Cancer Council Victoria’s 15th annual Arts Awards: Entries now open!

Cancer Council Victoria is pleased to announce that as of 15th January, entries are officially open for its 2012 Arts Awards. Now in their 15th year, the Arts Awards provide all Australians touched by cancer with an opportunity to express their experience creatively through art, writing or film.

The awards are open to both amateur and professional artists and entries are accepted in the categories of:

• Visual Art
• Short Story
• Film
• Poetry
• Indigenous Art
• Youth and Children’s Writing and Art

The theme for 2012 is ‘Strength’ and experts including writer and storyteller, Arnold Zable and children’s author, Tony Wilson, will judge entries. A range of works will be displayed via a touring exhibition with a grand opening on 29th July in Melbourne at 120 Collins Street. It will then travel throughout Victoria, including Melton, during September and October and at Burrinja Cultural Centre from 18th October – 18th November. An outstanding entry from each category will also be awarded a cash prize – $250 allocated for exceptional entries in children’s categories, $500 for the youth section and $1000 for adult categories.
Cancer Council Victoria spokesperson, Deb Stringer, says, “Cancer presents an enormous physical and emotional challenge for all those affected including patients, family, friends and carers. Whether directly affected or supporting a loved one, many will draw on their inner strength to help them get through such a difficult time. We run our Arts Awards initiative as artistic and literary expression can often help people through their cancer journey, and we believe the awards provide valuable support”.
This year, for the first time in the awards’ 15 year history, Cancer Council Victoria will be offering creative therapy workshops across the state. Participation in these workshops can help patients and their families find strength through creative pursuits.
Creative therapy sessions will be held in Melbourne on 18th February at Cancer Council Victoria’s Drummond Street premises, at Burrinja Cultural Centre on 17th March and the Melton Visitor Information Centre in March (see website for dates and bookings).
Entries close on 27 April 2012. For further information or to enter, please visit www.artsawards.com.au or call 1300 65 65 85.

Looking For Community Guides

Do you like to meet new people?
Do you have an interest in supporting and meeting Refugees?
Do you love this town?
Ballarat Community Health (BCH) is looking for Community Guides to welcome and support refugees newly settled in Ballarat.
We are particularly interested in sourcing people who have a refugee background themselves, are migrants and/or speak:
• Farsi/Dari/Persian or
• Kurdish (any dialect)
• Pashto, Uzbek or Turkmen and have good English.
The role includes showing new arrivals important places in town and assisting with registrations at major services.
Being a Community Guide is a PAID position. Training is provided prior to working with clients.
It is a very flexible position which can be matched to your individual needs.
If you are interested in finding out more, contact:
Paige Duggan
Humanitarian Settlement Services Worker at Ballarat Community Health on 03 5338 4500 or 0417 129 593.

Expressions of interest Artist-in-Residence Community arts project – Ballan

An opportunity exists for a practicing artist to lead an exciting arts project entitled Transformations, which involves children at the Ballan Primary School and a number of Senior Citizens who are residents of the Ballan District Health & Care Aged Care Hostel.
Bungal Arts Depot is an arts initiative established in June 2011 by a number of professional artists based in and around Ballan. It aims to sponsor change in Social Equality in the region through access to Creativity. It creates arts programs in conjunction with local organisations to promote health and wellbeing and encourage wider arts participation by the community.
This is the first project of the new Depot working with the support of Moorabool Shire Council, VicHealth LEAP Program, the BDHC and the Ballan Primary School.

Objectives of Project
An Artist-in-Residence will be contracted and will consult with the Principal of the Ballan Primary School, a representative of Bungal Arts Depot and the Aged Care Hostel to:
• finalise the project’s goals
• design the process and establish the organisational requirements
• work with the students and Hostel residents to produce the art works
• assist in the installation of a public exhibition or exhibitions of the works
The project is based on the production of a series of large portraits by the children for exhibition in the time allocated. It is envisaged that each portrait will consist of a number of individual, connected “canvases”. They could be painting, drawing or mixed media.
The portraits and the interactions will link the children to Ballan’s senior citizens and their history and will connect with the wider community with the initial exhibition celebration, which will be followed by the placement of works in other contexts in the community.
You are invited to include your ‘vision’ for the project in a paragraph in your submission.
The project commences at the beginning of the first school term in 2012 and it is anticipated would extend over a period of five weeks and will involve grades 3/4/5 and 6. It is estimated that 23 hours face to face instruction and 12 hours preparation would be required. The Artist-in-Residence would be assisted in the classroom by the art teachers.

Key Person Skills/Criteria
1. The Artist-in-Residence would be a practicing artist in one or more of the following disciplines (e.g. painting, drawing, printmaking and collage).
2. Have experience in preparing work for exhibition and experience with the exhibition process and its deadlines.
3. Be cognizant of health, safety and environmental issues specific to visual arts when working with young children.
4. Demonstrated capacity to design, lead and deliver the outlined program to the standard agreed to by the principal partners and to meet the needs of the children and the senior citizens.
5. Be willing to comply with the School’s requirements regarding acquiring Working with Children certificates and other government requirements.
6. Ability to work collaboratively, harmoniously and flexibly as part of a professional and/or project team and as a self-motivated person without close supervision
The contracted person would work for the main part of the project at the Ballan Primary School.
Expressions of Interest are invited to be submitted by email or post by midnight 12 December. We aim to carry out interviews between 14 to 16 December and to appoint by the 22 December.
Expressions of Interest addressed to Mr Brian Reynolds, should address the key skills/criteria and should indicate your experience as an artist and also your experience in relationship to working in a collaborative manner where instruction and supervision is a condition of a project. These should be accompanied by a CV, and 3 images of previous works.
Enquiries to either, Julie Ferguson, Deputy Principal, Ballan Primary School ferguson.julie.e@edumail.vic.gov.au
or to Lyn Plummer, Lead Artist, Bungal Arts Depot, info@bungalartsdepot.com
Forward applications to:
by email: reynolds.brian.h@edumail.vic.gov.au
by post:
Principal, Ballan Primary School
Duncan Street
BALLAN 3342

Ballarat to celebrate 157th Anniversary of Eureka

A range of events will take place around the city over the coming week to celebrate the 157th Anniversary of the Eureka Rebellion.
The ill-fated uprising by a group of miners, defending their rights against a harsh regime on the goldfields of the 1850s is widely regarded as a turning point for Australian democracy.
The Australian Constitution is built on many of the principles outlined in the Ballarat Reform League charter, as over 10,000 diggers spelt out their political demands in a mass meeting at Bakery Hill on 29 November 1854 before the uprising.
From the bloody battlefield emerged the qualities frequently associated with our national identity; among them mateship, multiculturalism and the notion of the right to a fair go for all.
The 1850s were a tumultuous period in Australian history and the lure of gold had drawn people from around the world, many from countries which had undergone revolutions triggered by a sense of injustice.
They came to Victoria, primarily Ballarat, to find themselves under another harsh and corrupt administration, forced to pay a crippling gold tax without any representation in the colonial administration which administered it.
Many were well-educated and their calls for an end to the tyranny attracted tens of thousands of disgruntled miners to mass meetings, a show of people power unimaginable today.
Efforts to negotiate change proved futile, with the diggers deciding they had no choice but to take up arms. They raised their flag, the Southern Cross, swore an oath and marched to Eureka, where they built their stockade.
The battle, when it came, was short-lived. A surprise dawn attack on December 3 lasted just 15 minutes as troopers quickly overran the stockade. More than 30 miners were dead, along with six troopers.
Despite the passage of time, the legacy of that defining moment in history echoes just as strongly today.
Ballarat proudly lays claim to the honour of being the birthplace of the Australian spirit and the influence of Eureka can be seen all around this City.

Eureka 157th Anniversary Events

Tuesday 29 November
Raising of the Eureka Flag. 2.00pm. Bakery Hill roundabout.

Friday 2 December
Eureka 157 Schools Event. 9.00am-12:30pm. Art Gallery of Ballarat.

Saturday 3 December
‘Reclaim the Radical Spirit of the Eureka Rebellion’ event. 4.00am – 10.00pm. Various venues.
Eureka Graves Ceremony. 12 noon. Ballarat Old Cemetery.
Eureka Mass. 6.00pm. St Alpius Church.
Eureka 157 Pacing Cup. 6.30pm. Bray Raceway.
‘Reclaim the Radical Spirit of the Eureka Rebellion’ annual dinner. 7.00pm to 10.00pm. Stockade Hotel.
Eureka’s Children’s Annual Dinner. 7.00pm. Celtic Club, Queen St, Melbourne.

Sunday 4 December
Eureka Sunday Luncheon. 12.00 noon. Old Colonists Club, Lydiard St.
For more information on any of these events visit www.eurekaballarat.com

Other Eureka activities

Eureka Stockade site – Cnr Eureka and Rodier Sts.
The Eureka Centre is closed for redevelopment but visitors are free to browse through the heritage Stockade gardens and to explore the 1884 bluestone memorial and the Eureka Circle, which was commissioned as part of the Eureka 150 celebrations in 2004.

Art Gallery of Ballarat – 40 Lydiard St Nth.
The Gallery, home of the original Eureka Flag, is displaying a full-scale replica while the flag is being conserved. While at the Gallery you can explore one of the nation’s most significant regional art collections including a special Eureka display. www.artgalleryballarat.com.au.
Eureka Trails – The self-guiding Eureka Trails brochure identifies historic Eureka sites and takes you on the paths to the Stockade of the diggers from Bakery Hill and the troopers from the Government Camp. Brochures are available from the Visitor Information Centre.

Ballarat Old Cemetery – Cnr Macarthur and Drummond Sts.
Many of the Eureka dead were buried in a mass grave but in 1856 a memorial was erected to the fallen diggers and later local citizens and the Victorian Government decided to mark the soldiers’ graves. Explore the memorials and other old graves in this heritage cemetery.
For more information go to www.eurekaballarat.com

The Eureka Centre redevelopment
The Eureka Centre is currently closed, due to major redevelopment works being undertaken by the City of Ballarat in partnership with the State and Federal governments.
The result of these works will be the new Centre for Australian Democracy at Eureka, a state of the art education and community space that acknowledges the educational, historical and cultural importance and significance of the Eureka Stockade, within the context of our nation’s overall democratic history.
The proposed development will dramatically change the nature of the building from an inward-focused layout to one that embraces and engages the entire Eureka Stockade site, drawing the local community in and leading Centre visitors out into the site.
Some of Australia’s best regarded museum and education specialists are involved in the project to ensure that visitors to the Centre have an experience that is authentic, unique, memorable and evolving.
The redeveloped Centre is expected to open in mid 2012. The Eureka Education Program will continue to operate from the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

Regional ASPREE Participants Recognised for Their Contribution to Healthy Ageing

Almost 200 seniors from the Ballarat district are commemorating the 250th participant from the region to be enrolled in an international healthy ageing study at a morning tea next week. ASPREE study participants, who are in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, will attend the morning tea at the North Ballarat Sports Club on Wednesday 30th November.
The study, ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) – the largest disease prevention trial ever undertaken in Australia – will determine whether taking aspirin can help maintain good health in people aged over 70 and if it should be regularly taken by otherwise healthy older people.
Senior ASPREE co-ordinator, Theresa Grice, who is based at the Ballarat clinical trial centre which opened in March this year, said the morning tea was to celebrate the goodwill shown by participants in the region. Some participants are travelling from as far as Stawell to attend the event.
“ASPREE is a public good study that has been embraced by the older community in rural and regional areas,” Ms Grice said.
“We want to thank our locals residents for their ongoing contribution to the wellbeing of generations in Australia and around the world.”
Led by Monash University in Melbourne and the Berman Centre for Outcomes & Clinical Research in the USA, ASPREE aims to recruit 19,000 healthy people aged 70 years and over – 12,500 from Australia. The Ballarat Clinical Trial centre is one of six regional centres in Victoria.
ASPREE will determine if aspirin can help prevent or delay the onset of diseases common to old age, including heart attack, certain strokes, dementia and some forms of cancer. Half of the participants are taking 100mg of enteric coated aspirin and the other half a matching placebo (an inactive tablet). Each participant is followed up once a year for five years. Annual follow-ups involve a number of health, clinical and other measurements, with abnormalities reported directly to the participant’s GP for further assessment.
I believe this may be Victoria’s biggest gathering of research participants, and the participants are looking forward to an update of the study by our lead investigator Professor McNeil, followed by a local GP Dr Rob Campbell discussing his involvement and finally Jane Tinette a local pharmacist will talk about medication reviews.
Also at the morning tea, the ASPREE Healthy Ageing Biobus will be parked out front of the venue. The Biobus is a processing lab and will be collecting some blood samples after the morning tea from participants for the ASPREE Healthy Aging Biobank. The Biobank processes then stores blood samples from healthy older people which researches will test for many different disease traits or predictors of older onset diseases. In the future these samples may underpin discoveries that improve disease detection and treatment.
The ASPREE study is being funded by the US National Institute on Aging, with funding support also received from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Victorian Cancer Agency (VCA).
Recruitment into the study is expected to continue until mid 2013.
For more information on how to participate in the ASPREE study go to www.aspree.org, call 1800 728 745 or email aspree@monash.edu.

Sebastopol Hall Open Day

The Sebastopol RSL Hall will open its doors to the community this Saturday (19/11), between 11am and 3pm.
A range of hall user groups will be present offering displays and demonstrations including:
· Dance Plus 2 – ballroom dancing demonstrations
· Ballarat Goju Ryu Karate – karate demonstrations and BBQ
· Zumba demonstrations
· Ladies Indoor Carpet Bowls – free bowling activities
· Ballarat Caravan Club – information stall
· Blue Light Disco – information stall
· RSL Women’s Auxiliary – Devonshire tea
City of Ballarat Portfolio Councillor for People and Communities Des Hudson said the open day would be a fantastic opportunity to showcase the Sebastopol RSL Hall and its various uses.
“The Sebastopol RSL Hall is used for a wide range of recreational activities which many local residents may not even know about.
“I encourage members of the local community to come along and have a chat to the diverse range of Hall user groups who will be there on the day.”
The Sebastopol RSL Hall is owned by the City of Ballarat.

IEP (Indigenous Employment Program) 20/20 Change initiative to create 20 job placements

The Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative in a unique partnership with Interact Australia and the Kangan Institute proudly announces, in a first for Ballarat, the launch of their IEP (Indigenous Employment Program) 20/20 Change initiative to create 20 job placements into sustainable employment for Indigenous job seekers in Ballarat.
BADAC CEO, Karen Heap says “What makes this initiative different from others in Ballarat is the collaboration of Indigenous Service providers to actually work together for successful outcomes for the Aboriginal Community.”
The IEP which has been funded through DEEWR (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations) has been a major boost to the region, increasing job seeker registrations which Maureen Hancock from Interact Employment and Training Ballarat says “Will help to engage the hidden market of Indigenous job seekers and provide people with career pathway planning and further training, job readiness skills and educational courses”.
“This is also an opportunity for the wider Ballarat Community to reduce the unemployment rate for Aboriginal job seekers and look at their business or organisational structure to grow and expand employing job ready, culturally supported trainees or apprentices” says Vocational Manager Katrina Beer (BADAC) who has been a major force behind this initiative.
Katrina says that “ One of the major differences in this program is the mentoring provided not only to Aboriginal job seekers but also the culture awareness provided to employers and the invaluable knowledge in accessing incentives for employers through Interact”. “Interact has an amazing program which supports both employees and employers through those crucial first few months of job placement. Combine that with the mentoring provided by BADAC and it increases the success for sustainable positions”.
Katrina and the Vocational team at BADAC also work closely with other Job Service providers, local businesses and the Aboriginal Community to provide a holistic approach to reducing the current Indigenous employment rate.
The 20/20 Change Initiative will be launched at a luncheon to be held on Friday the 28th of October at the North Ballarat Sports Club. A number of key sponsors, businesses and local job seekers have been invited to attend to learn more about how they can be involved and will be lead by guest speaker, football legend Tom Hafey as well as representatives from BADAC, Interact Employment and Training, Kangan and DEEWR.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at media@badac.net.au or on the reception number below.

HOME IS WHERE THE HALL IS

COMING TO A HALL NEAR YOU!
Which country hall was flooded so badly its piano was found up a tree?!
Which was relocated across town via bullock team?
And which hall had a dance so legendary it was commemorated in song by the late, great Slim Dusty?
You can find the answer in Home is Where the Hall is – a statewide arts initiative that celebrates the diversity of
and stories behind these amazing regional hubs.
69 participating halls are now taking part in the project, each one featuring a unique event that has been created by
the local community, for the local community.
From a vintage fashion parade to the Nowa Nowa Nudes and from Elevenses to a Bush Dance, join each hall as they
celebrate their own distinct identity as part of our statewide arts project.
What is Home is Where the Hall is?
One of the largest statewide arts initiatives ever created in Australia, Home is Where the Hall is a grassroots, community arts initiative produced by Regional Arts Victoria.
Throughout the month of November halls across the state will participate in a huge variety of ways – we’re delighted to have created a project that brings these quirky, lovely, and essential community centres all together under one roof.
A website documenting stories and images of Home is where the Hall is participating events can be found at
www.homeiswherethehallis.com.
For all media enquiries please contact:
Maria O’Dwyer
Marketing & Publicity Manager
Regional Arts Victoria
Mobile 0433 905 581 or email: modwyer@rav.net.au

Celebration of Remembrance

Each year Ballarat Hospice and Gandarra invite families, friends, carers and volunteers to share in a Celebration of Remembrance.
Remembering, reflecting, nostalgia and narratives about the life of a person who has died keep the memories of that person alive – it is strongly encouraged by the “Continuing Bonds” grief theory – regardless of how long ago the death occurred.
Bill Weidner, Bereavement Co-ordinator at Ballarat Hospice Care said that sharing stories of loved ones is beneficial to those who grieve.
“Stories let others know of the unique footprint the person who died created in life. Stories demonstrate how much better our lives are because that person lived, the legacies they provided for us and the learning they enriched us with to carry on in their absence – a form of meaning and purpose,” Bill said.
At this year’s remembrance ceremony two people whose partners have died, who used the services of Ballarat Hospice Care and Gandarra, will share their stories of how they have journeyed following the death of their respective partners.
Tim Knight and Heather Tellis will speak of their survival, their rehabilitation, the importance of remembering, healthy grieving, hope and optimism by letting us know what each of their respective spouses left as their legacy, their footprint.
This year’s service is taking place at the Creswick Nursery. It is the epitome of peace, serenity and tranquillity. Parks Victoria is providing the venue, with its many opportunities to wander and reflect, in a tranquil environment, on the ongoing wonder of nature.
Community members who would like to remember a loved one who has died are invited to attend the service. Those who are remembered don’t have to have been patients of Hospice or Gandarra.
People wishing to attend the service should contact Ballarat Hospice Care at 5333 1118 and are encouraged to bring their own chair and dress for the weather of the day – it is an outdoor function.
The Rotary Club of Ballarat South is providing a sausage sizzle as a fundraiser.
Date: Saturday 8th. October
Venue: Creswick Nursery, Midland Highway, 600 metres from Creswick-Clunes Rd. corner – turn right into Sawpit Rd.
Time: Midday

Calling all Ballarat women! Are you ready for a Girls Night In?

Throughout October, Cancer Council Victoria is encouraging women in Ballarat to register to host a Girls Night In. The premise is simple – just get the girls round for a night in and donate what you would’ve spent on a night out. All funds raised will go towards Cancer Council Victoria’s research, prevention programs and support services for women’s cancers.
84 women in Ballarat have already registered to host a Girls Night In, but Cancer Council Victoria is calling for more Ballarat women to get the girls together this October to help raise over $1.3 million to support the
4,500 Victorian women fighting breast and gynaecological cancers this year.
Barbara Fernandez, spokesperson for Cancer Council Victoria says, “In 2010, 77 Ballarat women registered to host a Girls Night In, raising an impressive $19,374 in the region. Their fundraising contributed to the overall $1.3 million raised in Victoria, which was channelled into women’s cancer projects and funding for the Cancer Council Helpline (13 11 20). Last year we helped 302 Ballarat women who called the helpline, so by registering your Girls Night In event, your fundraising will have a direct impact on the lives of local women facing cancer”.
Girls Night In also aims to educate women on what they can do to reduce their cancer risk. “Prevention is the best form of defence and there are many simple things women can do to reduce their risk of cancer, such as maintaining a healthy weight, being physically active and limiting alcohol intake,” says Fernandez.
“Early detection is also crucial to beating cancer and it’s therefore really important to take advantage of the screening programs that are available in Victoria. For example, we know that regular Pap tests can prevent around 90% of cervical cancers, but nine out of 10 women diagnosed with cervical cancer have not had regular screening. To protect themselves against the disease, it’s essential that all women aged between 18 and 70 who have been sexually active have a Pap test every two years. We really hope that Girls Night In prompts women to encourage regular cancer screenings amongst their girlfriends”.
For further information or to register, please visit www.girlsnightin.com.au or call 1300 65 65 85.

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