Social entrepreneur is Oz Day Ambassador

As founder of two innovative, not-for-profit organisations, Jarrod Wheatley is creating positive change and is the Armidale region’s Australia Day Ambassador for 2023.

Jarrod Wheatley has worked in the social sector since he was 17. He has run a Youth Centre, set up programs for refugees and founded two innovative, not-for-profit organisations, Street Art Murals Australia (SAMA) and Professional Individualised Care (PIC). Jarrod Wheatley is working tirelessly to improve opportunities for those on the margins of our community.

Five years in the making, PIC is an accredited new model of Out-of-Home Care. Before, children who were too traumatised or high-needs for a foster home would generally be placed in an institutionalised group home. Here they would be cared for by shift workers.

Instead PIC places one child in the home of a Professional Therapeutic Carer, who can provide a therapeutic intervention and real relationships. This is both improving the lives of young people and changing how trauma-informed our sector is.
Through SAMA Jarrod used street art as vehicle for social inclusion and urban beatification, breaking the negative cycle of criminalisation and alienation by commissioning murals and workshops. Street artists have now painted more than 360 murals all over the country, for clients such as Pfizer and Lend Lease.

Guyra Australia Day Awards Dinner will be held at the Guyra Bowling and Recreation Club from 6.30pm. Tickets can be purchased from The Gala Centre until 23 January.

A healthy list of nominations was received for this year’s Guyra awards.

The Armidale Australia Day Awards & Citizenship Ceremony will be held in Central Park, with the citizenship and awards ceremony from 11am followed by a First Nations cultural display and multicultural performances. A BBQ will also be available.

Ben Lomond Memorial Hall will host an Australia Day Breakfast from 7am and a flag raising ceremony will be held at the Guyra Council Administration Building at 9.00am, followed by morning tea at the Guyra Historical Museum.

Jarrod Wheatley will participate in each of the events and everyone is invited to attend.

Published on 17 Jan 2023

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