Aurora Scholars at Oxford bake for community on Invasion Day

Teresa Cochrane (far left) and Bec Beutel (left) manning the bake sale they organised at Oxford.

A group of Aurora Scholars studying at Oxford came together on Invasion Day to host a bake sale in support of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander charity Sisters Inside. Sisters Inside is a Queensland-based not-for-profit offering holistic support to women, girls and their families inthe carceral system.

Following the Voice to Parliament Referendum and recognising how difficult it is to be away from communities, Teresa Cochrane (Dunghutti woman and Charlie Perkins Scholar), Rebecca Beutel (Kuku Yalanji woman and Charlie Perkins Scholar) and Ethan Taylor (Warumungu and Warlmanpa man and Charlie Perkins Scholar) wanted to do something to mark the day and start conversations with their classmates, many of whom don’t know about Australia’s history with Indigenous Peoples. So, they decided to host a bake sale to bring together community and have those important discussions.

Before the bake sale, Ethan and Bec put up posters in Green Tempelton College (GTC) educating their classmates about Indigenous deaths in custody. They also painted banners that they then hung up at the Radcam Library and on the front gates of GTC.

Ethan Taylor stands in front of the banner he and Bec hung outside the GTC. 

The bake sale was a huge success: the scholars raised over $1300 for Sisters Inside and started conversations about Invasion Day and Indigenous deaths in custody with their classmates. In the aftermath of the Referendum, the scholars felt it was a positive moment on a difficult day for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

We are thrilled that our exceptional Indigenous scholars have created a community for themselves in the UK and that they are able to support each other on difficult days. Thank you to Bec for sharing this update with us.