted way. And from discussion springs action.

Today I officially launch my new website and blog. It has been quite a task to get there, and like most IT projects now that it is finished I am ready to start again. I have endeavored to make both the blog and the website bright and colourful, with much more current information and easier to navigate features. I did get a quite a bit of feedback on my last website that it was a little dark and foreboding  - those people who know me or who have been to one of my events, say that this image didn’t really represent me accurately. Now I am taking that as a compliment (even if it wasn’t meant as one) insinuating that I am much brighter and more colourful than my previous “dark night” or “joker” images showed.  

Please take a few moments to browse this blog and the new website. If you have some feedback I would love to hear it. You can post a comment on this blog or email me via the website. 

I would like to say thank you to the City of Cairns team – my web developers for this project. They have gone way above and beyond the call of duty and that means a lot to me. So thank you to Nicky and Kaj and your IT Army. 

Kindest regards,

AG

The last weekend of August will see the Tropical Writers Festival being held at the Shangri La Hotel in Cairns (August 30/31). A host of authors, across all genres will be attending the festival which is shaping up to be a huge success. The two day programme is filled with workshops, presentations, recitals, panels and social events that will be both inspiring and informative for budding writers right through to seasoned veterans. The Festival is open to the public however bookings need to be made for some of the workshops and the Gala Dinner. For more information please call Arts Nexus in Cairns on 07 4051 4433 or visit www.tropicalwritersfestival.com.