Changing men’s lives
Changing men’s lives
December 20, 2006
Section: News
THE Beyond Empathy project, run out of Warrawong Community Centre, has seen a group of disadvantaged Warrawong men come together in a day of music and theatre to share their stories.
The project, run by Phil Crawford, aims to promote change in the lives of men from the Warrawong area who suffer social disadvantage, whether it be a result of unemployment, mental illness, substance abuse or anything else.
The men spent about six months working on this latest project in which they each focused on their individual talents.
One participant Ian Chafer said he wondered into the community centre one day for lunch and met Phil. From their he became involved and said it has provided somewhere for him to focus his energies for the past six months.
I have met a lot of new people in the same situation as me who I didnt know were around here, he said.
Mr Chafer once pursued a musical career until he was involved in a coal mine accident and could no longer work. He no longer had the funds to commit to his music. He said Beyond Empathy allowed him to access that passion for music again and record his work.
Another of the projects participants Ian Morgan put together a story in dedication to his father.
Mr Morgan suffers from mental illness and said working on the project gave him a reason to get out of the house and the chance to commit to something.
Mr Crawford said many participants have been involved in both this latest project as well as previous projects.
It is like a trampoline to change things. You cant expect to keep going if you only bounce once, you have to keep bouncing, he said.
Beyond Empathy is funded by both state and federal governments.
Their mission is to utilise the arts to influence change and create opportunity for people who experience disadvantage or hardship.
