24 hour Wash-a-thon in Gunbalanya

The Aboriginal Investment Group (AIG), in partnership with the Adjumarllarl Aboriginal Corporation, will be hosting a 24-hour wash-a-thon at the new Remote Laundry in the West Arnhem community of Gunbalanya on Thursday 7 November. 
The Wash-A-Thon will be a festival of health and wellbeing, with a full program including: 
• Sports festival: Basketball & AFL (Cyril Rioli is stopping by) and Colour Fun Run 
• 24-hour BBQ: Meat supplied by Gunbalanya Meats (local Indigenous-owned abattoir) 
• Free haircuts; The ‘Look Good - Feel Good’ program 
• ‘Healthy Skin/Healthy Heart’ workshops (Heart Foundation) 
• Cooking sessions (Healthy Eating Program), led by our dietician 

As part of the festival, mattresses and linen will be provided to houses where it has been identified that children don’t have a bed to sleep on. 
Set inside a 20-foot shipping container, the easy-to-operate laundry launched in late August in the community. 
With four industrial-sized washers and dryers, the Remote Laundry provides a free laundry service to the Gunbalanya community while creating employment opportunities for locals. 
Since opening, the laundry has spun over 300 cycles and employs five locals.  Aboriginal Investment Group CEO, Liz Morgan-Brett says the project's success has been phenomenal. 
“The beauty of AIG’s Remote Laundries Project is in its simplicity. The laundry provides free washing and drying for the community to reduce the prevalence of scabies and other skin infections and improve health and wellbeing,” Ms Morgan-Brett said. 
“During the wash-a-thon, the Remote Laundry will run for the full 24 hours, and we’re keen to see how many loads of washing we can get through in that time. If this pilot program goes well, we’ll roll it out across our other Remote Laundries locations.”  
AIG now operates five laundries in the NT: Darwin, Milyakburra, Angurugu, Barunga and Gunbalanya, with Borroloola, Nauiyu and Umbakumba next in line. 
The Remote Laundries Project is supported by NT PHN, National Heart Foundation of Australia, Flinders University, Solar Living Homes, Katherine Laundry and Gremlin Electronics.