POW Australia – Continued Growth in an Active Year

December 9th, 2023
Photo: Protect Our Winters

Mountainwatch | Press Release

Well, what a year! It has been full of many highs for Protect Our Winters Australia (POW), and some lows for our beloved Aussie winter.

Starting with the good stuff, it has been a joy to welcome over 25 new volunteers and ambassadors to the POW Australia team. In 2023, POW has grown to 5 times the size, starting from a committee of 5 who have only been volunteering together for a year. Without a doubt, our work this year rests solely on the shoulders of these passionate people who have put their hand up and gotten involved.

2023 has been the most active year in POW’s short, five-year existence in Australia. With the support of some awesome partners and the community, we have:

  • Been involved with 15 community events across the country.
  • Raised over $50,000 from film tours, community events, brand donations, merchandise, and in-kind donations from the public.
  • Grown our digital presence by 50%.
  • Established our first Local Alliance in Jindabyne.
  • Formalised an education strategy.
  • Executed three successful campaigns – Save Our Snow Data, Snow Gums along with Alpine Environment and Climate Education 101.
  • Soft launched a Car Pooling App – the first of many ‘POW Tools’ to help you reduce your impact on the environment.
  • Formalised a 2023/2024 strategy and continued to develop this not-for-profit organization of volunteers.
  • Broken into the media with three television appearances (ABC + Channel 9), a radio segment (Triple J Hack), and multiple online mentions/interviews.
Photo: Protect Our Winters

We want to thank a few partners in particular:

Bright Brewery for their continued support through sales of the delicious POW Pale Ale.

MinterEllison Sydney for pro-bono support in transition to new legal structure and charity status.

Arc’teryx for their fundraising through some amazing community events and donation of 10% of sales from the Amer Sport Outlet over a weekend in June.

Individuals and businesses who have hosted film nights and events to raise funds: ESS Boardstore, Wolf of The Willows Brewery + Nitro Snowboards, The Man, Bucketty’s Brewery, Howler, Capital Brewing, Joey’s Footbeds, The Frying Pan Inn, Holly Go Lighty, The Banjo and Jindabyne Cinema.

And finally, The North Face for supporting the inspiring, moving, and stunning film – Steep Reflections. This film tour was an incredible opportunity to engage with the community and share our love of winter and why we need to protect it. We are also excited to announce that The North Face is now a Double Black Diamond partner of POW Australia. We thank them for their support into the future and are excited to join forces.

This year was groundbreaking for us. Thanks to your support throughout the season, POW is now firmly financially established. We have had to do a lot of ‘organisational building’ behind the scenes and are now positioned to go big on climate action in 2024. So to everyone who donated and bought merch, everyone who volunteered their time and energy, all of the businesses that ran events and raised us funds – thank you! Your contribution has been invaluable in helping us through the teething stages.

For more info head to protectourwinters.org.au