GUEST SPEAKER - RUSSEL GOODYEAR

Ian Cairns introduced Russel Goodyear who is the Managing Director of Good Idea Advertising Pty Ltd, a regional based advertising, media, marketing and event management company. In recent years Russel has worked in collaboration with the Victoria Police on Community Safety projects, including Alcohol & Violence, and the Under 25's Road Safety Challenge. Russel is presently planning "Our Town's ICE Fight" which he spoke about tonight.

Russel was born in Castlemaine and educated at Geelong College and Geelong Teacher's College. He came to Warrnambool in 1989 to open his business. Russel is actively involved in the music industry and has been a member of a number of bands that have played at music festivals, including the Port Fairy Folk Festival, Tamworth Country Music Festival and Koroit Irish Festival. He has been involved in raising funds for charities and was named the 2014 Warrnambool Citizen of the Year. Over the past 2-3 years Russedl has worked with a team of local enthusiastic community members to plan and develop the Aus Music Festival for Warrnambool.

Russel has been involved in a large number of community activities, a few of which are: Peter's Project, Prostate Cancer Research, Breast Cancer Research, Movember, Beyond Blue, Warrnambool Diabetes Resource Centre, Under 25's Road Safety Challenge, Banksia Investors Support Group and many others.

Russel spoke about the growing problem of ICE addiction and how it is being produced in garages and the like all over Australia. Motorcycle gangs and organised crime are heavily supporting this extremely dangerous drug. It is highly addictive because of the instant rush of Dopamine to the brain and studies reveal it can cause addiction in at least 91% of people that experiment with this product. It causes aggressive anti social behaviour and users often need to be restrained when admitted to hospital. It was suggested that 12-15% of our young people are experimenting with this drug. Russel provided Rotarians with a brief summary of a project being launched to fight the ICE problem in Warrnambool. The project is run on a "Collective Engagement" model which involves members of the community, police, council, businesses, and others (including Rotary) who have an interest and can all contribute in some way. The project will focus on: awareness, education, action and prevention.

Russel also spoke about a new initiative which will bring a music festival to Warrnambool in October to coincide with the Warrnambool agricultural show. The event will be held in the foreshore precinct and is aimed at highlighting great acts from the past and showcasing the new acts of today.