The Amaroo Ready Retreat was a resounding success on so many levels. It was a wonderful result of of collaboration and people coming together. Over 60 people stayed onsite (many from interstate) with 100 + attending the special events on the weekends.
The Retreat Organising Team was pleased to offer a very full and attractive
Schedule. This included a 3 day Facilitator Development Workshop from the
Peace Education Program Team, Knowledge Reviews and video screenings from the
KS Team, and opportunities to
Volunteer to prepare the venues for a possible Amaroo Event.
There was also an enjoyable Retreat Opening Event with informative updates from all the teams mentioned, as well as Sponsorship, Amaroo Team and the IRF Board. Over 100 people attended, and it was also livestreamed via Zoom across Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, allowing so many more people to be part of it.
Underpinning all of this was the team who took care of everyone, organising comfortable cabin accommodation, professional catering and some impromptu musical evenings at the Jacaranda Hub! A big thank you to everyone involved.
There were many highlights, including a mini launch of the new PEP EDU ( Peace Education Program designed for schools and universities). Attendees were able to experience 3 of the new modules first hand, including new video content and the opportunity for sharing reflections. It was very well received.
The daily afternoon videos in the Conference Hall were another highlight, including the premier screening in Australia of the documentary
Power to Change, which looks at the positive impact that the Peace Education Program has had for victims and perpetrators of knife crime in the UK.
One of the aims of the ‘Amaroo Ready Retreat’ was to focus on preparing the venues at Ivorys Rock for a possible event. Each day volunteers could choose to plug into one or both of the 2 hour slots, morning and afternoon, focussing on areas such as the Amphitheatre, Pavilion, Jacaranda and Dayas.
This well thought out schedule by the Volunteer Projects Coordinator and the Venue Caretakers resulted in a lot being achieved over the 12 days, with 700+ hours given to projects and over 300 hours to host the retreat.
The ‘Amaroo Ready Retreat’ lived up to its name. Amaroo 2024 was confirmed 10 days later!
Thank you again to the organising team and everyone involved.
