Disability: A Lived Experience/Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health AGM

Award-winning writer, speaker and appearance activist, Carly Findlay, joins BoilOver Performance Ensemble for an event that highlights the role of lived experience in creating inclusive health services for those with a disability.  

About Carly Findlay

Carly's first book, a memoir called 'Say Hello', was released in January 2019.  Carly edited the anthology 'Growing Up Disabled in Australia' with Black Inc Books.  She writes on disability and appearance diversity issues for news outlets including the ABC, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald and SBS.  In 2020, Carly Findlay received a Medal of the Order of Australia for her work as a disability advocate and activist.  She was named one of Australia’s most influential women in the 2014 Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards.  She has appeared on ABC TV’s 'You Can’t Ask That' and 'Cyberhate' with Tara Moss, and has been a regular on various ABC radio programs.  She has spoken at the Melbourne Writers Festival, the University of Western England and Melbourne University – to name a few.  She organised the history-making 'Access to Fashion', a Melbourne Fashion Week event featuring disabled models.  She has a Masters of Communication and Bachelor of eCommerce.  Carly identifies as a proud disabled woman and lives with a rare, severe skin condition, ichthyosis.  She organised Australia’s first ichthyosis meet in 2015 bringing together 75 people affected by the condition.

About BoilOver Performance Ensemble

BoilOver is an inclusive performance group which aims to create opportunities for artists with a disability to explore their skills and creativity through a theatre setting.  Led by professional arts practitioners, members build on their performance, artistic and physical skills, emotional literacy, self-esteem and social networks.  BoilOver has been a program offered by Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health for the last 15 years.

As well as hearing from our guest speaker, there will be a performance by BoilOver Performance Ensemble who will share extracts from their recent production, ‘Heart Strings’, which premiered at The Bowery Theatre in St Albans earlier this year.

The free event is open to all and will be followed by our annual general meeting at 6.30pm.  Refreshments will be provided.