“It’s kind of like Shark Tank for charities,” Gnarly Neighbours founder Jayden Sheridan said.
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“It’s a crowdfunding event involving philanthropic people, corporations, foundations, and people who just want to do good and make change.”
On Wednesday, March 12at 5.30pm, Gnarly Neighbours is to receive the opportunity of a lifetime.
Jayden has been selected among just three other not-for-profit founders in the State to pitch for funding at The Funding Network’s Thriving Young People event in Melbourne.
This news proceeds the exciting announcement that Gnarly Neighbours has been registered as an official Social Traders organisation in Australia, making the organisation the first, and only, skateboarding initiative to receive this registration.
“We’re the first and only skateboarding social enterprise in Australia,” Jayden said.
“To think about it is super funny to me, that it’s just all happening.
“I’m very, very fortunate.”
The Thriving Young People event sets out to support grassroots movements, like Gnarly Neighbours, that are igniting change within young people by breaking cycles and promoting equity.
The night will involve six-minute pitches from the three not-for-profits chosen for the spotlight, alongside a pitch of one minute delivered by an advocate standing alongside the organisation.
Jayden’s own advocate was chosen straight from the heart.
“I’m lucky enough that one of my support workers from when I was a bit younger, when I was a bit troubled, Bonnie Williams, is going to be coming up,” Jayden said.
“She’s just one of those unicorn people who wants to do good things.”
Jayden will be pitching for funding to support Gnarly Neighbours’ Positive Pathways Project, a program which sets out to equip disadvantaged youth with vital skills to create employment opportunities.
“Young people can come in and have no barriers to engaging with the program,” Jayden said.
“They’ll do 40 hours of volunteer work and then can go into paid employment from there.
“I think the most important thing is that when young people walk in, we just ask them what they want to do.
“Whether it be hospitality, retail, production, printing, design, and even mentoring or program facilitation.
“We’re trying to get rid of every possible hurdle that young people might have.”
The goal of the Thriving Young People event is to spotlight organisations like Gnarly Neighbours to help them secure funding from the public to go towards their projects.
Public donations of up to $15,000 will be matched by The Funding Network, so if Gnarly Neighbours is fortunate enough to receive this amount in funding from the public, they will be walking away with $30,000 for the Positive Neighbourhood Pathways Project.
Jayden said, however, that it’s not just the money raised that will support the program and Gnarly Neighbours as a whole.
“The best thing about this pitch is that it’s not just the money value, it’s also the Pro bono things that people can help out with their networks,” Jayden said.
“My pitch is based around showing what the last tick-off is so we can enter the next stage and start piloting and collecting data to start taking this all around Australia.”
Following on from this event, Jayden’s plans are ever-expanding.
Not only will an Australian University be conducting a study to produce the tangible, data-driven results of how Gnarly Neighbours is enacting positive change in the community, but Jayden is also set to pursue yet another venture.
She’ll Be Right is Jayden’s latest grassroots organisation, which is slated to start up at some point this year.
The name is emblematic of the need to support women through domestic violence and gender inequity, but it also stems from a term which promotes toxic masculinity.
“Especially in men, the term is very toxic,” Jayden said.
“If we need to go to the doctors, we say ‘she’ll be right’, if we’re feeling a bit of a Black Dog, it’s ‘she’ll be right’, if a man pulls another man up for saying something misogynistic about women, it’s just that ‘she’ll be right’ mentality.
“It’s just so toxic, and I want to dismantle that toxic masculinity and misogyny from the inside.
“It takes men to teach men, unfortunately, and I hate that that’s a thing, but we have to play that to change the narrative.”
In piloting these movements and being the catalyst for creating change, Jayden hopes that he can facilitate the development of other trailblazers.
“Knowledge is wealth, and I used to be so illiterate when it came to all of this, but now I’ve just learnt a bit of everything, and I can take that and help our cause, but I can also help so many other people with their own causes,” Jayden said.
“I just want to be the Batman that plays in the background and helps sprinkle bits of knowledge to help other changemakers make a bigger impact for the whole of Australia, and eventually for the whole world.”
To support Gnarly Neighbours’ Positive Neighbourhood Pathways Project, head to https://thriving-young-people-2025.raiselysite.com/thriving-young-people-melbourne-2025 to either donate or register your attendance in support of all that Jayden and the team do for the youth in Seymour and surrounds.
Cadet Journalist