Notes from the Field

It has been a week of good news, practical wins, and plenty of community support.

One highlight was seeing Eamonn return after a hiatus. He always lands on his feet, this time securing a rooftop apartment. He secured an appointment and supported me during an interview that led to a promising new sponsorship opportunity with Ash, owner of the New Sydney Hotel. The sponsorship includes food from the restaurant kitchen and plans for a fundraiser—both exciting developments for our community work.

On a personal note, I was sponsored twice this week to sing for the community. Music continues to be an important part of my life and community involvement. Some days you can feel no better than hustlers, looking for private lessons, down in music halls we’re community choirs hire professional teachers. Other days people throw you a dime and you really think your getting there. Mum told me about the music world. She said whatever they say to you, and they say alot to singers on the up, just keep improving.

Food Not Bombs Hobart had one of its busiest weeks for sponsorship and food distribution. We received camping equipment, a generous donation of potatoes from Martin and Penny, and around 300 kilograms of food from Foodbank. There was a challenging moment when the Jutland Village Resident Group cancelled a scheduled 30-minute distribution drop, leaving me with a van full of food and the question of where it would all go.

Thankfully, Priscilla stepped in and got on the phone, contacting individuals and families who could receive food immediately. One particularly unusual donation was around 60 kilograms of fresh rainbow trout. It wasn’t easy to distribute, but we managed to get every bit of it out into the community. There is something special about being able to provide world-class fish to people doing it tough. Why not?

At Woodcraft Adventures Tasmania, the focus was less on timber and more on photography. A new image app has helped with product photos, so we can improve our websites, and our online stores. We’ve also been experimenting with AI-generated backgrounds, featuring professional women over 55 using handcrafted timber products in country kitchens, along with Tasmanian wooden animals placed in deep rainforest settings. Time will tell how believable they are, but the results are certainly interesting.

Looking back, it has been one of our strongest weeks in some time. We distributed the highest volume of food we’ve handled in a single week, secured more individual sponsors than usual, and achieved several important goals, including significantly improving our image portfolio.

In the coming weeks, our focus will be on consolidating these gains, strengthening partnerships, and building sustainable systems that allow this work to continue growing while remaining manageable.

Thank you to everyone who has played a part. Every donation, sponsorship, volunteer hour, conversation, and act of encouragement helps make this work possible.