July Update

Hello again!

We’ve now wrapped up our operations for the 2020 flu season. It’s been a wild and exciting journey, and we are extremely proud to announce that we have helped 210 people experiencing homelessness and other disadvantages to access their flu vaccine through our amazing health partners – Inclusive Health Clinic and Brisbane Youth Service. Big thanks to Arif at Inclusive Health Clinic and Simone, Mandy and Emily for working with us this flu season.

We are extremely proud of what we’ve managed to achieve in the 6 months since the team first sat down together to see how we could make a positive difference in our community. We also owe a big thank you to everyone who has supported us this year, financially and otherwise!

July has seen a month of lots behind the scenes work: meetings, discussions, and planning.

Brigette O’Brien from WIN News Toowoomba did a wonderful piece on our project, and whether our The VacSeen Project could grow to service Toowoomba as well as Brisbane. We entered discourse with the marvellous Voices of Groom community group, based in Toowoomba and are meeting with the Toowoomba Mayor, Paul Antonio, in the very near future. Hopefully we will be able to soon share some exciting developments!

Jeremy went on the Solutions Counsel radio show on 1296AM radio to talk for a 30-minute chat about The VacSeen Project and so much more, so check that out if you want some easy listening.

We also met or talked with several stakeholders and supporters: QLD Medical Students’ Council, Orange Sky Laundry founder and Young Australian of the Year Lucas Patchett, Queensland Injectors Health Network (QuIHN) and Micah Projects, among others. We have also entered into discussions with the Communicable Disease Branch at QLD Health who have been extremely supportive of our project. We’d like to thank them for their support and look forward to sharing more in the near future.

We’ve started talking to some researchers at Griffith University about how we can incorporate some evaluation and research into our work, in order to ensure that it is impactful and to assist with evidence-based advocacy.

Brisbane Grammar School and Brisbane Girls Grammar School held their charity social to raise funds for The VacSeen Project and by all reports, the night was a major success. We thank both schools for their support and look forward to announcing the total funds raised from the night.

Another exciting fundraising event just around the corner, #BANDing4VacSeen hosted by Khaléla Romano and the amazing team at The Flutter Folk, is locked in for 26 September at Lefty’s Music Hall. We’ll be sharing a lot more information about this over the coming months, so stay tuned.

Finally, we’ve got behind Daggy Jumper Day (August 6) – run by our friends at Brisbane Youth Clinic – and you’ll be seeing some very uncool cardigans on our socials in a couple of days.

There is a lot of excitement in the team about our plans for next year, and we look forward to continuing to share the journey with you, as we strive to improve the health and lives of those in our community experiencing disadvantage.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions, suggestions, or interest in The VacSeen Project.

Much Love,

The VacSeen Team