A community pitch for a Child Life Therapist to assist children undergoing cancer treatment has taken out top honours at the inaugural Port Waratah Community Pitchfest.
Guy Clegg from Charlie’s Run 4 Kids made a heartfelt pitch to a panel of four judges to secure the $2,500 first prize.
The pitchfest was held during Port Waratah’s Community Partner Networking Event which brought together the community partners from the 2017 Community Investment and Partnership Programme. All 2017 partners were invited to submit their expressions of interest to be selected in the final six to present their pitch at the event.
The pitches gave Port Waratah’s community partners an opportunity to showcase their community projects and a chance to gain extra funding.
The judging panel included representatives from business, industry, media and the not-for-profit sector, including Hennie du Plooy from Port Waratah; Wayne Diemar from HunterNet; Brad Rogers from9|NBN; and Grace McClean fromNFP Connect.
All six finalists walked away with funding for their projects, based on the judges scores:
- $2,500 – Charlies Run 4 Kids, Child Life Therapist
- $1,500 – Conservation Volunteers Australia, World Environment Day Tree Planting Challenge
- $1,000 – OzHarvest, NEST & Stockton Public School P&C, iPads 21st Century Learning
- $500 – Great Lifestyles of Wickham (GLOW), Harmony Day & Newcastle Basketball, Safe Entry for the Stadium
The Chief Executive Officer of Port Waratah, Hennie du Plooy said Port Waratah is committed to investing in the local community to make Newcastle a smart, vibrant and sustainable place to live and work.
“Our Community Investment and Partnership Programme is something we are very proud to share with the Newcastle and Hunter Region,” Hennie said.
“Providing funding is just the start, the real heroes are the people and organisations out in the community using those funds to do good. We are very privileged to be partnering with them.”
In 2017 Port Waratah provided $747,125 to 112 community organisations, initiatives and events.
IMAGE | Guy Clegg and Brett Carr from Charlie’s Run 4 Kids.
