Peter Cullen ditched his plans to become a Roman Catholic priest but some 30 years later he got to visit the Vatican when he was invited by Pope Francis to a high profile conference. The 59-year-old Australian was in Rome to attend the 'Sports at the Service of Humanity' conference this month. He was there because of the remarkable work Reclink, the organisation he founded 25 years ago, does in bringing the homeless, people with addictions and mental health issues back into society either through Aussie Rules Football or the arts. "The idea (of the conference) was to fine tune six principles to promote sport and bring the best out of people," he said.
Cullen is on a whistlestop global tour -- accompanied everywhere by an Aussie Rules football hand-painted in Aboriginal dot painting by a prisoner -- and alighted on the Beyond Sport Summit, the largest movement promoting social change through sport. The father of three had intended to give the football to the Pope but decided against it and will post it instead. "I found it (the football) was a great point of contact so I kept hold of it," he said. "So much so I had my photo taken with a nephew of JFK."
However, aside from the networking Cullen, whose work has brought him several awards including one bestowed upon him by Queen Elizabeth II, is keen to have their Federal funding restored. The then Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, ironically also once a trainee Catholic priest, took away the grant of AUS $560,000 in 2014 dealing them a massive financial blow as it represented 25 percent of their budget. "We don't believe we're a cost, we believe we're an investment," says Cullen, whose organisation does receive funding from several state governments but not enough to make up the shortfall.
Funding 14 Aussie Rules teams for homeless people in Victoria -- including one the Salvo Hawks which is made up entirely of former addicts -- does not come cheap but for Cullen the pleasure derived from the players at feeling part of society again more than makes up for the cost. "The main reason people suffer relapses (returning to their addictions) is they feel lonely and isolated," says Cullen. "Because one of the rules of curing ones' addiction is to move away from old habitats and ditch those friends and create new ones which isn't always easy -- even those of us who haven't suffered from addictions know it can be tough making friends at the best of times. "However, with our teams those people, who come from a traumatic background, can feel part of something, part of a team, feel mobilised and regain their self-respect."
Cullen, whose organisation received a laudatory assessment from the respected La Trobe University after a five year study saying participants became more sociable and had improved confidence, says it is touching to hear the players speak about how they feel. Cullen’s organisation in 2014/15 delivered over 58,000 sport, recreation and arts participation opportunities across Australia, has a neat analogy as to why Reclink is necessary and differs from the welfare system. "There is a lot in welfare that stops people from drowning, but not a lot that helps them to swim," he said. "We help them to swim."
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This story in 30 seconds
• Peter Cullen was invited by Pope Francis to the 'Sports at the Service of Humanity' conference, because of Reclink, the organisation he founded 25 years ago
• Cullen is on a whistlestop global tour -- accompanied everywhere by an Aussie Rules football hand-painted in Aboriginal dot painting by a prisoner -- and alighted on the Beyond Sport Summit, the largest movement promoting social change through sport
• Cullen, whose work has brought him several awards including one bestowed upon him by Queen Elizabeth II, is keen to have their Federal funding restored
• Then Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, ironically also once a trainee Catholic priest, took away the grant of AUS $560,000 in 2014 dealing them a massive financial blow as it represented 25 percent of their budget
• Cullen’s organisation in 2014/15 delivered over 58,000 sport, recreation and arts participation opportunities across Australia
