Our Approach
Neroli and Jock
Neroli Colvin passed away in November 2018. I am Jock Cheetham, Neroli's partner of 14 years. I am a journalist and journalism lecturer and I live in Bathurst, Australia, where Neroli lived with me. Until 2017, we lived in Sydney's Inner West, and I'm back and forth to Sydney still.
Neroli Colvin's crowning achievement was her PhD from Western Sydney University, awarded in 2017, which focused on cultural diversity in regional schools.
A thesis examiner wrote: “I was deeply moved by some of the narratives… with stark evidence of the ways in which ‘we’ – the majority white population – so easily and readily minimise, dismiss or reconfigure racism. The candidate’s linking of local level racialised discourses to state level discourses of race is very powerful.”
Our Story
Fundraising Story
Neroli always thought about her next big life goal. As she realised her life was ending, we discussed her legacy and agreed to focus on cultural diversity through storytelling, along with advocating for the environment and rare diseases. This GoFundMe account has been set up towards the establishment of a Neroli Colvin storytelling foundation.
You can read Neroli's obituary in The Sydney Morning Herald here.
Donations will further Neroli Colvin's work and vision. Money will fund storytelling projects and events about diversity, the environment and advocacy for rare diseases.
The main idea is to create a multicultural storytelling festival in Bathurst. As you can see on this website, we are launching these events in 2019. These include storytelling circle events, which Neroli and I worked on in September.
Neroli and I talked extensively about the festival idea. This was her vision for when we got to Bathurst. Tragically, Neroli got very ill soon after we arrived. She kept thinking about and discussing this concept, however, and the ideas I have are either hers, ours or spring directly from our discussions...
other projects and ideas
I would also like to establish an annual lecture in Neroli's name on the subject of rare diseases, with an advocacy goal.
Both of these ideas could be funded by the money I'm requesting here. Funds would go towards event hire, promotion, PR, fees, logistics and help make this stuff happen. I would not be seeking compensation through this spending. I am assisted in this work by friends, family and colleagues of Neroli.
Such support means a lot to Neroli, who wished that her legacy would help create a better world based on the insights gained from her PhD research and life experience. I send out a huge thank you to those who have donated.
Neroli's family will be grateful for the opportunity to honour her memory with these funds, which will support attempts to promote the above themes into storytelling festivals, documentaries and published articles.
Meet the Team
Thanks to the many people who've donated and those who are helping in Bathurst. Updates and specific acknowledgements to come...
Jock Cheetham
Festival director
I'm a senior lecturer in journalism at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst.
please consider donating...
Funds donated via this link to the GoFundMe page are intended to go towards the establishment of a Neroli Colvin Storytelling Foundation.
Kind donations have already resulted in the inaugural 2019 Bathurst Multicultural Storytelling Foundation.