2023 School Magazine

COFFEE BRIGADE

Coffee Brigade is a not-for-profit organisation of volunteers that have been offering food, hot drinks, and other essentials to people experiencing homelessness, within the Brisbane CBD for more than five decades. Throughout the year, students at BGGS had multiple opportunities to become involved with Coffee Brigade. In Term 1, a community-wide food drive was held for two weeks, with staff, students, and their families coming together to donate essential food items. Long-life milk, canned food, soup, noodles, and biscuits were among the hundreds of items kindly donated by our School community. Twice a term, Senior students were further able to support Coffee Brigade by donating their time to help with the preparation of sandwiches, which were then distributed to those in need around the city. The enthusiasm from students involved this year was commendable and contributed to the positive atmosphere on sandwich-making mornings. Thanks must be given to our coordinators, Ms McDonnell and Ms Genders, for their tireless support, and to the generous BGGS community who make our contribution to this cause possible. Sophie Lillyman (12B) Coffee Brigade Student Leader

URALLA CLUB

For the Uralla Club, this year has been filled with a sense of progress and achievement. We began the year with a ceremonial raising of both the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander flags at the front of the School, a long-awaited moment in the Club’s history. Then, there was the official launch of the School’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) during National Reconciliation Week in Week 7, Term 2. Further awareness within the School community continued with the commemoration of National Close the Gap Day and Sorry Day in Term 2. Uralla Club held interactive stalls for staff and students to participate in, with factsheets to spread awareness and relevant petitions to sign.

Open Day was another opportunity to share what we do in Uralla Club, and we were able to promote our group to the wider School community and invite incoming students into the conversation about the value of First Nations People’s histories, lores, languages and perspectives. During Uralla Club meetings, the Voice to Parliament remained a prevalent topic and formed the basis of many of our discussions, as we looked at the impact the result of the referendum could possibly have on Australia. Looking forward as a Club, we seek to continually support the School’s RAP, while also working as a Service group that prioritises working with local First Nations People. Jasmin Burgess (11E), Eliza Forster (11O) and Sophie Dwyer (11B)

BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL 2023 | 65