The Bluearth Foundation

Dear Friend,

As you may be aware I am an Ambassador for Bluearth Foundation, a Foundation that encourages us all to reap the benefits of being active. Bluearth has been working with schools across the Kimberley for over 6 years delivering physical activity programs that improve health, educational outcomes and more importantly bring joy to some of the most disadvantaged students they work with.

With changes to educational funding, kids in the Kimberley look set to miss out.

I am asking for you to help bring smiles to the Kimberley.

A crowdfunding project for Kimberley kids, www.teambus.com.au/ kimberleysmiles has been launched and I’m asking you to send it out to as many people as you can, put it on your Facebook page, tweet it out, put it out through Linked in, email, or just pass on the news and of course donate.

We need it to reach as many people as possible and create a groundswell of support to achieve our goal, the more people we can reach, the less everyone needs to contribute to make it work .

If you need any more information to enable you to help us help bring smiles to the kids in the Kimberley, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Bluearth CEO Wendy Gillett on E:wgillett@bluearth.org.

Thanks in anticipation of your support.

Barassi team talk a key achievement in Harry Marr's tenure as ACT sports administrator

ACT Sport inaugural general manager Harry Marr organised for Australian football legend Ron Barassi to talk to an ACT team that included Alex Jesaulenko before their historic win over the VFL in 1980.

It was just one of a number of achievements the renowned sports administrator has on his resume and why ACT Sport's new award has been named after him.

The Harry Marr Award will be given to the best "home grown talent" competing on the national or international stage. Brad Haddin, Patrick Mills, Ryan Carters and Jason Behrendorff are the first nominees.

 But ACT Sport's top award will still be the Sportstar of the Year for athletes still based in Canberra.

"The Harry Marr Award is the award that replaces the AIS Award," ACT Sport president Jim Roberts said.

"The AIS always had an award, but with the restructure it probably is not relevant any more, but we've always had this difficulty where players like Wally Masur, Brad Haddin, Mark Webber and people like this that have had to leave Canberra to further their sporting careers and have become world greats ... so these people tend to slip through the net because there wasn't a category for them.

"What we decided to do was make an award for that category and it couldn't be more fitting than to name it after Harry Marr, who was an absolute driving force behind the ACT Sportstar of the Year and Hall of Fame."

Marr, who now lives in Tuncurry, said he was stunned when Roberts told him of the honour.

He was given the old Hackett school to set up what was then called ACT Sports House, which became the administrative home for many ACT and Australian sporting bodies.

Marr also instigated the ACT Hall of Fame and the ACT Sport awards.

He approached then prime minister Bob Hawke, who helped furnish the building with public service furniture.

"When Jim rang me I was just stunned, more so stunned that jumping out of my skin," Marr said.

"I said, 'What for Jim?' and he said, 'You've been recognised' – he probably built it up a bit big."