And today is .......

[tiger_one]

August 31 continues Legacy Week.

Legacy is an Australian charity dedicated to supporting the families of Australian Defence Force members who have lost their lives or health during or after their service.

Legacy Week runs from yesterday and finishes September 5 and is its annual fundraising and awareness campaign, held nationally each September in the lead-up to Legacy Day and Father's Day.

It's a time to recognise not only the service and sacrifice of veterans, but also the partners, children and families whose lives have been forever changed by military service.

Legacy Australia was founded in 1923 by Sir Stanley Savige and a small group of returned servicemen in Melbourne, driven by what they had seen, and what they couldn’t ignore.

In the aftermath of the First World War, too many families were left to navigate life alone. Legacy began with a simple but powerful commitment they would never be left to face life’s challenges alone. Through a simple, yet powerful promise, to look after the “missus and the kids.”

What started as an act of mateship became a national movement. Communities across Australia stepped forward, united by a shared belief, that honouring service means caring for the families who carry its cost.

Originally known as the War Orphans Appeal, the campaign began after the Second World War as Legacy responded to the growing number of widows and children needing care and support. What started as a simple badge drive has grown into one of Australia's most recognised community fundraising traditions.

For more than 100 years, Legacy has provided practical and emotional support to veterans' families, helping them navigate life's challenges and build brighter futures.

The Purpose of Legacy Week

Legacy Week raises vital funds to ensure veterans' families continue receiving the practical, emotional and social support they need.

Every donation helps provide services that make a real difference, from education support for children and wellbeing programs to financial assistance, social connection and community activities for families and dependants.

Legacy Week is also an opportunity to recognise the families who serve alongside our veterans. It shines a light on the lasting impact of military service and reminds us that behind every veteran is a family whose sacrifice deserves to be seen, supported and remembered.

Our Work as a Charity

To ensure no dependant of someone who gave their life or health in service to our country ever faces financial or social disadvantage.

Because when service ends, the need for support often begins, and the difference we make together can last a lifetime.

Who Legacy Helps

We’re dedicated to supporting the families of veterans who have given so much in service to our country. Behind every act of service is a family, and we ensure those families are supported when facing the challenges that come with sacrifice.

Paying utility bills

• Rental costs for emergency accommodation
• Meeting school costs
• Help around the house
• Assistance with DVA paperwork
• Mental health support
• Help with sports team fees for the kids
• Paying for driving lessons

We understand every family’s needs are different. Legacy will take the time to listen, understand your situation, and work alongside you to find the right support for your family.



Older Widows

Many of the people we support are older widows who lost their partner in conflicts prior to 1991. We have provided services and assistance to these members of our community for many years. Ensuring that our widows don’t face the ongoing impacts of their veteran’s service and can live full and connected lives despite their loss. We offer widows:

• Social connection experiences through groups, events and outings

• Assistance for ongoing home living

• Referral pathways to health and wellbeing care providers

• Relief from financial hardship

• Bi-monthly newsletters

Partners, Families and Children

The impact of a veteran’s service can be profound and traumatic for partners and families and can often last a lifetime. Legacy South Australia and Broken Hill works to ensure that partners and families are supported through the challenging transition and into a place of sustainable, post-traumatic growth.

We can assist partners, families and children with:

• Providing relief through financial hardship

• Advocating for entitlements and navigating referral pathways to important support services

• Assisting with children’s education, development and social connection

Professional Case Management and Peer Support

Legacy’s case management services are delivered by qualified social workers and mental health professionals within a trauma-informed environment.

Our team works alongside families to understand their circumstances and provide personalised support. This includes helping connect them with health services, community resources and practical assistance that can make everyday life easier.

Just as important is the support families find from one another. By bringing people together who share similar experiences, Legacy helps build understanding, strength and lasting connections.

Education and Development

Legacy has a long tradition of supporting the education and development of children and young people.

Through grants, scholarships and advocacy, we help ensure Legacy youth can access opportunities that support their learning, growth and future aspirations.

Fostering Connection

A strong sense of community has always been at the heart of Legacy.

We bring widows, widowers and partners, children and families together through clubs, events and social activities that help build friendships and reduce isolation.

For many older widows, a Legacy morning tea or lunch may be the highlight of the week, a chance to share stories, laughter and companionship. For those unable to attend, regular phone calls and visits from their Legatee or a Legacy social worker ensure they remain connected.

By creating opportunities for people to come together, Legacy helps ensure no one feels alone.

Pensions Advocacy

Understanding government entitlements can be complex, particularly during difficult times.

Legacy provides guidance and advocacy to help beneficiaries navigate the Department of Veterans’ Affairs system and access the support they are entitled to.

Our Veteran Community Services team works closely with families to provide clear advice and practical assistance throughout the claims process, helping ensure they receive the benefits and support they deserve.

Financial Guidance

Legacy works with trusted partners to help families build confidence in managing their finances.

Through financial counselling and tailored support, families are provided with practical tools and guidance to help them manage their finances and plan for the future.

By strengthening financial knowledge and stability, Legacy helps families feel more secure as they move forward.

Legatee Support

At the heart of Legacy are our dedicated volunteer Legatees.

These volunteers provide personal, one-to-one support and companionship to families of veterans, building relationships based on trust, care and understanding.

Working alongside Legacy’s professional staff, Legatees help ensure every family feels supported and connected. Their commitment reflects the very spirit of Legacy, that no family of a veteran should ever have to face life’s challenges alone.

The Legacy Advocacy

As the only ex-service organisation dedicated solely to supporting the families of veterans, we are committed to not only assisting but amplifying the voices and experiences of this often overlooked and underrepresented cohort.
From individual advocacy to systemic advocacy, we work to ensure the voices of the families of veterans are heard when it comes to improving and reforming the service sector.

Legatees

Legatees are the heart and soul of Legacy.

These dedicated volunteers are the backbone of Legacy South Australia and Broken Hill, helping deliver the care and support our families rely on. With compassion, commitment and a strong sense of service, Legatees stand beside the families of veterans, offering practical help, guidance and friendship when it’s needed most.

Through regular visits, phone calls and community activities, Legatees help ensure families remain connected and supported. They build trusted relationships, help families access the assistance they’re entitled to, and create opportunities for meaningful social connection.

Working alongside Legacy’s professional staff, Legatees help uphold our promise: to honour the service of veterans by caring for the families they leave behind.

Their generosity and dedication make a real and lasting difference, helping families feel supported, connected and part of a caring community.

Help Legacy if you can, this week and every week.

 

[tiger_one]

Footy Colours Day happens each September 1.

Footy Colours Day runs throughout the entire month of September 2026. Organised by the Fight Cancer Foundation, this annual Australian national fundraising event invites schools, workplaces, and community groups to wear their favourite sports team's colours to raise money for children and young adults fighting cancer.

Footy Colours Day is Fight Cancer Foundation’s national community fundraising event which asks participants to host an event at their workplace, school, club or home and wear their favourite footy colours for kids with cancer.

Fight Cancer Foundation is a national charity dedicated to providing accommodation, care, and support for cancer patients and their families so they can stay close to hospital and receive vital life-saving treatment.

Footy Colours Day celebrates all footy codes! Whether you follow Australian Rules, Rugby League, Ruby Union or Football, wear your favourite team's colours proudly!

Join the game by wearing your favourite team’s colours and hosting an event at your workplace, school or with your team to raise much-needed funds!

Anyone can take part in Footy Colours Day!

Whether at work, at school or at home, we need you on our team this year.

Your Footy Colours Day event can take any shape or form you like - we love seeing how creative our participants get! To help you host your best possible Footy Colours Day, we have created a bunch of resources and ideas to help you get the ball rolling!

• Support of kids with cancer

When a child is diagnosed with cancer their world is turned upside down overnight. With treatment starting instantly, they face, on average, more than 6 months away from their school and school friends.

Our education programs help these kids when they need it most so they can return to their normal life without the significant social and emotional impacts of having to drop a year level.

By hosting a Footy Colours Day event, you are ensuring these kids can put their cancer behind them, reach their full potential at school and get back to doing what they do best - being a kid!

• Each year, just under 150,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in Australia – and almost 1,000 of them are in children and young people under the age of 18.
• Footy Colours Day raises money for the Fight Cancer Foundation to help fund patient accommodation for more than 1,000 families each year.
• Our services and support help make sure that families who must travel to access cancer treatment can stay together, without having to worry about the cost of accommodation in a new city. They also help reduce the emotional, physical and financial impact of cancer.
• Our accommodation centres keep families together – a home when parents and siblings need to relocate to be close to kids receiving treatment; or so kids and a parent can be close to a loved one throughout treatment and recovery.

Help this amazing charity if you can.



Proudly supported by

 

[tiger_one]

World Coconut Day shreds onto our calendars each September 2.

A popular fruit consumed around the world, the coconut is healthy and tasty, and it grows in tropical regions. World Coconut Day celebrates everything that has to do with this delicious and nutritious fruit!

Founded in 2009, World Coconut Day was started by the Asia and Pacific Coconut Community to promote the activities of coconut growers while raising awareness about the fruit for those outside of the growing community.

The celebration of World Coconut Day offers plenty of opportunities for this important product of the Asia-Pacific region to enter into the forefront of conversation of people around the world!

We Aussies have long loved coconut because it connects us to a tropical lifestyle and has grown popular in modern health foods and classic baked treats.

Faster than a gym junkie can hydrate with a young coconut, this super food is as delicious as it is versatile. But the ancient drupe that bore these "it" ingredients is no passing fad. It's loved the world over in creamy curries, Hawaiian pies, banana blossom salads and Bosnian bickies. Coconut, we salute you: flesh, flour, milk and all.

• Lamingtons: A classic Australian sponge cake coated in chocolate and desiccated coconut.
• Biscuits:Traditional sweets like melting moments and Anzac-style variations often feature coconut for crunch.
• Drink a Piña Colada - A classic tropical drink, the piña colada contains delicious ingredients like pineapple juice, coconut cream, rum, lime juice and ice, all blended together into a delicious frozen beverage. Throw the ingredients in a blender at home and mix it up. Garnish with a drink umbrella and skewer with red cherries for a vibrant presentation.
• Try Out Some Coconut Water - A fairly new product on the market, bottled coconut water can be found in many places around the world now. Coconut water is actually the juice or liquid that comes from young coconut plants. Health-conscious buyers drive a massive market for hydration and natural electrolytes. The water is also gaining popularity as a sports drink as it contains good levels of sugars, dietary fibre, proteins, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Some brands of coconut water that might be worth trying out in celebration of National Coconut Day include Vita Coco, ZICO, Naked Coconut Water, and C2O.
• Coconut oil has a variety of nutrients that are healthy when consumed by humans, including fatty acids, healthy cholesterol, ketones and more. Extracted from the fruit’s dried flesh, coconut oil carries healing properties It’s brilliant in baked goods, like this coconut-banana bread, thanks to the high smoke point and appealing aroma.
• Virgin Oil and Milk: Used widely in dairy-free cooking, vegan treats, and Paleo recipes.
• Coconut cream: Thicker and richer in flavour than the milk, coconut cream is ideal in curries, dairy-free ice-creams and other indulgent desserts.
• With its earthy, caramel flavour, coconut sugar lends itself to baking (example A: coconut-oat biscuits) and brulee-ing. In this tempting tropical number from the food dept., bruleed fruit skewers are paired with gingersnap crumb and coconut cream. Summer, here we come.

Fun facts about coconuts:

• Technically the coconut fruit is a drupe not a nut. Typical drupes include peaches, plums, and cherries.
• Coconut water can be a substitute for blood plasma. The high level of sugar and other salts make it possible to add the water to the bloodstream, similar to how an IV solution works in modern medicine.
• Coconut milk is not the same as coconut water. Coconut milk has a high fat content of around 17% but is low in sugars. It is frequently added to curries and other savoury dishes. Coconut cream can also be created from the milk.
• The white, fleshy part of the coconut seed is called coconut meat. It has high amounts of Manganese, Potassium, and Copper. The meat is used fresh or dried in cooking, especially in confections and desserts such as macaroons.

“True love is one coconut and two straws"

“The two basic items necessary to sustain life are sunshine and coconut milk”

“The definition of tasting paradise”

“Island breeze and coconut dreams”

 

[tiger_one]

Battle for Australia Commemoration

Today we commemorate Battle for Australia Day, honouring all who defended our nation during the Second World War.

We reflect on the courage of those who served on land, at sea, and in the air, particularly in the battles of the Coral Sea, Papua, and New Guinea. Their efforts halted the Japanese advance and played a vital role in the eventual defeat of Japan.

We also remember the 39,000 Australians who lost their lives during this campaign, and the enduring legacy of our servicemen and women.

Lest We Forget.

 

[tiger_one]

International Cabernet Sauvignon Day pours onto our calendars each September 3.

And we Aussies love a “good drop.”

Cabernet Sauvignon is Australia's second most planted red grape variety, trailing only Shiraz, and stands as a true cornerstone of the nation's winemaking identity. We produce a wide range of qualities; affordable, every day drinking wines through to some of our most sought after, collectible fine wines.

While French Bordeaux is its ancestral home, Australia houses the world's oldest continuously productive Cabernet Sauvignon vines, specifically the legendary Penfolds Kalimna Block 42 in the Barossa Valley, planted back in 1886.

Aussies affectionately shorten the name to "Cab Sav" or "Cab Sauv", and the country produces everything from elegant, maritime-influenced expressions to rich, blockbuster reds.

Australia's diverse climates allow Cabernet Sauvignon to show vastly different regional characters across the country:

[This word has been automatically removed]awarra

• Soil & Climate: Famous for its highly prized "terra rossa" soil (vibrant red clay over a limestone base) coupled with a cool, long ripening season.
• Flavour Profile: Renowned for precise fruit concentration, structurally fine tannins, and a very distinctive aromatic note of mint and eucalyptus.

Margaret River

• Soil & Climate: A windswept coastal region with a temperate maritime climate that mimics Bordeaux.
• Flavour Profile: Highly elegant, medium-to-full-bodied wines displaying structural finesse, crisp acidity, and savory notes of blackcurrant, cedar, and pencil lead.

Cabernet Sauvignon is the King of the Margaret River wine region. More than any other varietal, it has propelled the region into the consciousness of wine drinkers around the world. Bordeaux is the cradle of Cabernet, but Margaret River is part of a select band of west coast wine regions across the world that excel at Cabernet.

Yarra Valley

• Soil & Climate: A cooler climate zone located just outside Melbourne, benefiting from warm days and chilly nights.
• Flavour Profile: Gives a lighter, more delicate frame focused on fragrant red fruits, higher natural acidity, and herbal complexity.

Barossa Valley

• Soil & Climate: A warm climate region legendary for its historical vine stock.
• Flavour Profile: Bold, rich, and highly generous wines packed with intense dark plum, dark chocolate, and blackberry, completely lacking the green herbal edge found in colder zones.

What Makes Aussie Cab Sav Unique?

Incredible Longevity: Premium Australian Cab Sav is a cellaring powerhouse, frequently maintaining freshness, structural integrity, and evolving complex flavors over 20 to 30+ years.

The Eucalyptus Factor: Vineyards situated near native Australian blue gum trees often produce wines with a subtle, wild, refreshing top-note of menthol or eucalyptus, caused by natural oil compounds landing on the grape skins.

Iconic Producers

• Wynns [This word has been automatically removed]awarra Estate: Famous for its benchmark Black Label Cabernet from South Australia.
• Cullen Wines: Renowned for the biodynamic Diana Madeline blend from Margaret River.
• Vasse Felix: Margaret River pioneer known for the Tom Cullity Cabernet Malbec.
• Penfolds: Producer of legendary multi-regional cabernet blends.
• Moss Wood: Celebrated for classic Wilyabrup-region expressions.

Premium and Boutique Brands

• Balnaves of [This word has been automatically removed]awarra: Noted for "The Tally" reserve.
• Jim Barry Wines: Known for The Cover Drive and The Benbournie.
• Henschke: Celebrated family winery with exceptional cool-climate options
• Xanadu Wines: Award-winning Margaret River producer.
• Parker Estate: [This word has been automatically removed]awarra specialist known for First Growth.

And whenever you enjoy your fav cab sav, there’s always the matter of what to eat.

The classic Cabernet Sauvignon food pairing is a juicy steak, especially fattier cuts like ribeye or porterhouse. Cabernet's bold tannins cut through the red meat while the wine's bold flavours complement its savory notes. Vegetarian food matches for Cabernet Sauvignon include dishes with plenty of umami ingredients like tomatoes, mushrooms as well as rich Italian and Middle Eastern flavours.

It’s about time we each raised a glass.
Of what?
Cab Sav of course.



Fun Facts about Cabernet Sauvignon:

• Genetic testing revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon is the natural cross-offspring of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.
• Researchers studying the effects of certain foods on the tongue found that the tannins in Cabernet Sauvignon act as “scrapers” to fats and proteins that collect on your tongue from the food you eat. Steak has higher levels of proteins and fats and thus need a wine with higher tannin.
• Cabernet sauvignon grapes grow on every continent except Antarctica.
• The grapes have very thick skins, making them naturally resilient against pests, rot, and harsh weather. This toughness is why it adapts so well to everything from Western Australia's maritime Margaret River to warm inland Riverland.

“Roses are red, violets are blue, I'll have a bottle of Cab Sav, wait a minute, give me two”

"Cabernet believe how good this is!"

“I cook with wine. Sometimes I even add it to the food”

“Age and glasses of wine should never be counted”