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Clean AIr Wynnum is campaigning in West End and Dutton Park this month
Clean air Queensland is calling for residents along the train line between Yerongpilly and Cleveland to participate in a study of coal dust.
This new dust coal dust study follows a similar study at the Jondaryan coal stockpile in the Darling Downs. The new study will focus on measuring trackside coal dust pollution. Clean Air Queensland will be using the same Osiris dust monitors used in the last study and is looking for people to assist who can give 4 or more hours a week. Volunteers will be trained to become community scientists and use the Osiris monitoring equipment to collect data on passing coal trains. No experience is necessary.
Stay tuned for the details of public information forums on the health effects of coal dust in South Brisbane, Morningside, Ipswich and Toowoomba. Clean Air Queensland will be letterboxing thousands of flyers and doorknocking homes along the train line and asks for your help to insure that the forums are successful.
Driven by the Clean Air Wynnum group the campaign was active at Boggo Road Markets this weekend and collected hundreds of petition signatures. In the next few weeks we will be holding market stalls at West End, Wynnum and Ipswich.
This lady appreciated the Easter Eggs. She hasn’t had electricity since August last year. She has a $600 electricity bill she cannot afford.
Cadbury Chocolates donated 300 boxes of Easter Eggs (of about 300 Easter eggs/box) to Foodbank to distribute among the agencies they support. Each agency received 2 boxes of Easter Eggs.
Cadbury donated these Easter eggs on the condition that no one was charged for these Easter Eggs. That is a big boon for the homeless who receive the eggs because Foodbank charges a handling fee on most of the food they distribute, which many of the charities they serve, pass on with their own handling fee. (Charities have to raise money to pay their staff and bills).
Community Friends hands out free food to the homeless in Boundary St West End every Wednesday. Founder, Mark MDonnel said, “We never charge anyone for the food we giveaway or for the services we provide. Most of our clients aren’t in a position to pay anything.”
Companies that give food away are always concerned that they do not undermine their own channel. Ensuring the food is not sold cheaper than it is in shops is one way to differentiate charity from price cutting.
FUSION CULTURE is a very spicy and passionate mix of vocals, dance and music that will take place at BEMAC Multi-Cultural Centre, 102 Main St, Kangaroo Point on May 3, 2014.
The night is a community celebration of Brisbane’s own Yenenesh Nigusse, born in Ethiopia, but familiar to probably 1000s of people through her dance performances at festivals and workshops throughout Queensland and Australia over the last 20 years.
Before Yen departs to live in the UK she has invited many of the professional and well known artists she has worked with to create a rich and diverse cultural experience, a night to share the music and dance that she loves from Africa and Latin America, along with original and contemporary hip-hop, dancehall performances.
Please see also our flyer for the night along with a pdf with bios of many of the performers. Each and every one of them has a great story tell!
This is a privately organized community event; proceeds of tickets sales will cover expenses and artists fees only.
FUSION CULTURE: Yen’s Farewell Gig
Saturday May 3, 2014
7:30 – 10pm
A night of African, Latin, Hip Hop & Dancehall grooves and moves.
Australia’s largest Mother’s Day event makes a difference for breast cancer.
Mother’s Day Classic is Australia’s largest breast cancer research fundraiser, and organisers are encouraging people to get on board for the Sunday May 11 event in the fight against a disease that impacts one in 8 women.
This year there will be 97 around Australia – in every capital city as well as regional and rural locations in every state and territory, from Ararat (Vic) to Yamba (NSW), from Karratha (WA) to Weipa (Qld).
In 2013, a record $5 million was raised by 135,000 supporters who took part in the event around Australia.
In 2014 a major milestone will be celebrated – the event, which began in 1998, will pass the $20 million mark in funds it has raised for the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s research program. This research has had a real impact on survival statistics and has also helped answer research questions for a range of other cancers.
Mother’s Day Classic national chair, Louise Davidson, said as well as funding research, taking part in Mother’s Day Classic was also a wonderful way to show support and solidarity to those in the community dealing with breast cancer.
“Participants will tell you there is something special about the atmosphere at the Mother’s Day Classic, whether you attend a huge capital city event or a small community gathering,” Ms Davidson said.
Make Mother’s Day, May 11 2014, memorable – register and fundraise
Mother’s Day Classic is all about raising awareness and honouring those impacted by the disease, as well as funding vital research into treatment, detection and prevention.
“The more funds we raise, the faster a cure can be found. So instead of just registering this year, why not fundraise? Funding research is a great investment in the future,” Ms Davidson said.
Major sponsor ME Bank is offering the ME Bank Inspiration Award to fundraisers. Raise $100 or more through online fundraising and you’ll be invited to take part and you could win $5,000 for a person who inspires you and $500 for yourself, in an ME Bank EveryDay Transaction Account with Pink Debit MasterCard*.
Since the event began in 1998, Mother’s Day Classic has become the largest funder of National Breast Cancer Foundation research.
In that time, 5 year survival rates for women diagnosed with breast cancer have increased to 89%.
Despite these advances, on average 7 Australian women die each day from breast cancer. With research, more can be done.
“Mother’s Day Classic is a celebration of spirit and hope that together we can contribute to making breast cancer history,” Ms Davidson said.
Ultra marathon runner Chris Pye is running around the Treasury Building right now. You can catch him all night tonight until midday tomorrow as he runs for 24 hours to bring awareness to the plight of refugees being illegally mistreated by our government in our name.
As reported in the Westender last week, My Pye is embarking on the endless run to nowhere to highlight the plight of these refugees who came to Australia seeking help and no have nowhere to run.
Supported by the Refugee Action Collective, Mr Pye is handing out brochures to passers by and inviting the media to listen to his views on their plight. So far, only the ABC, Westender and Channel 31 have paid any attention to his efforts.
SW Chamber president Alice Langford and Matthew Snelleksz with the recipient of Matthew’s book
Members of the South West Chamber of Commerce got a big pat on the back at breakfast on Thursday when Matthew Snelleksz reminded us all of the number of things we put on the line to be in business.
“You deserve to work less, go home early, make your families happy and retire wealthy, because you have put everything on the line,” he told the assembled throng in the Loft on Boundary St. “You deserve a reward.”
“The problem is that many small businesses are broken,” he said.
The signs of a broken business are that the owner
is working long hours,
does not have enough money,
cannot take holidays and
cannot effectively delegate to staff.
He confessed that four years ago he was in that position, not taking the same advice he has given his accountancy clients over the last twenty years.
A life threatening experience in the open ocean off Fiji involving an empty scuba tank, a rope and a missing dive knife, jolted him into awareness and he decided to do something about it.
He not only turned his business around, he recorded the steps in a book called Breaking the Entrepreneurial Struggle, which he awarded to two lucky business operators in the room.
The primary focus of his turnaround strategy is that business owners need to focus on the essential items, instead of getting bogged down in the day to day detail of running a business.
This is a familiar message, think The four hour work week, Do what you love and other self-help business books that focus on getting back to the basics.
The difference is that Snellekz does not offer any magic bullets he simply points to ten logical steps that are the essential ones in fixing a business. “This is written by a small business owner, for small business owners about the reality of small business here in Australia,” he said.
The first three are the clincher. If you can’t get these right, in the right order, then you will never escape the gravitational pull of the Entrepreneurial Struggle.
They are:
Grow sales
Grow profit
Grow cashflow
“The order is critical,” he told the chamber. He noted that growing cashflow without fixing profit just increases the speed at which you are losing money. Similarly, trying to cut costs or reduce overheads without increasing sales is a sure way to shrink your business.
He rates talking regularly to your top 20 customers, on site when you can, closing major deals and staying ahead of market trends as key roles for the owner or CEO of a business.
“If it is not critical to the business, delegate, outsource or offshore it. Do not do it yourself, you have a broken business to fix.”
Snelleksz’ emphasis on succession plans and retirement strategies is interesting, and consistent with other breakfast presentations. “If you don’t have milestone’s for getting out, you will keep going past your maximum effectiveness. Every business has a use by date, and if you do not refresh and renew it before then, it will begin to fail.”
There were a number of business consultants in the room, all focused on slightly different versions of the same approach. Struggling businesses have plenty of places to go for advice, but the bottom line is to increase the top line first.
