Dear Inner Circle,

Wayside’s leadership is passing into good hands. Jon Owen and I were in Mount Druitt this week, helping to make a documentary about our succession. We stopped at multiple locations and always someone recognised Jon, embraced him and tried to catch him up on as much news as they could in a few minutes. Each time we jumped back into the car to head to the next location, Jon shared something of the story of the journey he’d shared with the person we just met. After the first couple of these, I was impressed by the compassion of a man who’d shared the worst of human tragedies with people, without for a moment thinking he’s achieved anything special. In one location, we stopped long enough to hear raised, cranky voices. A woman jumped into a car and before our eyes, ran it into the bloke at whom she was yelling. The car knocked the man to the ground and I’d wondered if he might have broken a leg. He quickly jumped up to his feet in time to kick the bonnet of the car before it sped off down the street. I was momentarily in shock. “In this part of the world,” Jon said, “that was just a negotiation.”

Mark your diaries for Sunday, 26 August 2018, 2pm to 5pm. That is the date set aside for Wayside to celebrate my fourteen years in leadership and to anticipate the next fourteen. This event is primarily for you, our inner circle. Maybe you’ve been reading these notes for years and we’ve never met – what a great time for us to meet face to face. It will be a celebration. It will be fun. It’s been an astonishing time for me and at every point and in every achievement, you, our inner circle have been involved and sharing it all. How fitting that we should attempt a get together and celebrate. More details to come as the time approaches.

Keep reading here.