Outstanding Alumnus Award, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (June 2011)
Chris Raine is the founder and CEO of website and blog Hello Sunday Morning (HSM). Graduating from USC with a BA/BBus in 2009, the following year Chris committed to not drinking for 12 months and documented the journey through a blog and Facebook. He aimed to get a true understanding of what it would take for a young person to change their drinking behaviour. That social experiment is now known as Hello Sunday Morning. "Hello Sunday Morning’s purpose is to provide a platform for individuals to create meaningful change in their lives through a period of sobriety. By sharing their story, each person’s stand is a unique and essential contribution to a better drinking culture,” explains Chris. (Full details via link above).
By July 2011, over 1400 people had participated in the HSM program. HSM's vision is to increase that to 10,000 people across the world by 2013.
HSM has secured various grants including $200,000 from the Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI) to support its operations, and $20,000 from the Alcohol Education & Rehabilitation Foundation (AERF) for a web documentary series.
HSM also received the 'Excellence in Services for Young People' award at the 2011 National Drug & Alcohol Awards. In 2010 Chris was listed in national broadcaster Triple J's Top 25 under 25, selected from 900 entries celebrating Australia's most innovative and inspiring young talent. He is also on the Foundation for Young Australian's Youth Advisory Board.
"My objective is to build Hello Sunday Morning into a powerful Australian charity, helping individuals take responsibility for their relationship with alcohol and to do their part to change our cultural dependence on it," says Chris.
Please note: this is archival information and may not reflect the recipients' current work details.