Summer steam

Wet weather failed to dampen the spirits of the almost 5,000 revellers at the inaugural Summer Gay Day.
Organisers were pleased with crowd numbers and behaviour at Kippax Lake.
The day was also a key part of the annual Red Ribbon Appeal calendar, with volunteers roaming the grounds selling red ribbon merchandise.
The Red Ribbon Appeal raised more than $80,000 and helped keep awareness of HIV/AIDS issues at the forefront of people’s minds.
ACON president Adrian Lovney said while the amount raised was down on last year, the level of support was encouraging.
“Last year was a huge result for us both in terms of the money we raised and the number of volunteers who helped out,” he said.
“It was always going to be hard to match that outcome as there’s a lot of competition in the charity sector these days. But we still managed to get a good result in terms of money raised. Also, keeping people aware of HIV/AIDS as a local and global issue is the most important aspect of the whole exercise and our efforts, as well as those of other agencies, certainly helped to achieve that.”
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