Peter Baines OAM - Terrorism, Tsunamis, and Thai Charities

10/12/23 • 73 min

As a young cop, Peter Baines knew he had a bigger purpose.
He couldn't have guessed though, the he would be involved in the largest Disaster Victim Identification task in history, or that he would raise over $30m for charity.
After choosing a path in forensics, Peter quickly climbed the ranks, which lead him to be called up as part of an international forensic squad, charged with identifying the remains of the 200+ victims of the Bali bombings, and then the 5000+ victims of the 2004 boxing day tsunami in Thailand.
What became clear, was that the affected communities were left to try and rebuild, and many children were left without parents and families.
in 2005, Peter created Hands Across The Water, A charity which started out by building a home for some of these orphaned children, and which has grown, now providing life saving necessities, and supporting educational endeavours so that the recipients can improve the quality of both their own life, and the lives of those in their communities.
Hands Across The Water raises funds in part, from running cycling tours through beautiful rural Thailand, where riders must reach fund raising goals to qualify to participate.
Peter's story is surreal at times, and devastating at others, but the experiences he has been through have taught him invaluable life lessons of resilience, determination, and leadership.
I am extremely grateful to have been able to spend the time exploring Peter's past, and I'm sure this will be a very popular episode.
Make sure if you love it, tell your friends about it, too!
To learn more about Peter's charity Hands Across The Water or to sign up to one of his amazing bike tours, click here:
https://www.handsacrossthewater.org.au/
To get a copy of Peter's book "Leadership Matters" head to
Peter's Books

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Amelia Pickering - Prison positivity, and life's possibilities

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Have you ever thought about what it's like to re enter society after serving a prison sentence?
We watch glorified TV shows about crime, lawyers, and even some popular shows set inside prisons, but we don't tend to pay much attention to ex-prisoners who have re joined the community, which is strange given that almost all of them are eventually released.
For many, life has moved and changed too quickly, and the process is overwhelming, leading to a high rate of re-incarceration
But when they are supported, the statistics are very different, and Amelia Pickering and her team at Prison Network are doing amazing work with female inmates, giving hope and joy, and removing many of the major barriers to leading a fulfilling life beyond the iron bars.
Prison network's origins date back in 1946 when Myrtle Breen wanted to support the female inmates in Pentridge Prison.
After being allowed to visit the women (resulting in positive impact) she was invited back for weekly visits, and almost 80 years later they continue to regularly visit inmates, as well as support them after they have served their time.
Amelia tells us her story of her migration to Australia, and how her career led her to become the CEO of this wonderful organisation.
I really got a lot out of this episode, I hope you do too!
Enjoy!
You can find out more about Prison Network here:
https://www.prisonnetwork.org.au/

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Emma MacGregor - Sustainability that came from non events

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Emma MacGregor reached a point in her life where she had achieved everything that was expected of her.
She went to Uni, she got married, had kids, but had a the lingering feeling that there is more she should do.
Event management is her trade, but after losing her dream job at the beginning of COVID, Emma took matters into her own hands, creating an initiative called the "Out Of Work Bakers" in the local community to help unemployed hospitality and event staff earn a few extra bucks from baking delicious goods while also giving them purpose through lock down.
This lead to the creation of Positive Feeds, a gifting service using local, sustainable products, which gave people a way to both give their clients, staff, or friends something special while supporting local producers, and the environment.
Emma also created Footprint Group Events who's aim is to create amazing events and functions, while using the many years of experience to reduce the environmental impact of grand occasions.
This is a story of resilience, and the drive to build something from day 1, that does some good, even if it's DAMN HARD!!
Check out the amazing hampers at
https://www.positivefeeds.com.au/
Contact Emma about sustainable events and event management
https://www.footprintgroupevents.com.au/