Thanks Dad Photo Competition Australia - Lismore, Byron Bay, Northern Rivers and Nationally

facebook logo.jpg PLEASE 'LIKE US' ON FACEBOOK Simply click on this link which will take you to our brand new facebook page - PLEASE click on 'like' and help us promote this to as many people as possible! We really need community support this year and your help in getting this out to all your friends will make a HUGE difference to us "THANKING" as many men as possible who are doing such a great job with the children in their lives. PLUS there are some of the other winner's photos on the facebook page - those who came 2nd, 3rd 4th etc!

View some of our 2010 Entries - Slideshow

Lucky voter drawn for the last year is Angela Parker of Delungra NSW - congratulations - your cheque for $100 will be with you soon!

About Thanks Dad Competition

Thanks Dad National Photo Competition and exhibition is unique – that is why it has been running for 11 years now and steadily grows each year until this year we received over 2,000 entries. In September 2011 this website had received 585,000 hits for September alone.

There is a really good reason for this enthusiasm from the general public. No where else in Australia can people publically “thank” the men in their lives who genuinely help to make their children’s lives better, more interesting, more fun, more educational – and give the children a unique male response to life that is so important to ensure that children grow up as well balanced and happy adults.

People are encouraged to take spontaneous photos of men and children together, this is not a competition based on photographic perfection – rather it is about capturing a ‘special’ moment between the man and the child. Not just dads either – in many cases the man who plays this important role is a granddad, uncle, step dad, friend, older brother or even sports coach. These are the men who enrich our children’s lives and at Thanks Dad there is an opportunity to ‘thank’ them for all they do and, at the same time, encourage more men to spend more quality time with their children.

This program helps to develop relationships between men and children across the country. This can only help build happier, and stronger, young people who will go on to be better parents to their children.

Government funding has come to an end for this program, regretfully moving on to more counseling based areas. So Youth Connections, who auspice Thanks Dad, are turning to the Community for support to keep this program running. We now are asking for $5 per photo entry or $20 for 5 photo entries. If you cannot afford this at all please email me and let me know so I can waive it for you. We are still hunting for a sponsor so this could change at a later date!

Go to the Donations Page on top of this page or - online to Summerland Credit Union : Account name - Thanks Dad BSB 728 - 728 Account number 22274858. Please leave your initial and name as your reference so we can send you a tax invoice sent for your donation - then click on this tab tdp@ycnc.com.au and email us your name, address and donation amount so we can collate this and send you a tax receipt. Many, many thanks!!

Paypal facility now also available - click on the button on the DONATIONS PAGE and you will be lead through the process and emailed a receipt. This means you can use a credit card to pay this way.

Winners of Photo Story sections for 2011 - read all the stories under the Stories Tab above

Open - Sarah Rook

High School Age - Rhiannon Varley

Primary School Age - Lucinda Powell

View some of our 2010 Entries - Slideshow

If you click on the link above you can see a number of them put into a slideshow and put to music. Hope you enjoy them - we produced this to help celebrate International Men's day which was on 19th November 2010 - the theme for the year was "Our Children, Our Future". http://www.international-mens-day.com/

Dads are wonderful and can make a huge difference in a young child’s life.

At Thanks Dad Photo Competition we like to celebrate the wonderful things men do with their children – and hope to encourage more men to spend more positive time with their children. We don’t just want to thank the Dads but also the really important grandfathers, uncles, step dads, foster dads and older brothers who mean so much to so many children. Cash prizes are awarded in 11 Photographic Categories for Adults as well as school aged children.

Every year the pictures travel as part of the Thanks Dad People's Choice Exhibition across the whole of Australia (from Tasmania to Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria and NSW) - being exhibited in Libraries, Shopping Centres, Schools and at Conferences. The Exhibition gives so many people incredible enjoyment from looking at the pictures. As a whole they make up the exhibition that we believe encourages all men to spend more quality time with their children!

Photos are judged not on technical quality but on how you capture the moment. Categories this year that include those asking school aged children to write a short story (max 250 words) about that day or moment of the photo. Stories written for this year's competition can be viewed under "Stories". We are also looking for photos of children and a man taking part in a sport. You can just take a picture with your mobile phone - on the spur of the moment, and share it with us - just email to us at tdp@ycnc.com.au .

We encourage you to enter up to 5 pictures. Without you, and people like you, this competition and exhibition is nothing! Please share your pictures with us and be part of our move to celebrate the great things men do with our children. All entries from the 2011 competition are now travelling around the country and we invite you to contact us should you be interested in it coming to a location in your town.

Auspiced by Youth Connections North Coast, Lismore NSW.

Dad's Calendar

Great fathers are very special and we know that it can sometimes be hard to find a gift for a child to give their dad that is going to be useful and at the same time send the right message. We have put together a calendar designed for “Dad’s desk” that will remind him how important being a great dad is and give him some ideas for things he can do with his children that month. Click on calendar to download.

As you can imagine this has cost us to put together so we are asking if you could please give a $5 donation for downloading the calendar – this can be done directly into our donation account : Summerland Credit Union BSB 802-222 Account number 22274858. You could otherwise post us a cheque to Thanks Dad, P.O. Box 1005, Lismore NSW 2480. If this amount is not possible for you then we would still very much like you to have the calendar so please email me on tdp@ycnc.com.au and I will email the calendar to you. Many thanks and we hope you, and the special man in your lives, enjoy the calendar. Kay Knights

We have put together a selection of 12 PhotoStories in a printable booklet form for you to download, save/print (click on the thumbnail to the left).

These PhotoStories have been chosen from entries sent into us within the last 3 years of our competition and we hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

We thank all these entrants who have shared their special stories with us. We will be putting together more stories in this way soon, we kept it to 12 pages to keep it to a reasonable size to download.

If you’d like to send us a comment or feedback about this booklet please click on the ‘Contact’ link near the top of this page for our email address and other contact details. We hope this booklet may inspire you to send us your photos and stories!

2011 Competition Judges
	Andy Griffiths is Australia’s most popular children’s writer. He is the author of over twenty books, including nonsense verse, cartoons, short stories, comic novels and creative writing textbooks. Over the past 15 years Andy’s books have been New York Times bestsellers, won over 40 children’s choice awards, been adapted as a television cartoon series and sold over four million copies worldwide. www.andygriffiths.com.au
	Mathew Hayden – Australian Cricket Legend who is also focused on developing projects to engage people in a multitude of ways, through media, events, community projects, education and activities that encourage everyone to enjoy the benefits of an active life. www.thehaydenway.com
	Michael Amendolia – Professional photographer - Visual communication through photography is both his passion and profession. He has twenty five years experience in journalism photography. The first thirteen years on staff at News Limited and the rest as a freelancer working for Australian and International magazines and organisations. His core work is found in portraits, photo documentary, and landscape. www.michaelamendolia.com
	The Hon. Peter Garrett AM MP - Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth is also widely known as a passionate advocate and campaigner on a range of contemporary Australian and global issues, he was the former president Australian Conservation Foundation, an activist, and former member of Australian band Midnight Oil. www.petergarrett.com.au
	Tracey Gibbs - A freelance Graphic Designer Illustrator working from Perth, Western Australia. She has created book designs for several publishers, corporate logos, brochures, stationery design, calendars & more. As well as design, she is passionate about illustration and has fully illustrated two children’s books and dozens of book covers. www.traceygibbs.com

We are a national, non-profit competition and exhibition - if you can make a financial contribution towards the costs of running this we would greatly appreciate your donation which can be made online to Summerland Credit Union BSB 728 - 728 Account number 22274858 please let us know via email if you would like a tax invoice sent for your donation.

2012 COMPETITION

Enter our 2012 competition now!

Entries close 20th August 2012and every year.

$100 cash prizes in 9 categories

2011 Winners

We have put together a selection of 12 PhotoStories in a printable booklet form for you to download, save/print (click on the thumbnail to the left).

These PhotoStories have been chosen from entries sent into us within the last 3 years of our competition and we hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

We thank all these entrants who have shared their special stories with us. We will be putting together more stories in this way soon, we kept it to 12 pages to keep it to a reasonable size to download.

If you’d like to send us a comment or feedback about this booklet please click on the ‘Contact’ link near the top of this page for our email address and other contact details. We hope this booklet may inspire you to send us your photos and stories!