On the evening of Friday 21 October the Friends of Centipede again hosted the annual Sunset Soirée at the Glebe Rowing Club in Ferry Rd.

The evening was balmy, and the company of the sixty plus guests was congenial and enjoyable.

Emcee for the evening, Verity Firth, kept everyone engaged in the activities that interspersed the enjoyment of Ridz Mopur’s delicious canapés, washed down with a bubbly or two, while swaying to the rhythms of Daniel and Phillip from Edama Ruha. There was a multi-prize raffle which, when drawn, gave the many lucky winners meal vouchers at several Glebe restaurants, books supplied by Leigh Sales, a red glass heart from the Glass Gallery and a voucher for a floral arrangement from Hayfever Flowers.

Jason Kazarnis, a personable wiz-auctioneer and now a regular at this event, persuaded five people to outbid all others to claim one of the auction items donated to this year’s function. They included a year’s GoGet membership, a photography package from Milk and Honey, two original artworks created especially for the event by local indigenous artists Aunty Kath Farrawell and Candace Trindall, and two tickets to The Faith Healer at the Belvoir. Additionally there was a silent auction with items from Cincotta Chemist, Fernwood Gym, Broadway, Stevie English Hair, Nature’s Energy, and Taronga Zoo being competed for. Friends of Centipede would like to thank all of its sponsors for their generosity in supporting Centipede in this way.

The highlight of the evening was a presentation by Snr Constable Renee Fortuna from Glebe Police, who described the program and progress of their youth initiatives at work in Glebe, that aim to encourage otherwise alienated youth to continue their education and aspire to bright futures. It is an amazing program and one that continues the important community building activities of Centipede, Treehouse at Glebe Public School, the school itself, and the Youthies. Our community is indeed blessed to have these support networks caring for us and our children.

After the fun and games which followed the talk and auctions the raffle draws took place. There was considerable support for the winner of the door prize, a meal at The Boathouse, by none other than our Ridz, our chef for the evening and a Centipede father. So, as people wandered off home after a very enjoyable and worthy evening out, Brian, the Centipede treasurer, indicated the event had raised almost $6,000 for Centipede. With the support and involvement of parents and users of the Centipede service this year the Soirée has certainly become a community-wide event. I’d like to extend my personal thanks to everybody who contributed to its success.