So here it is! Our Calendar is ready to go and we couldn’t be more excited!

Here’s the registration link:  http://eepurl.com/rLnSv

Order Registrations are being collected between 1 December 2012 – 10 December 2012.

Why you should register for a calendar?

It’s a great cause – you will be supporting Community Brave

It’s a great Christmas pressie you can give to your clients, your team members, your family and friends

It’s super cheap – cost price + postage and handling. If you want the electronic version, it’s free!

You can turn the electronic version into place cards or print them out to hang all over your walls

It helps spread the message of teamwork, anti-bullying, healthy minds, healthy bodies and healthy souls!

What are the costs?

Electronic Version – FREE! That’s right it’s free! We’ll send you a new month at the end of each previous month! This way, you get a new surprise all the way through 2013!

Printed Version – as we like to be absolutely transparent, we’re giving you the whole truth! We need to sell 1,000 calendars before any can be printed. The total cost of printing is $2,000. This means each calendar costs $2 for you! Add $1.50 for postage and the absolute total cost is $3.50 per calendar!

BUT WAIT – THERE’S MORE!

Purchase a 10 pack and we’ll give it to you for $30 (normally $35). Purchase a 20 pack and we’ll give it to you for $60 (normally $75). Purchase a 50 pack and it’s yours for $160 (normally $175).

What can you do with 50 Calendars? Hand them out to your clients, or maybe to your entire department. Maybe you have an upcoming campaign for your organisation, and want to give something back to your supporters …. The world is your oyster!

What do you get?

Electronic Version – On a monthly basis you will receive an email which contains the next month’s calendar, some behind the scenes shots and where available free giveaways such as women’s personal training classes or a 1 week pass at City Gym, Sydney.

Printed Version - a shiny glossy calendar to hang up! 

What format should you choose?

It’s all up to you. Grab some printed versions for your family and friends and keep an electronic version for you!

When will you receive your calendar?

Electronic Version – you’ll receive your first month (January) on the 27^th December. Thereafter you will receive your monthly calendars on the 27^th of each month (even if it’s a weekend).

Printed Version – we’re mailing them out to you from the 20^th December. This will give you enough time to hand them out to your family and friends and get them pinned up on your walls ready for 2013!

Are there any freebies?

YES! For the ladies, Vicious Vixen will be providing you with one free personal training session in 2013, and for everyone City Gym will be giving you a one week free pass to use their facilities. We’re working on more freebies for you for 2013 too!

How does this support Community Brave?

The calendar is a Community Brave project which aims to spread the knowledge that if we keep ourselves fit and healthy in body, mind and soul; we continue to work as teams and work towards eradicating bullying then in the long run, we’ll all be more equipped to tackle the huge bullying problem.

This calendar is not being used for fundraising purposes, as we don’t make any profits. Rather it’s awareness raising and helping get our name out there to a greater audience. Plus, we want you all to stay in touch with us throughout the year and what more practical way to do that, then having you see our calendar and use it on a daily basis!

Here’s the registration link once again!

http://eepurl.com/rLnSv

Spread the word and share this with your networks …. The more, the merrier!

Thanking you all in advance for all your support!

Rami + Community Brave Team
#combrv

This project has been sponsored by:

There are so many young people who experience bullying in their everyday lives that to some people in society, it has just become part of the norm.

Comments by parents, uncles & aunts & friends such as “It’s all part of the growing up process” & “The Bullying will only stop when you stand up for yourself” have been some of the advice many of us have received in the past, when we were bullied.

But sometimes the bullying impacts directly on us growing up happy. Or we do not have the strength to fight back – physically, emotionally or mentally.

We are here to take a different approach. The Community Brave Foundation is here to stop bullying and ensure it is not part of the growing up process, or that young people don’t have to stand up for themselves to claim the same basic human rights that they are entitled too.

Our weapon however is not violence or fear. We are approaching this with Education and Knowledge.

To firstly understand bullying, we should define it and then provide a short definition of all the parties and their roles in bullying circumstances.

Bullying is defined as: “A form of aggressive behaviour manifested by the use of force or coercion to affect others, particularly when the behaviour is habitual and involves an imbalance of power. It can include verbal harassment, physical assault or coercion and may be directed repeatedly towards particular victims, perhaps on grounds of race, religion, gender, sexuality, or ability. The “imbalance of power” may be social power and/or physical power. The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as a “target”” by Wikipedia.

There are several parties involved in a bullying situation. These are:

The Victim – This is the person who is receiving the aggressive behaviour. Known as the ‘Target’ this is the less powerful party in any form of bullying (Online, School, LGBT, Workplace, Academics etc.).  Targets appear more physically and emotionally weak to bullies, and lack skills of assertiveness. They also have diminished self-confidence.

The Bully – This is the person who is outputting the aggressive behaviour. It is the more powerful party in the bullying event and creates these situations for many reasons such as being a bully victim themselves, trying to fit in, fear of unknown, attempting to set position as Alpha in group to name a few. This is also not limited to one person and can be several people working as a pack. Bullies tend to use blame, criticism and allegations justify their means and thrive on feelings of dominance (see their victims as prey)

Bystanders – Bystanders are third parties who witness Bullying events as partial participants or people who watch it occur (can be in person, online, through communication such as email). Bystanders will hardly ever intervene in bullying events (unless they are involved) and will generally show more respect for the bullies over the targets, but will also feel guilty for not intervening due to lack of knowledge or fear of involvement.

Whilst many anti-bullying programs will focus on the Victim (and this is important) in order to stop bullying, a multi-party approach is needed. There is no point to help the victims and do nothing about the bullies. They are victims too. There is not point of helping the bullies without providing the resources to bystanders. They have an important role to play too.

We’ll be addressing each of these parties in more details in our future blogs. And rolling out information, resources and useful tips to help empower you the next time a Bullying event occurs.

We would love to hear your stories of Bullying and share them with our network.  If you were a bully, what made you change? If you are a victim, what made you strong? If you are a bystander, what will you do?

Connect with Community Brave:

Community Brave Website
Community Brave on Facebook
Community Brave on Twitter
Community Brave on Google+
Community Brave on Tumblr
Community Brave on Pinterest
Community Brave on YouTube

A Submission to the Senate Inquiry for an Amendment to The Marriage Act

As the chairman of The Community Brave Foundation - a newly developed organisation which aims at eradicating online bullying, homophobia, transphobia and youth suicide - it is vital to not only the progression of our society into a more inclusive and equal environment, but also for the future of our society and the youths that will become adults in the near future.

Regardless of religious views, personal opinions or traditional family values, no parent. no aunt or uncle, no sibling or friend should ever have to deal with a young person committing suicide because of the discrimination that is held in current traditions and values. Both sides of this argument will agree with me here.

However, we cannot on the one hand have expectations that young people will continue to live in a world without bullying, without the use of technology (Social Media, Mobiles) for harassment and without living with discrimination / insult if we cannot, as adults, see eye to eye on equality for all human beings, regardless of sexual orientation.

Marriage Equality will help future societies transition equality into normality for all young people, as they will grow up in homes where it is ‘normal’ for same-sex couples to co-exist in a loving, caring and committed relationship. 

When Marriage Equality is passed by the Government, it will give organisations like The Community Brave Foundation a stronger leg to stand on when trying to provide assistance, guidance, advice and direction to young people. It is a key cornerstone to turning perception, attitudes and education around from the inequalities that exist today.

As an organisation, we collectively and whole heartedly support marriage equality, because we believe an equal society will be many fold beneficial to young people in society, regardless of sexual orientation.

As a member of the community I reach out to ask that you support my views. I am a son. I am a sibling. I am an uncle. I am a best friend. I am a flatmate. I am a co-worker. I am a small business owner. I don’t want to lose anymore young people because we are not treated equal. All I ask is that you step into my shoes for one day and see the world through my eyes. 

Then ask yourself - what if this was your child.

Please make all submissions through this link before April 2, 2012. This is an urgent request. http://bit.ly/GYxUco 

Regards,

Rami Mandow

Chairman - The Community Brave Foundation

How it will work

We are setting up The Community Brave Foundation Website to be rolled out in 3 phases. This allows us to better capture, engage, interact and influence our audience as we prepare to go live with our Social Media Platform that will serve as the 24/7 online portal for youths who are dealing with issues related to online bullying, homophobia, transphobia, self-harm and suicide issues.

Phase 1 – Live Date: March 16, 2012

Phase 1 of the website will allow our visitors to engage with our video content that we are producing. There will be a total of 5 videos made. These are:

Kylie Tribute – Filmed on Location at Sydney Mardi Gras 2012

Gaga Tribute – Filmed on Location at Sydney Mardi Gras 2012

Celebrity Video – Some wonderful celebrities will share their experiences with you about Bullying and encourage you to participate in our program

Sports Stars Video – Working with some amazing sports teams to send a strong message from these positive role models about online bullying and International Day against Homophobia (IDAHO – May 17)

Politicians Video – a message of support from our leaders.

Website visitors will be able to connect with Community Brave through our Social Media Platforms and register to become Community Brave Mentors. This phase is targeted at encouraging members of the public to watch, share and join our project.

Phase 2 – Live Date: TBA

Phase 2 of the website will include all the features from Phase 1 but also shows support that Community Brave receives from all the Community Organisations, Businesses, Partners and community members who help make Community Brave a success.

We also encourage further support from all community organisations to get on board too!

It’s our little way of saying thank you to everyone who makes this project possible.

This is targeted at encouraging community support, businesses and organisations to participate in the project - although this does not necessarily mean funding. What we are looking for is how your business products and services can assist Community Brave in its goals and objectives.

Phase 3 – Live Date: TBA

Phase 3 is the big one. We are launching our official website which will have lots of information about us, about whom our Community Brave mentors are and the work we are doing in the community.

With links to all of our social media platforms, our e-newsletter and our videos, you will be able to interact and engage with us at any time of the day.

Our website will also be our portal to our network of mentors, so this phase is targeted at the whole community, but more importantly at Youths who wish to connect with Community Brave.

You will also be able to find lots of resources, details of upcoming events and ‘how-to-guides’ for everyone! (Youths, Students, Teachers, Parents, Organisations)

There will also be a Smart Device app available in phase 3 for iOS (incl. iPad), Android, Bada, Blackberry & Windows7!

So it is a little bit of a wait until we get to the final phase of the project (estimating around September / October 2012) but we will certainly be providing lots of good content until then. So be sure to put us in your favourites, follow our Social Media pages and stay up to date with how you can help eradicate Online Bullying, Homophobia, Transphobia and Youth Suicide.

We change the world. Starting Now.

We would also like to pay special thanks to E-Strategy Group for building our site! Couldn’t have done it without you!

With the most humble gratefulness,

The Community Brave Team

Connect with us here:

Community Brave on Facebook

Community Brave on Twitter

Community Brave on Google+

Community Brave on YouTube

Community Brave on Tumblr

What is ‘The Community Brave

Foundation’?

The Community Brave Foundation is a new collaborative community group made up entirely of volunteers who wish to create a sustainable and positive future for the youth of our community, specifically targeting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ) youths. It is 100% community run as a non-profit (Pty Ltd) and funded by the community through donations.

Who is ‘The Community Brave

Foundation’?

The Foundation is made up of Board Committee who runs the foundation. These members are community members who have volunteered their time and come from all professions (Social Media, Nursing, Media, Marketing, Community Organisations, Event Managers, Video Production Teams, Teachers, Graphic Designers, Website Developers, Executives)

What is our mission?

Our mission is to build short and long term sustainable solutions to eradicate online bullying, homophobia, Transphobia & youth suicide. We aim to achieve this in the short term by providing a series of role model videos, building focused training mentors and providing a 24/7 support, assistance and guidance service through Social Media. We also aim to achieve a longer term sustainable outcome by providing education and knowledge through society to youths, which will build a better future by the concept of paying it forward.

How are we going to achieve this?

Phase 1 – Produce and release a series of Role Model online videos to help encourage volunteers to join our mentoring program in phase 2. Videos include: Public, Celebrities, Politicians, Sports Teams.

Phase 2 – Working with the LGBTIQ Youth Organisation Twenty10, we are developing a mentor training program to provide volunteers / Teachers / Counsellors with the best training with dealing with LGBTIQ Youth issues. These mentors will then be seeded into community through school and our online program in Phase 3.

Phase 3 – Build and provide an online tool (Social Media Network) for our trained mentors to participate in providing guidance, assistance, advice and support to youths 24 hours per day through the micro-blogging site Twitter. This is the ‘lifeline’ model except it is based purely through Social Media channels.

Why are we doing this?

Inequality for the LGBTIQ community is still a huge problem for our societies. However, these inequalities are now becoming dangerous and destructive. The danger lies with youth who are no longer able to escape from the taunts, the abuse and the emotional scaring of bullying. It no longer resides in school playgrounds, bullying has migrated and increased its power online due to anonymity and social technology (Social Networks, Smartphones).

Too many youths have taken their lives, and our research suggests that their final cry for help is through the usage of Social Technology. That’s why this foundation aims to be there for every one of these young people who are going through suffering. We want to be able to talk to them, advise them of solutions and alternate strategies rather than self-harm or suicide. We want to be able to make a difference in our public schools through our teachers so that acceptance and tolerance is well and truly established as the upcoming generations enter adult society.

We want everyone to be equal, and we don’t want to lose another young person due to online bullying, homophobia or transphobia.

Who is the underlying organisation

we are supporting?

We are throwing our support behind an organisation that in 2012 have 30 years’ experiences with dealing with LGBTIQ youth – Twenty10.

Twenty10 is a community based, non-profit state-wide organisation. Working with and supporting young people of diverse genders, sexes and sexualities, their families and friends. Twenty10 is a safe place and staff deal with all enquires in an understanding, supportive and confidential manner.

Our Goals

Short Term Goals

Ø  Reduce Homophobia & Transphobia, spread tolerance and acceptance

Ø  Stop online bullying and abuse

Ø  Eradicate suicide amongst youths from LGBTIQ community (but not limited to)

Long Term Goals

Ø  Create social change so that there is no discrimination towards the LGBTIQ community by providing educators with the necessary training to address, respond and teach these learning’s in our public schools

Become a Community Brave Mentor

Registrations are now open for members of the public to become Community Brave Mentors. Our specialised training program will commence soon, and is being developed in conjunction with Twenty10.

Please note, you must be over 18 to register to become a Community Brave Mentor.

Share this photo on your Facebook

Page

Want something very simple to do? Simply click on this image, which opens up to our Facebook Photo Page. Then hit the ‘share’ button and share this image on your timeline.  The rest is magic! Yep, that simple!

Share our Videos on your Social

Networks

Watch our videos on YouTube and share them on Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and your other social networks.

Copy + Paste these links:

Kylie Tribute: http://bit.ly/w7vK1O

Gaga Tribute: http://bit.ly/yE6ehq

Email a Friend about The

Community Brave Foundation

Email our website to your contacts. Send www.thecommunitybravefoundation.org as a link!