Happy New Year! Almost a month into 2024, with the summer holidays drawing to a close, that greeting almost feels redundant now. But given this is my first ‘Soft Hearts’ newsletter for 2024, and my first opportunity to share something of my heart with you this year – it still…

More than 1,000 people gathered in Westmead two weeks ago for the Sydney Alliance pre-election Assembly. The atmosphere was electric as diverse voices shared heart-breaking stories that visibly affected everyone present.

Decades ago, one of my Superintendent predecessors, Rev Alan Walker, initiated what is now our Easter Mission. Over the years Easter Mission has been expressed in various ways, including celebration services hosted in drive-ins, Darling Harbour spectaculars, Easter Sunrise service broadcasts from...

Our gambling reform advocacy work has also been a major focus, with poker machine reform now a major election issue in NSW for the first time since their introduction in 1956.

Dear Friends, I haven’t been very reliable sending you Soft Hearts newsletters in recent times. There’s been a bit happening, especially for me personally. If you will indulge me, let me explain. After a four-month battle with cancer, my mother, Jill, passed away. As hard as it was to say…

I’ve just finished reading Andrew Robert’s magisterial biography of Winston Churchill, a 982-page account of a life so astonishing I had to remind myself repeatedly it wasn’t fiction, but true history. There’s so much to learn from the story of this remarkable, complex man – especially for those of...

It has been ten months since I broke my patella (knee) in multiple places. Three days and almost halfway exactly into walking the iconic Overland Track through the stunning, yet brutal Tasmanian wilderness. A slippery track, a tree root, a trip and a fall not only cut short the walk…

At 17 and straight out of high school, I got my first full-time job in a bank. The shock of working five days a week was equally matched with my disorientation (and a smidge overwhelmed) as wide-eyed country kid me, set up home in the big smoke of the city….

Dear Friends, It’s been a little while since I last wrote to you. Saying this, I have a really important ‘ask’ for you. Gambling reform is Wesley Mission’s primary advocacy goal, in part due to the feedback we receive from our staff who were seeing the large scope and scale…