WHAT THEY DO
The GroundSwell Project is a non-profit organisation that uses innovative programs to create social and cultural change around death, dying and bereavement.
Founded in 2010 by clinical psychologist Kerrie Noonan and playwright Peta Murray, GroundSwell has produced multiple projects that aim to promote death literacy in Australia and facilitate difficult conversations around death and dying.
Projects include an annual Death Literacy Conference, an annual day of action (Dying to Know Day) and the FilmLife Project, which mobilises young people to bring creativity and art to the topic of organ donation in new and unexpected ways.
Groundswell is currently run by Jessie Williams, who has worked for 20 years in social impact organisations, including The School for Social Entrepreneurs, The Centre for Community Welfare Training, the Hunger Project and the Create Foundation.
WHAT WE'VE DONE TOGETHER
Vasudhara provided funding for GroundSwell to develop and roll out a workshop called "10 Things to Know Before You Go".
The workshop aims to equip participants with the practical and legal knowledge they need for end-of-life planning, and to provide a space for people to have open conversations around death.
Participants walk away with the tools required to create an Emotional Will, appoint an Enduring Guardian and Enduring Power of Attorney, and arrange for an Advance Care Directive.
After a successful pilot involving five workshops and 40 participants, GroundSwell delivered the 10 Things workshop to 136 people across Australia during 2015. By the end of 2015, an additional 11 workshops had been booked for 2016 and over 110 people had reached out to GroundSwell asking them to bring 10 Things to their communities. To further enable their expansion in February 2016 GroundSwell trained nine facilitators to deliver the workshop. They also launched their new initiative 'The Compassionate Workplace' in March 2016.