Feel the Magic partner Erebus unveils Gen3s ahead of Supercars Championship

Our friends and loyal partner Erebus Motorsport recently launched their brand new Gen3 vehicles for this year’s Supercars Championship.

The new-look team launched its campaign with drivers Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast.

Erebus Motorsport launch Gen3 supercars
Betty Klimenko AM, owner Erebus Motorsport and Feel the Magic Ambassador

Feel the Magic has gratefully been the Erebus team’s charity partner since 2018, also supported by the Shaw Partners Foundation, featured proudly on the Supercars.

Betty Klimenko AM, owner of Erebus Motorsport and loyal Feel the Magic ambassador, along with the Shaw and Partners Foundation have pledged their support and hundreds of thousands of dollars to Feel the Magic over the years.

Feel the Magic Chief Executive Officer Adam Blatch is grateful to Erebus Sport and the Shaw and Partners Foundation’s generosity.

“We feel very privileged to be a charity partner with Erebus Motorsport and are so grateful for the support they provide to Feel the Magic and the grieving kids we serve,” Blatch said. “What the Shaw and Partners Foundation provides to charities is remarkable and we are very appreciative”.

The Erebus team will hit the track in their Gen3 Camaros at Sydney Motorsport Park on February 22.

We wish the Erebus team well for the 2023 season and look forward to being a charity partner again in 2023.

Feel the Magic and Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation

The Lasting Impact of Grant Giving

Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation grant round surpasses $25 million in funding since 2003. 

Our friends and fierce supporters of Feel the Magic, Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation, reached this generous and impressive milestone recently. 

The Foundation supports the delivery of various projects and initiatives focusing on improving the health and social wellbeing of vulnerable people in regional New South Wales.

As a recipient of their funding last year, Feel the Magic joined in this year’s grant giving event. Our co-founder Kristy Thomas and long-time Feel the Magic Camper Noah Levin had the privilege of speaking about the positive and lasting impact of the funding provided by Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation last year. 

Noah Levin, Feel the Magic Camper and Ambassador
Kristy Thomas, Co-Founder Feel the Magic

The Foundation have supported Feel the Magic in many ways, including a generous financial contribution last year enabling us to provide our first ever Hunter-based Camp Magic at Lake Macquarie this year. Thanks to Newcastle Permanent, 15 campers attended Camp Magic for free and had the opportunity to be involved in a transformational weekend, learning vital skills for healing and coping with grief. Plus, several Newcastle Permanent staff kindly volunteered at Camp to support those grieving kids.

We are incredibly grateful to Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation who provided us with a grant to host our first-ever regional Grad Camp in Lake Macquarie early next year.

Newcastle Permanent partnered with Feel the Magic through their Community Assist Program

Grad Camp prepares young people aged 17 and 19 years who have experienced the loss of a parent or sibling to navigate the milestones and challenges of transitioning to adulthood. Grad Camp gives Campers an opportunity to reconnect, make new connections, plus explore strategies and techniques to help cope with grief while moving into adult life.

We are sincerely appreciative to Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation for helping us to facilitate much-needed support for grieving families in regional areas. We are looking forward to expanding our reach to help more grieving kids and families with the aid of supporters such as the Foundation. 

Congratulations Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation on your generous milestone and for all your support for Feel the Magic.

Erebus Motorsports #99

Kostecki/Russell and Geoff Booth Foundation raise $10,000 for Feel the Magic

Feel the Magic is immensely grateful to Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki and David Russell, who, as part of a pledge by The Geoff Booth Foundation, raised $10,000 for Feel the Magic.

The Geoff Booth Foundation pledged $10,000 for the #99 to reach the Top Ten Shootout at the Bathurst 1000, where Kostecki qualified the car in ninth.

Read more about the incredible legacy left by Geoff Booth and Annie Tan, and the impressive efforts of Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki and David Russell in this release.

News release by Erebus Motorsports, Geoff Booth Foundation and Feel the Magic

Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki and David Russell have raised $10,000 for the team’s Official Charity Partner Feel the Magic, as part of an incentive from the Geoff Booth Foundation.

The Geoff Booth Foundation pledged $10,000 for the #99 to reach the Top Ten Shootout at last weekend’s Bathurst 1000, where Kostecki qualified the car in ninth on Friday.

“The Geoff Booth Foundation was delighted to have the opportunity to partner up with both the Erebus Motorsport Team and Feel The Magic for this fantastic initiative,” Foundation Member Rhys Kinder said.

“We saw an opportunity to not only provide an extra incentive to see the 99 car reach the Bathurst 1000 Top 10 Shootout but also support the fantastic work the Feel the Magic team do in providing grief counselling programs for kids aged 7 to 17 who are experiencing isolation due to the death of a loved one.”

The Foundation was created in 2009 and celebrates the lives of its founders Geoff Booth and Annie Tan, who both passed away due to cancer.

The couple had invested wisely, spent modestly and with no children, left their life savings to be distributed on an ongoing basis to charities in need.

“Both Geoff and Annie Tan would be proud to support such a great cause,” Kinder continued.

Feel the Magic is an Australian non-profit who provide early intervention grief education programs for children aged 7 to 17 who have experienced the loss of a parent, guardian or sibling. 

Their free camps aim to help kids manage their grief through teaching practical coping strategies to grieve in a healthy and positive way; ultimately helping reduce the mental health challenges associated with childhood grief.

“Feel the Magic is only able to provide our free camps and resources thanks to amazing and generous donors such as the Geoff Booth Foundation,” Feel the Magic CEO Adam Blatch said.

“The donation will assist kids to Camp Magic so we can help them to face, feel and heal in their grief.

“We are extremely grateful for this amazing donation.”

Erebus Motorsport is thrilled to work alongside Feel the Magic and is grateful to the Geoff Booth Foundation for their generous contributions.

Image: Erebus Motorsport, Facebook, Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst 10 October.

First of a kind Let's Talk Suicide

Mental Health Minister backs ‘Let’s Talk Suicide’ camp

First of a kind ‘Let’s Talk Suicide’ camps

Thanks to vital support from the NSW Government and Minister for Mental Health, Regional Health and Women, Bronnie Taylor, Feel the Magic can help more children grieving the suicide of their parent or sibling.

Let’s Talk Suicide camps, a first of their kind in Australia, are offered to kids aged seven to 17 who are grieving the suicide of a loved one.

The Feel the Magic ‘Let’s Talk Suicide’ camps, a first of their kind in Australia, are offered to kids aged seven to 17 who are grieving the suicide of a loved one. These camps give grieving kids the mental tools and coping skills to help manage their grief, as well as a community to lean on.

Supporting children and families affected by suicide

Feel the Magic Chief Executive Officer, Adam Blatch said “Sadly, suicide claims the life of many parents every year, leaving behind heartbroken and devastated partners, children, and grandparents. The Let’s Talk Suicide program provide a safe space for children to learn new skills to manage their grief and talk through their pain and loneliness with people who truly understand. It is also a vital support to parents and carers who must juggle their own grief.”

Suicide is the leading cause of death for individuals aged 15 to 49 years old in Australia (Australian Government, Department of Health), with many of these instances resulting in a child having to mourn the loss of a parent or sibling.  Read more about the prevalence of childhood bereavement here.

With the support of the NSW Government, Feel the Magic can offer this critical Let’s Talk Suicide program to more grieving children.

The suicide bereavement program is funded by the NSW Government and Minister for Mental Health Bronnie Taylor encourages affected parents and carers to enrol their children and teens. “I cannot imagine the enormous, heart-breaking task of explaining to your child why a parent or sibling felt their only option was to take their own life,” Minister Taylor said. “We want these parents and carers to know that they are not alone and there is a community of people who understand their pain and grief and will support them as they work through it as a family.”

An impactful collaboration

Let’s Talk Suicide has been created as a collaboration to ensure that the program is as impactful as possible. Partners include the NSW Ministry of Health who support this program as part of their ‘Towards Zero Suicides’ initiative, The Illawarra Shoalhaven Suicide Prevention Collaborative, Roses in the Ocean, and the University of Melbourne.

First in-person ‘Let’s Talk Suicide’ camp

Initially a virtual Zoom-based program, the first in-person ‘Let’s Talk Suicide’ (LTS) camp took place at Stanwell Tops on the 15 May for children aged seven to 17 years of age. “Now with in-person camps, kids can build a connection with others facing grief and experience the benefits of the program, face to face.” Said Mr Blatch.

Helping children deal with loss

Created specifically for kids who are grieving the suicide of a loved one, LTS teaches bereaved children how to heal from the guilt, shame and blame that often comes with suicidal grief.

The program is developed in collaboration with clinical psychologists, the NSW Ministry of Health, leading suicide support organisations, and those with a lived experience.

At the LTS camps, kids will learn the skills, tools, and coping mechanisms to help them deal with grief, even when they’re in triggering situations. They have a safe place to explore their grief and heal, with other children who can relate to them like no one else.

Find out more here, register your interest, or contact 1300 602 465.

Crisis support

Please note we do not offer crisis services. If you require urgent assistance, to ensure your safety, please go to your nearest hospital’s accident and emergency department or if you’re in need of immediate emotional support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Grief Line on 1300 845 745. Please take care. 

A fantastic documentary for our partner Erebus on Fox

AN EIGHT-PART documentary series following one of Supercars’ most popular teams, Erebus Motorsport, will debut on Wednesday 2 March on Fox Sports.

Access All Areas: Erebus Motorsport was filmed across a remarkable two-year period covering the 2020 and 2021 Supercars Championship seasons and goes places no behind-the-scenes documentary has gone before.

Access All Areas commences with cameras embedded within the team in the thick of the contest at the 2020 Adelaide 500, as Erebus pushes to join Supercars’ elite as regular winners.

With unfiltered access to drivers’ David Reynolds and Anton De Pasquale both at and away from the circuit, the documentary then charts the unprecedented 2020 season as the team negotiated the Covid-19 Pandemic and the border closures throughout the year.

As if that wasn’t enough, cameras were there when the team underwent significant change prior to the 2021 season: Reynolds and De Pasquale departing the team to be replaced by an all-rookie squad comprised of young-guns Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki. 

Can you help raise $100,000 by simply voting online?

Joey Essex is an English television personality that is currently featuring in Channel Ten’s I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. He has progressed to the finale which is being aired on Channel Ten this Sunday night!

Why Joey selected Feel the Magic?

When Joey was 10-years-old his mother died by suicide. Unable to comprehend such a great loss when he was so young, Joey attempted to push down his grief and grew up to be one of the UK’s biggest reality stars.

Joey’s lived experience of childhood bereavement resonates significantly with why Feel the Magic exists. Joey shared his story recently on I’m A Celebrity and also in a BBC document Joey Essex: Grief & Me which was on Channel Ten. Joey shared his difficult past and his attempts to confront the grief that he had buried for two decades and how seeking help AND talking about his grief, how much it changed his life.

Joey is now a chance at $100,000 for Feel the Magic if he wins! If you can help just by jumping on the 10Play link below and voting for Joey, he may just help fund more camps and resources in 2022!

Vote at https://10play.com.au/vote