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The Fact Tree met him as Charlton Howard, a young 12 year old, who was popular with his peers, kind to his community and held big dreams for his future. We asked him when he first started coming to The Fact Tree what his goal or ambitions were and his response was “To be a World Class Musician + Songwriter”. What a privilege it has been watching him go from performing at small community events to selling out stadiums on World Tours, all the while staying true to the community he grew up in.
The Fact Tree was invited by the NSW Dept of Communities and Justice along side NSW Health and NSW Police to take part in a round robin Oztag Day to celebrate NAIDOC Week.
On the 9th of July 2024 our team took to the field, proudly representing The Fact Tree, in jerseys designed by the young people, to play against 7 other teams that were a mix of other local Community Organisations, Police, Health and DCJ. The fields were muddy from several days of rain but that didn’t slow down our team. Its safe to say the banter was high on and off the field that day.
By lunch break half way through the day we were undefeated winning two games from two and found ourselves at the top of ladder. We had secured our place in the semis which we went on to win convincingly. It all came down to the final game of the day which was between Fact Tree and another Local Community Organisation. It was a nail biting game where we saw community gathered around the sidelines of the field cheering on both teams – the atmosphere was electric.
Fact Tree won that game and became the first winners of the Redfern Waterloo Community Oztag Challenge – We have the trophy proudly on display in our office!
Watching our young people come together and play so brilliantly on the day was something special and being involved in a NAIDOC event where community came together was a 2024 highlight. Bring on the 2025 Oztag Day
