Another fantastic night in the nation's capital, lots of new faces and plenty of guests coming back again after last year's success. Three moving pitches from the very talented women running: GG's Flowers; Women's Centre for Health Matters; and Mental Illness Education ACT. Congratulations Nip, Marcia and Sam. Over $79,000 was pledged from a lively crowd that truly represented the generous Canberra community.
If you attended this event and made a pledge, please make your payment here.
Thanks once again to our generous event partners:
GG's Flowers is a social enterprise florist that employs people with special needs. They provide meaningful employment and education opportunities to special members of the community who are often forgotten and marginalised. With the right amount of support, encouragement and opportunity, people with special needs can be extraordinary members of the workforce. GG's Flowers are seeking funds to continue to be able to provide more employment opportunities for people with special needs, providing real job training and qualifications in floristry for new employees. ggsflowers.com.au
Presenter: Nipuni Wijewickrema, Co-Founder
Nipuni is a passionate and driven young woman, trying to change the world one flower at a time. Motivated by her sister Gayana, who has Down Syndrome, Nip realised there was a lack of meaningful employment opportunities for people with special needs. Unable to sit back and let Gayana live a life without purpose, Nip and her family established Canberra's most-loved and fastest growing floral business, GG's Flowers.
Women’s Centre for Health Matters is a community-based non-profit organisation working in the ACT region to improve women’s health and wellbeing, focussing on the ‘social determinants of health’. The funding they are seeking will support a new sustainable micro-finance facility (Assistance Beyond Crisis), which has been developed in response to the researched needs of local women who have escaped domestic violence situations. The facility will provide victims with a one-off no interest loan to establish short-term financial stability and access to financial counselling. wchm.org.au
Presenter: Marcia Williams, CEO
Marcia Williams is a passionate advocate, working across a range of sectors to enhance awareness of, and responses to, domestic violence in the ACT. Marcia believes that focusing on the “social determinants of health”, which include a range of social and economic issues, is the most powerful way to support and enhance the wellbeing of women.
Mental Illness Education ACT works in the youth, school and community setting to provide education and awareness in relation to living with a mental illness. They use personal stories to demystify mental health problems and to contribute to increasing the likelihood of young people seeking help early. Funding assistance will enable MIEACT to develop and begin to deliver a bullying prevention program, that not only provides support to victims of bullying, but also develops strong social networks to better prevent bullying in the first instance, while also encouraging initiators of bullying behaviour to seek support to begin to address the root causes of their own actions. mieact.org.au
Presenter: Samantha Davidson Fuller, Executive Officer
With over 20 years’ experience in the community and mental health sectors, Sam is smashing the stigma of mental illness; ensuring the myths, misunderstandings, prejudice, and discrimination are eliminated. Sharing her own lived experience to raise awareness, Sam is committed to encouraging young people to seek help early and provide them with the holistic support and education they need.