On the 28th May 2010 Steve and I went to Capella State High School where our Central Highlands and Coalfields BRAKE Coordinator, Cathie Flint, had organised BRAKE in-service training for our BRAKE schools.  It was wonderful to meet teachers who would be teaching the program, they are a wonderful group of people.

Steve also facilitated a program for Capella SHS school students.  They were a great group, Capella and their families must be very proud of them.  Their interaction, participation and general desire to talk and provide input made the day really great.

Teachers from Alexandra Hills SHS also travelled up for the training and will be providing BRAKE to students this year.  We elcome them on board and look forward to working with them.

The day was fantastic and I thank Cathie for all her efforts and hard work in putting this day on.  The support of the Mining Industry Road Safety Alliance (MIRSA) in ensuring that communities can access BRAKE in minng areas must be highlighted and I thank...

The uptake of BRAKE by secondary schools across Queensland is amazing.  We now have over forty schools in these areas:  Logan, Ipswich, Scenic Rim, Brisbane, Redlands, Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton, Gladstone and the Central highlands & Coalfields.

We are just so happy to help as many schools, young people, families and communities as we can and are overjoyed with this uptake.

Such an amazing uptake has presented us with funding issues as we are a not for profit organisation and most of us are volunteers.  We also provide BRAKE FREE to all schools and students, which includes all materials, resources, in-service training, support, IT support, ongoing student contact and follow-up as well as the parents/carers program. 

This has also presented some very difficult decisions for us in that we are unable to provide the program to some schools in areas where we cannot provide support due to lack of funds.  This is extremely difficult for us to do as we know the program works, but we just cannot take...

In my previous blog I wrote about the portrait of Trevor Hendy by Andrew Grech.  The portrait was kindly donated by Trevor and Andrew to be auctioned during the Saltwater Festival with the proceeds to be donated to BRAKE.

The auction was a great success with the winning bid reaching the reserve price.  The winning bidder has asked to remain anonymous.  We at BRAKE thank them tremendously for their support - but even more so that they wished to help BRAKE and our young people stay safe on our roads - they did not want any publicity for themselves, just a desire to help our young people. 

Of course, we once again thank Trevor and Andrew for their wonderful support.

In a previous blog I wrote about the fantastic portrait of Trevor Hendy by Andrew Grech.

Unfortunately, we had technical problems and the most recent blogs, including about Trevor and Andrew, were 'lost'.

Andrew is well renowned artist, with a wealth of world-wide experience and success, who donated his incredible talent to paint Trevor and then donate his work to be auctioned with all proceeds to come to BRAKE.

Trevor himself sat for the painting and met with Andrew a number of time for the painting and also donated his time and of course his name to assist us.

It was interesting talking to Andrew, in how he captures the spirit and essence of the person his is painting so that the painting represents more than a just a 'likeness' of the person.  I believe that he has succeeded in this painting of Trevor - the inner strength and honesty of Trevor just shines through I believe.

It was wonderful meeting and talking to both Trevor and Andrew, hearing just how much they help our young people in their own individual ways through their specific talents.  It is quite humbling, I believe, to hear such talented people, in completely different fields, talk about our future and the need to help our young people - yet both are very humble in how they do this and seek no reward or gratitude.

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