Top of the Festive Season to You and Yours

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May your stocking be filled with all your little heart desires.
Ho ho ho!

ps: 2014 is shaping up to be a ripper… look forward to sharing it with you

you’ll be waiting if you are waiting for permission…

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ABC Q&A aired a special extra episode tonight after securing an audience with visiting billionaire Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates. The program featured Gates as the sole guest, fronting an audience at the University of NSW with host Tony Jones.

Whilst Mr Gates is interesting, impressive and industrious, he performed admirably and did himself and his causes proud. What I found even more impressive though was the quality of the thinking that had gone into the audience questioning and the Twitter feed happening concurrently.

There are many who think deeply about some of the hard stuff and that buoys my faith in humans being able to better do good stuff. However, as Mr Gates pointed out this evening, if one sits around waiting for permission to do what needs to be done, death is likely to come first!

A case in point, Stephanie Woollard. Such a dynamic young woman, who has taken it upon herself to assist and truly empower all the marginalised women she can. Starting in Nepal first, world domination is definitively on the cards. She didn’t have to do it, she could have talked about it and done nothing because working from Australia would have been too difficult but she didn’t…

Instead, she started “Seven Women” (www.sevenwomen.com.au) which has since established two business centres whereby they become financially stand-alone entities as well as enabling the women to learn to earn. No permission sought, other than to appreciate the enormity of the task and then getting down to the tin-tacs of working out how to get it done.

With the women now eternally grateful.

A very special Mothers Day celebration, for those less fortunate…

Last Sunday (May 20) I had the good fortune to be asked to attend the 2nd Annual “Judith Horsnell Special Mothers Day” lunch. It all started like this…

… Christmas 2010, Webjet Marketing P/L made a generous donation to the Fr Bob Maguire Foundation.  Their PA, Judith Horsnell, prior to that time, had suggested to the staff to do away with Kris Kringle, and donate to a local charity instead; the Father Bob Maguire Foundation was chosen.

Tragically, Judith passed away suddenly, early in 2011.
 
A a special bond had been made however and since then, Webjet’s employees had been talking about the possibility of remembering Judith in a more tangible way, culminating in a Special” Mother’s Day Luncheon, (the Sunday after Mother’s Day), for 40 disadvantaged mothers from the South Melbourne / Port Melbourne area. The first function, in May 2011, was sponsored by Webjet & its employees & was held at the Emerald Hotel.

Webjet’s Finance Director, Mr Richard Noon, said that many of his staff felt the need to do something to remember Judith by, for her generosity to others.  This is really about an event for others, and at the same time, to remember Judith. In some way, do something that Judith would have felt special about,  Remember our friend, always helping others’.  We think this would make Judith smile…
 
This year, another “Special” Mother’s Day Luncheon was hosted at the same venue, for 50 disadvantaged mothers this time. Aagain sponsored by Webjet Marketing, in conjunction with the St Vincent de Paul Society.  
 
A great day was had by all. The food was delicious (and plenty of it!), the company delightful, and the door prizes pretty impressive. It was a pleasure and an honour to be involved.
 
What will 2013’s lunch bring…
 

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