When Alice Springs lost its only local newspaper during COVID, the community lost a vital social platform that connected the town’s different communities and documented local stories. Concerned about the impact, a small group of locals, led by businesswoman and social investor, Libby Prell, decided to support the creation of a new one.
After a lot of brainstorming, the group came up with an innovative solution: they would establish a community foundation to drive positive change for the community in perpetuity, with the newspaper as a key part of the strategy. Since May 2023, the community foundation has supported the re-introduction of an independent local newspaper and has broadened its mission to amplify community-led action and collective giving.
As the chair of the foundation, Libby Prell explains, “We started the Community Foundation because we want to amplify the good news stories that happen here. We wanted for people here to see themselves again.”
Libby Prell:
During COVID, our local newspaper, the Centralian Advocate, closed along with another 50 flagships of Murdoch regional papers. As a community, we didn’t just lose a paper, we lost our identity and the connectivity that it gave us. In 2021, I was on the Eyre Peninsula, and I picked up the inaugural copy of the Eyre Peninsula Advocate and decided that if Eyre could do this, we could do this. I brought 10 copies back to Alice Springs where they sat on my desk as business and life took over, but then this chain of serendipitous events unfolded leading to discussions with an independent country newspaper operator. By this time there were a few of us involved, and we knew that if our paper was to be more than a little photocopied community flyer, we needed to make it sustainable. In May 2023 we established the community foundation with the idea that the foundation would buy a page of advertising each week to keep it going. And over the past two years it’s grown from strength to strength.
Rayleen Brown (Founding Board Member):
I was standing at the back of my Ute one day when Libby told me they were starting a community foundation and asked me to be part of the board – because I could bring the perspective of Indigenous women but also how much I love my town. At the time we had a lot of things that were weighing heavy on our souls as a community, and we all felt that pull to do something; not as a big splash, but to start a ripple. The community foundation was a way to bring the town together and to remind people of the strength and positivity that was already here.
There was a lot of trust in the group of people that we had at the table. People knew what we all represented and what we did in our town. Libby has been here for many years as a businesswoman, but also very much as a community and along with her husband Tony, she has been involved in giving to the community for many years. The foundation was a way of formalising that giving space and for all of us to become more involved in a range of things, outside the local paper. I think one of the reasons this foundation works is because we all have a shared belief in the people and future of our town.
Libby Prell:
The foundation is not about fixing the town but rather letting it heal. There's always opportunity to grow through adversity and we want this foundation to grow at the rate that it needs to grow. There's no hurry. We're here to amplify what’s incredible about this town and community because there are so many incredible things and people here. Right now, our priority is community awareness. We launched a campaign Give To Give, which is for the community to lean into giving their time, treasure or talent. It's a gentle way for people to buy into the idea, but also to grow another rosette community of like-minded people. The plan is that as we collectively raise money over time, we will grant out donations to support local organisations.
Rayleen Brown:
For me it is about bringing our community back together again; seeing each other for who we are, what we're doing and having this foundation as a solid rock for our town. It's not about the governments that come in and out, it’s about us, the people. It's about empowering all of us - indigenous, non-indigenous, and all the different migrants who have moved here to call the desert home – to support each other and to build something sustainable. The foundation is a place where we can stand together, have conversations, applaud each other, and celebrate the diversity of our town. I feel safe in the community foundation because it's a place where I can bring a concern an idea and people will listen to me. And that's a hard kind of place to find in society today.
Libby Prell:
In terms of the local paper, we engaged Deacon University to research the impact of the paper’s effect on the town before and after it launched. As a foundation we really want to bring transparency to the work we’re doing and use that data to inform and inspire what we do. The community has already given us a lot of feedback, and we have a real opportunity to become that place when people know their voices will be heard and they will be listened to. I think that's very important.
Rayleen Brown:
I would love to see some younger people step in. I'm 63 years old and as my body's starting to slow down it’s given me a pathway to think about how I can continue to give with my mind, experience and gentleness to the younger indigenous people in my community. I’d love to see a gradual changing of the guard in the foundation but for me to remain in a supporting role. I want this foundation to become a place where our town can turn to. I want those ripples to slowly grow so they touch all the corners of this town and then for those thousand voices to filter back to our little board table.
Libby Prell:
It’s very important that we grow at that right speed and don't skip over these formative years. And I think that may be a great challenge for us, because once the momentum builds, it's going take off. As a board we need to keep pushing it back out into the community because our job isn’t to be the spokesman; the community needs to speak for itself and then the board needs to listen and support. Most of all, I want this community to feel connected and celebrated and empowered in their giving.
