September 2022

We now have one of our Huts officially named the 'Lil Somers Hut', named by WWII veteran and 101-year-old, Lil Somers herself. The Craft Market was a tremendous success; keep your eye out for the Hobby Expo in October. The Oasis not only took out the 2022 Queensland Architect Awards, but it has now also taken out Queensland Housing and Construction Project of the year. But the big news is Dirty Boots re-opened with over 1500 customers in the first week after it underwent a massive makeover, and our Dominion roasted coffee – EKO is a big hit. Do you want to feel more in control of your finances? Try one of our monthly 1hr sessions after work starting on 5 Sep. We have the Townsville District Scale Modelers competition on Sat 10 Sep. CQU will conduct two days of evaluation workshops on 12 and 13 Sep.  We are learning fast that our niche role is bringing together multiple agencies and organisations offering to support veterans and partners so that the collective value of their individual offerings is greater than any of the supports offered. – next big event is the Digital Skilling Info Brief on 11 Oct at Homebase.  

August 2022

Townsville's Coolest Bookfair did it again with over 3000 customers and over 6000 books sold – well done to BrothersNBooks. The Oasis has been supporting ACU in establishing a facility to support veterans and partners getting into uni. Our Veterans Business Alliance (VBA) is growing strongly. We've had some high-profile visitors at Home Base interested in our efforts. Having been in our new Home Base for a year, we have engaged some external professionals to help us evaluate our operations. We will follow up on the raging success of our last Scuba Diving Expedition with another this month. Hut 3 will be named by a 101-year-old veteran. We will relaunch Dirty Boots Café and launch our coffee blend – guess what it's called?

July 2022

Includes: Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, Official Launch of the Black Dog Institute Report, Anniversary Open Day, visit by new Minister for Veterans Affairs, ADF Transition Expo and Joint Transitions Authority info session, #CheckYourMates BBQs and Banjo & Coffee Breakys, our Architects won the NQ Regional Architects Award, Lamberts Produce Cook-off and fundraiser, growth of the Veterans Business Alliance, new activities starting at Home Base, Townsville's Coolest Book Fair by BrothersNBooks. Dirty Boots Café temp closure. Handicraft Markets. Next scuba diving operation. Naming of Hut 4. New record, over 10,000 hours of utilisation of Home Base.

June 2022

Includes: Scuba Diving Camp, National Volunteer Week, #CheckYourMates BBQ and Grant Support Workshops for Operation COMPASS, Outdoor Movie Night, Anniversary Open Day, smartphone app, Queensland Government Legal Service established at The Oasis, Architect Awards, Support to Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

May 2022

We are now averaging over 1000 visitors per month to our Home Base for the Veteran Community. The Free Queensland Government legal advice for the veteran community provided by Townsville Community Law is proving a big hit. The Grants Workshops for ESOs and community groups were very well received, and we have more arranged in the months ahead – see What’s On. Some amazing employment and education initiatives are rolling out – the latest being the advanced manufacturing opportunity to get veterans trained and employed immediately. We have the Royal Commission in Townsville from 20 June and the Commissioners are set to visit The Oasis Townsville to see our operations. All systems go for a re-enactment of our Grand Launch with our Anniversary Open Day on 25 Jun – put it in the diary. Our coffee and banjo breakfasts are a big hit, even with our local members at State and Federal level. Do you have our app yet?

April 2022

It’s hard to believe how fast we are approaching the first anniversary of taking ownership of our magnificent veteran community centre at Oonoonba and celebrations are in the wind. We are preparing for the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide to come to Townsville on 20 June. We’ve had a fantastic uptake of positions on our Grant Preparation Support Workshops coming up this month. Our Veterans Business Alliance is taking off. We have Townsville Community Law doing a trial for a free legal service from Home Base. We are also preparing for the second of the BrothersNBooks highly successful “Townsville’s Coolest Book Fair”. Our Craft Fair is also well advanced in preparations. The scuba activity being planned for next month is very popular the team are getting ready to trial the activity we found most sought after by younger veterans. We have begun collecting KPI to prove to ourselves (and pinch ourselves sometimes) how successful the concept of our Oasis really is. And the activities on What’s On are growing strongly.

March 2022

Our connections activities utilising the huts at Home Base have started off quickly despite the Omicron scare of February. The Veterans Business Alliance met for the first formal networking meeting and it was a great success. We have finalised the details for the promised Operation COMPASS Grant Preparation Support Workshops to begin in April. The new Unit Welfare Officers at Lavarack have been bought up to speed on how we can support their efforts. The hunt for WWII service personnel names for the huts is back on in earnest. Get ready for the next Oasis Community Markets in April.

February 2022

Well, we are off to a flying start with a little bit of a dampener from the rise of Omicron. We are still operational and focusing on safety while providing the services we can to the veteran community. The big news is we have a new Connections Coordinator. And we are in the final stages of launching our own coffee brand. The Employment landscape is also filled with opportunities. This month we will hold our first formal Veterans Business Alliance networking meeting at Home Base. We have just signed off on the development of an Uber-like rating system for our service providers based on our smartphone app. We've made some enhancements to our Hut Booking System to make it simpler and safer for all, including ourselves as usage numbers are getting big.

December 2021

Activity at Home Base in the last month has increased again with community groups and events, showing a steady rise over the first six months of operations – 1,000,000 individual hours use in 6 months. Three big events last month included a community Christmas Fair, Townsville’s Coolest Book Fair and the relaunch of #CheckYourMates for Operation COMPASS. The Employment Program has also ramped up with two key industry briefings well attended by veterans and the Veterans Business Alliance (VBA) agreeing to their Charter. Our Wellbeing Program has seen two significant trends which are very promising – more veterans looking for more than compensation support and more looking for support before committing to transition from the ADF. This is the last update for 2021. It’s been a busy year for everyone and made more difficult by COVID-19. We hope you all have a great rest, a peaceful Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

November 2021

The Grand Launch was an outstanding success and went exceptionally smoothly with over 2000 attendees. Operation NAVIGATOR preparations are going well and we expect to back brief workshop participants at a recall by the end of the year. Operation COMPASS has lit up again with the Department of Health committing to funding for a further year, although funds have not been forthcoming yet. We have some great stories from the veterans groups that received grants – Oasis Art was the stand out this month. We are also very grateful to the Army Rugby Union Old Boys for a further donation this year of $15k and a grant from the Morris Family Foundation of $20k to enhance our smartphone app. We've created an intro video to explain who we are, what we do and where it all came from, available on the home page of the website. Speaking of websites, it's undergone a facelift based on feedback and the need for more options for navigation. Check out the Testimonials Page. Don't forget our Christmas Craft Market and Townsville's Coolest Book Fair put on by Brothers N Books at Home Base on 27 November – we've already received massive book donations.

October 2021

Excitement is building for the Grand Launch in Veterans Health Week on Saturday 16 October and all the planning is coming along nicely. We have added a testimonials page, seeing what clients, customers, visitors think is what keeps us going. We had a very successful day Chalking about Mental Health and the evidence is still all over the concrete at Home Base. We've been working closely with Rotary Club of Townsville Sunrise and they are sponsoring a few veterans to learn and build a BBQ furniture set for us at Studio Dubbeld, which has also been a strong supporter. And we are honoured to be the hosts of the Coolest Book Fair in Townsville on 27 November conducted by the very successful BrothersNBooks.

September 2021

We sometimes feel like we are building the plane while flying and business is ramping up. Two key consultative groups have had their first meetings – Veterans Health and Wellbeing Advisory Group and the Veterans Business Alliance. We also had the first meeting of all stakeholders to discuss how we can all work together (Operation NAVIGATOR) to support the development of 'A Plan for the Phase after life-in-the ADF' for soldiers, sailors and aviators who may not know when they will be departing the ADF for the civilian world. We've had some fantastic achievement reports from the recipients of our grants program. Operation COMPASS is also about to recommence for a further 10 months. We recently signed an MOU with CQUniversity which will offer significant benefits for veterans and their families. We are finally seeing the completion of some leftover fit-out projects to complete our Home Base. Planning is well underway for our Grand Launch on Saturday 16 October – save the date!