Stay tuned for our next Connecting Images fundraising initiative - we have two teams entered in the Oxfam TRAILWALKER from the 7-9th April 2006. This will involve our two teams of four walking 100 kms from Jells Park in Wheelers Hill to the summit of Mt Donna Buang, sometime within a 48-hour timeframe. We’re estimating about 34 hours but we’ll see. Lots of training to be done and hard going, but if it’s attitude that gets results we’ll romp it in – well perhaps not quite a romp!

If anyone would like to join Gaye, Amy, Merilyn, Viv, Jessie, Kirsty, Anne and Mary, for even one kilometre, we would love you to divert our attention for a step or two along the way. Let us know, it will be quite a party.

Good support along the way is essential - thanks to Peak Physiotherapy (03) 9816 9844.

Australia’s Field of Women - Live in 2005 was held on the MCG in May to increase awareness and raise funds for Breast Cancer research.

Merilyn, Suzanne, Kathryn, Gaye and her daughter Amy, joined 11,500 participants, on a beautiful clear evening, to show support for breast cancer sufferers and survivors.

Women and girls (and some boys) dressed in pink ponchos stood united.The moment when survivors and those still battling the disease raised their hands was intensely moving. Seeing them acknowledge their plight made each of us extremely thankful for our own good health and even more committed to supporting such important research.

Look really carefully at the photo and you will see the Connecting Images five in the bottom left corner near the foot!

Connecting Images recently initiated an online ‘viral’ marketing campaign on behalf of the Heat Beads® company to launch its new website, www.heatbeads.com.

While we were confident this would generate a positive response, we never imagined just how successful it would be.

Our objective was to see how many qualified leads we could get to subscribe voluntarily to the Heat Beads® database. Our brief was to reach serious BBQ enthusiasts who prefer the healthy option of cooking food over solid BBQ fuel to cooking on a hot plate over gas.

Inspiring them to visit www.heatbeads.com AND to subscribe to an online database required some very creative strategies.

An optimised online media release, and a few very passionate Heat Beads® enthusiasts, with a massive network of contacts broadcasting the news of an online Summer BBQ Entertainment Pack lucky draw, had our Inbox swamped.

More than 100 entries in five hours took us totally by surprise. Follow up phone calls confirmed that these leads belonged to our target market and had a great interest in the product and the website! As we got to press, this campaign is entering its third day, it is 10am and we have just received another 25 entries!

In September, Connecting Images supported the Boroondara Art Market, by publicising the event widely through the media and via the web. An initiative of The Rotary Club Canterbury/Boroondara Sunrise, this event sells ‘pre-loved art’ to raise funds for Belmore School, a special school in Balwyn for children with severe multiple disabilities.

The Boroondara Art Market’s Opening Night was a glam affair and drew an enthusiastic crowd, with many participants bidding eagerly to snap up bargain-priced art at the auction.

The 2006 event will be even bigger, based on the success of 2005.Why not use this great annual opportunity to make money from the sale of your own pre-loved, or recycled artwork while supporting a fantastic cause.You get to keep 60% of the sale of any artworks sold, and the remaining 40% commission will be your personal contribution to the Belmore School.