Hayley Solich, in her role at Collective Hope Community Services, coordinated a sensational NAIDOC Week event proudly sponsored by Town of Bassendean and the National Indigenous Australians Agency.
The event featured:
- Aunty Dot Bagshaw, a member of the Bulup Kulung Aboriginal Elders group, an inductee of the International Women’s Day WA Hall of Fame and NAIDOC Committee member who has served for 35 years performed a warm Welcome to Country.
- Mechelle Turvey, mother of Cassius Turvey, brought an emotional and inspirational message of reconciliation and the need to not start racial wars but to follow the example of the Elders and be kind.
- Kaya Praise, featuring Stephanie Truscott, performed songs in both Noongar and English. Their lilting tones were described as angelic, as the harmonies were so sublime.
- Keith Truscott’s biography, Finding Family, film was shown, which is an emotional insight into the White Australia Policy and how that affected his life. Very inspiring.
- Local Aboriginal artist, Nerolie Bynder, painted onsite and displayed artworks, with many selling during the event.
- CEO, Chris Friend and COO, Beverley Wilson from Collective Hope Community Services launched their Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and revealed their commissioned artwork for their ‘Reflect’ RAP.
- Richard Stals Emcee, talked about his current Aboriginal related university research project and the impact of understanding the meaning of country had on his own life as a South African man.
- Lucky Door Prizes were presented by Sarah Murthy, Chair of Collective Hope Community Services and Jason, Centurion Transport (exhibitor and sponsor of a door prize).
Hayley put a lot of pre-planning into the event, engaging with Aboriginal community members and groups to source key leaders within the community who could speak to the theme of the event, For our Elders: Hope for the Future.
Many commented on how this was the best NAIDOC Week event they had been to, with such a warm and accepting atmosphere. Our team at Collective Hope Community Services really made the magic happen as everyone pitched in and nothing was too hard. As they say, ‘Teamwork makes the dream work.’ There were so many strong community relationships developed through hosting this event and I am told by Chris Friend, CEO, that in 2024, we will do an even ‘bigger and better’ event! So, watch this space.
Hayley Solich