HUG - Events

Schools and Community Groups Spread the HUGging!

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:42:00 GMT

As 2011 quickly draws to a close it has been a privilege for HUG founder, Helen Brown, to visit and talk to many schools and community groups over the last couple of months.

Some schools and groups studied the Ugandan culture or created pen-pal links with there counterparts in Uganda. Others had been busy raising money for HUG throughout the year, via a variety of activities and/or selling the Suubi Ladies Craft, and were keen to present their cheques to Helen. She was very excited to recently link up with the following schools and groups:

St Patricks Primary school - Tongala
Grahamvale Primary School - Grahamvale
St Augustine's College - Kyabram
Goulburn Valley Grammar - Shepparton
Glass House Mountains Community Centre - Queensland

Students from Goulburn Valley Grammar sold cakes and the Suubi Ladies craft to raise in excess of $800 dollars, which will go towards purchasing a brick making machine for Suubi.

Glass House Mountains Community Centre has set up a pen-pal group to communicate with a similar group in Uganda.

Helen commented after her recent visits, " 2011 has whizzed by in the usual western world craziness but it is exciting to see many people, in particular children, who are now taking the time to connect with someone less fortunate than themselves."

Huge HUGs for you all!

HUG Comedy Showcase

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:35:00 GMT

Saturday September 17th saw the Kyabram Bocce Club shaking with laughter.

The Ky Improv Group, who are a group of local thespians, simply love having a good time and want to share it with as many people as they can. Over the last four or five years the group has chosen a local charity which they wish to support; luckily for us, this year it was HUG.

The amazingly talented crew of Bridget Sweeney, Brendan Busch, Luke Meeking, Calypso Archibald, Julie Riley and Paul Teusner were all lead by Viv Thomas as they as they improvised sketches and games based on the audience's suggestion and participation. It was wonderful to watch the cast's quick thinking and ability to come up with hilarious one liners and actions.

The cast had the audience in stitches of laughter, especially as they dragged people like Gayle Angelino (L) and Steve Kerwin (R) up to be part of the mayhem.

While all this fun was going on there was a huge benefit to HUG as well. Thanks to the generosity of the Ky Improv Group all profits from ticket sales ($1070) were donated to us. Add to this $160 in donations, $292 for the raffle and $133 in Suubi craft sales and this totalled an unbelievable profit of $1255! What an amazing result. The drama students had the opportunity to preform in front of a live audience, all while raising money that have a positive impact in Uganda for a long time to come. A win win for everyone!

Helen and Shirley took the opportunity to sell craft that had been made by the Suubi Ladies Craft Group.

A huge thank you goes to the entire cast and also Shirley Baum who all willingly gave up there time to organise a great event. Webale nnyo nnyo!

2011 HUG Gala Proves To Be A Huge Success.

Fri, 27 May 2011 18:47:00 GMT

The HUG Gala Dinner Dance, which was held on Saturday May 7th, was an outstanding success with 240 people packing the beautiful Sovereign venue to capacity.

2010 volunteer, Nevine Tomaino, ably assisted by her enthusiastic family and friends put together a night which is sure to inspire much more HUGging! With delicious food and the fabulous band, Moondance, who had the huge crowd dancing the night away, the event will long be remembered by all that attended.

The eagerness of the crowd to participate in the auctioning and raffling of items, that had been so generously donated, was a staggering response. We were thrilled when it was announced that in excess of $13,000 was raised on the night - UNBELIEVABLE!

All of this money will now go directly towards the new Suubi Community Health Centre which is currently being built in Lubanda Village, Uganda. This will contribute significantly towards clinic furnishings, medical equipment, medications and the first twelve months running cost. With the generosity of people like Nevine, and all of those she inspired to attend on Saturday night, the clinic is set to become a fully function reality.

Nevine's team of supporters celebrate with Helen at the end of the night.
Left to right - Nellie, Lucynda, Nevine, Nadia, Mary, Helen, Nancy and Dani.

Carrie and Sue inspire HUGging in Cheltenham!

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:17:00 GMT

In early December Carrie Mulchay and Sue Smith gathered their bookclub group, work colleagues and other friends from around Cheltenham to hold a 'HUG' night' - it seemed like the perfect thing to share during the festive season! Everyone was encouraged to give a 'HUG' and a small donation as they arrived to enjoy champagne and nibbles for the night.

With craft which had been hand made by the Suubi Ladies Craft Group and HUG 2011 calendars available to purchase, everyone took the opportunity to grab some great Christmas presents for their family and friends.

Everyone enjoyed choosing special pieces of craft to give as Christmas gifts.

Choosing craft items was made even more enjoyable by the fact that each item was marked with the Ugandan ladies name who had made it and Carrie had placed photos of each of them were on the her wall. Being able to see the smiling face of the lady who would receive the money and knowing that it will help to support her family certainly made buying Christmas gifts more special.

The beautiful photos in the calendars were a talking point on the night.

For those who chose to buy a HUG calendar, each time they look at it on a wall in 2011 they will know that the money from their gift has gone toward building the new Subbi Community Health Clinic in Lubanda Village, Uganda.

L to R - Sue, Helen from HUG and Carrie were thrilled with the success of the night.

By the end of the night everyone was thrilled to hear that close to $1200 had been raised simply from getting a few friends together to enjoy each others company. It had been a great night and what a lovely way to spread the Christmas spirit!

A huge thank you to Carrrie and Sue for getting it all organised.

First HUG event in Spain.

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:08:00 GMT

There was much excitement recently when the first ever HUG event was held in Spain!

A group of university students were inspired after Chad Brown had given a HUG presentation, completely in Spanish, as part of the language course he is now taking in Spain.

One of the Chinese students came up with great idea to hold a fundraiser for HUG. It was an ideal opportunity for everyone to practice their spanish writing skills as they sent out invitations and made a flyer for a basketball tournament they decided to hold. Their spanish speaking skills were put to the test on the day when players, referee, timekeeper, scorer and spectators all had to converse in the local language.

Xiao Liu and Chad worked well together to get the first HUG event in Spain off the ground. Everyone had lots of fun at the basket ball tournament.

A small cake, muffin and drink stall was also held at the uni on the day. Students from right across the world enjoyed a great day of HUGging.

The day proved to be an enormous success and showed what a multi cultural world we have become. People from Spain, China, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, France and Russia all came together to raise money for an Australian charity doing work in Uganda!

Quite amazing -Well done to everyone!

O'Brien's Raise Funds For 2010 Volunteer Trip

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:18:00 GMT

Sue and Terry O'Brien have been busy over the last few months raising funds for their upcoming volunteering trip with HUG in May. They were keen to raise enough money to install a water tank and organic garden at a school during their time in Uganda. To achieve this they set about getting friends, family and their local community involved.

Firstly they set up a stand at their local Tatong market where they sold HUG cards, calendars and bracelets, while at the same time raising great awareness about HUG on a day to day basis.

Terry in full swing at Tatong market.

Then on April 10th and 11th Sue and Terry spoke at their church, St Joseph's in Benalla, about what they would be doing during their time in Uganda. They were absolutely overwhelmed with the response from their fellow parishioners. They not only offered emotional support towards their upcoming trip, but they also made donations and bought various HUG items. At the end of the day Terry and Sue were stunned to find that $1163 had been raised.

With this money added to the $873 they had raised earlier they will now easily be able to full-fill there dream of installing a water tank (maybe even two!) and organic garden at schools in Uganda.

A huge thank you to Sue and Terry and everyone who got behind them.
Mulimu mulungi! (great work)

HUG Green Room

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:20:00 GMT

The room was jumping on Tuesday Feb 16th when HUG Green Room was held at the Connection in Mooroopna.

STAG (Shepparton Theatre Arts Group) staged a green room style performance where cast members have a limited time to rehearse. This proved to be no problem for Amanda Harry and Leigh Kuehnapfel as they belted out tunes that everyone knew and loved. Three younger member of STAG also had an opportunity to put their talent on display and the audience were delighted with what they saw.

Amanda Harry and Leigh Kuehnapfel shared their amazing voices and were brilliantly backed up by Kate Hall, Megan Scott and Sian Lewis (R to L)

The show was put together by up and coming director Sam Chambers who, with the STAG committee's backing, decided to donate part of the proceeds of the night to HUG. At the end of the night, she was thrilled to hand over $358. This money will now be used to purchase a mixer for the PA system that was bought for Suubi late last year. Having the mixer will be invaluable at events like the university graduation and environmental day which have been held at Suubi recently. Now, instead of having to hire that type of equipment, the centre will have it all readily available. And of course the mixer will be used on a more regular basis by the Suubi music, dance and drama group. What a fabulous way for STAG members' love of the arts to be shared with the Ugandans!

An enormous thanks goes to Sam, Amanda, Leigh, Megan, Kate and Sian for sharing their amazing talent and to to everyone involved with STAG for their ongoing support.

Kyabram P-12 Kris Kringle

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:07:00 GMT

Staff of the Fischer campus of Kyabram's P-12 College came up with a great idea to share the joy of Christmas this year. Instead of the usual Kris Kringle they have between staff, which saw everyone exchanging inconsequential $5 gifts, they decided to decorate a Christmas tree in the staff room. On this tree they hung brightly decorated envelopes where they each placed a small donation to HUG.

Brightly decorated envelopes with messages from Australia decorated the staff room Christmas tree.

With close to 100 staff they were thrilled to find on the last day of the school year that they had gathered an amazing $697! The staff had not missed the token gift they would have usually received and instead the money raised will be used to make a REAL difference to the lives of school children in Uganda.

The staff of Fischer campus of Kyabram P-12 College

Well done and a huge thank you to the all the staff of Fischer campus for HUGging the world this Christmas!

KCLC Santa Fun Run

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:51:00 GMT

November 29th found the people of Kyabram and surrounding district set off on the 2nd annual Santa Fun Run. The threatening weather didn't deter the enthusiastic group from running, walking, riding our being pushed around the 6.5 km course.

Jostling for a position at the starting line.

HUG board member, Sue Neale, (in the santa suit) tries to keep up with her son, Tom!

Young and old (sorry Kev!) embraced the Santa theme.

Sharon Butler & Luke Watson enjoyed the cooler conditions once out on the open road.

While many of competitors were out for a leisurely Sunday morning stroll, local teenagers Luke Watson and Jane Livingston took things a little more seriously; they successfully defended the open titles they won last year.

At the end of the day everyone was extremely pleased to hear that by taking part in the fun run they had helped to spread the Christmas cheer a little further this year. A wonderful partnership between the Kyabram Community and Learning Centre and the Suubi Education and Community Centre in Uganda was established after last years inaugural Santa Fun Run. The $823 raised this year will now go towards purchasing a printer/scanner/copier and other office equipment for Suubi. One community centre supporting another - absolutely fabulous!

HUG president, Helen Brown, accepts a cheque from KCLC president,Grant Findlay.

We would like to thank all of the staff from KCLC, major sponsors; the Shire of Campaspe and Subway, and also all of the wonderful volunteers who helped make this years event another huge success. Hopefully 2010 will be bigger and better again!

Dillmac Concert a Huge Success

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:06:00 GMT

October 23rd, 24th and 25th saw the annual end of year concert which showcases the many talents of students who attend classes at Dillmac Entertainment throughout the year.

Children ranging in age from the cutest tiny tots, through to the versatile teen sensations who belted out a board range of songs and then onto sizzling dance performances, all of which wowed the audience. Quite an amazing site to see so much talent in one place at one time!

A highlight of these concerts came when the entire cast performed the John Farnham hit 'Your The Voice' in front of a slideshow which allowed everyone to see the work that HUG has been achieving in Uganda. The audience was then encourage to place a small donation in collection tins on their table so that modern and traditional instruments could be bought for the children of Uganda.

Everyone was obvious inspired as over $1000 was collected during the weekend. Amazing! Thank you to everyone who donated so generously.

And a huge thank you to Lizzy, Max, Moorey and everyone at Dillmac for coming up with such a wonderful way to spread the love of performing!

HUG Gala Dinner & Dance Exceeds All Expectations

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:05:00 GMT

Friday October 16th saw the first ever HUG Gala Dinner & Dance held at The Sovereign in Northcote, Melbourne. Almost 200 people enjoyed great company, delicious food and fabulous music to dance the night away. Everyone who attended had a wonderful night while raising an unbelievable amount of money for HUG.

Event organiser Nina Muhleisen and her partner Andrew Hawkes among the crowd enjoying pre dinner canapes and drinks.

The crowd heard from Chad Brown about his experiences in Uganda and how even the smallest contribution could make a huge difference in Uganda. Whether it was hearing from him first hand, or falling in love with the faces of Ugandans that flashed passed on the slideshow, the crowd was obviously inspired to give generously. Through ticket sales, raffles, auctions and donations, a staggering $4212.15 was raised throughout the night.

Chad Brown from HUG tells about his experiences in Uganda as the crowd listens intently.

A huge thank you must go to Nina Muhleisen and her small band of support people who have worked tirelessly over the last few months to pull everything together for the event. The night exceeded everyone's expectations in every way and many, many Ugandans will now benefit from their amazing efforts. On behalf of all of them, the HUG team would like to say "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!"

'Initial Stages' presents a cheque to HUG

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:24:00 GMT

The Shepparton based theatre company of Initial Stages is a one stop shop for young people to learn the art of drama, music, dance and stagecraft. Throughout 2009 the students have worked enthusiastically towards their end of year show of 'Honk' which staged three performances over Friday Oct 9th and Saturday Oct 10th. The phenomenal talent of more than 80 cast and crew shone brightly at the Westside Preforming Arts Centre where parents, family, friends and the wider community came to enjoy the culmination of an exciting and rewarding year. At the end of Saturday nights show Helen Janke, the director of Honk and owner of Initial Stages, presented Helen Brown, from HUG, with a $1000 cheque from money the company had raised throughout the year.

Helen and Helen enjoy a HUG!

Both Helens were extremely excited as these funds will not only enable HUG to install a water tank at accommodation recently constructed at the Suubi Education and Community Centre, but also remaining funds will go towards purchasing a PA system that will be used at Suubi. The centre is in the process of developing a youth drama group that will preform shows for the local people to teach them about various health, lifestyle and community issues. Along with drums recently purchased for the centre, the PA will be an invaluable resource to enhance this program. Thanks to this extremely kind and generous donation from Initial Stages the Ugandan youth will now also be able to feel the joy of participating in the preforming arts, just as their Australian students do. Well done and a huge thank you to everyone at Initial Stages!

Count Cracula rocks Kyabram

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:26:00 GMT

Last Saturday night saw TRACK, a theatre group in Kyabram, staging the Rocky Horror inspired show of Count Cracula. The name 'Theatre Restaurants Assisting Charities in Kyabram' aptly describes what this enthusiastic group of thespians is all about. They produce, direct and perform shows, which is something they clearly love to do, and then pass on all profits from their shows to a variety of charities based in Kyabram.

The cast of Count Cracula.

On Saturday October 3rd it was HUG that was lucky enough to receive the $710 raised from ticket sales and a raffle held on the night. In addition to that, bracelets made by the Suubi Craft Ladies and HUG cards raised an additional $124, bringing the total for the night to an impressive $834.

A huge thank you goes to the TRACK cast and crew for all of their hard work and their wonderful donation. Happily, this money will now go towards purchasing a set of African drums for the Suubi Education and Community Centre in Uganda, which will enable the community there to participate in performing arts as well. A fantastic result!

Melbourne debut of 'Faces of Uganda' Exhibition was a huge success

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:02:00 GMT

The Melbourne debut of the 'Faces of Uganda' exhibition on September 4th 2009 proved to be a huge success. The inner city boutique gallery, owned and directed by Alex McCulloch, was a buzz with people through out the night.

Everyone mingled and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the gallery whilst taking in the stunning portraits of Ugandans. With ten images being purchased on the night everyone agreed that the event was an overwhelming success. At the same time the exhibition created greater awareness of what HUG is all about. Hopefully many people will now be spreading the word about us and what is being achieved in Uganda.

Alex McCulloch, gallery director and Chad Brown from HUG taking in one of the stunning images.

Lockington's turn to shine!

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:02:00 GMT

Three of the volunteers for the up coming trip to Uganda, Sue Neale, her son Samuel and local teenager, Ashlee Keath are part of the vibrant farming community of Lockington in northern Victoria. Although the area has been hit hard by the on going drought it has not stopped everyone in the area from getting behind them.

Samuel and Ashlee have been inspiring their school friends and have held various fundraising events, from bbq's at the local footy, to cake stalls at school. They even visited the local Lockington Primary school to encourage the younger children to get involved by donating beads and seeds to take to Uganda.

Then on May 17th Sue organized a leisurely Sunday luncheon to be held at Providore on Hopetoun. A sensational meal was enjoyed by everyone that attended and over $300 was raised on the day. The Ugandans will be greatly assisted from Lockington's generosity but hopefully at the same time Lockington will benefit. Many of the out of towners commented "With food like this, I will definitely be bringing my family and friends back for more!"

Another highlight of the day was that local band 'The Knots' made their debut performance to the cheers of the crowd. What a fabulous outcome for the day- money raised for Uganda, Lockingtons's profile lifted and local teenagers getting on opportunity to show off their talent. Everyone one growing! (HUG - Help Us Grow)