Hugh Mackay is a social researcher and bestselling author of 19 books, including The Good Life, The Art of Belonging and his latest, Australia Reimagined.
Hugh first learned about the Good Karma Networks when Amy reached out to him after one of the members shared his presentation ‘The state of our nation starts in your street” on the KGKN. Her post read “If this group didn’t exist then you would want to create it after reading this”. Hugh was suitably impressed and when Amy asked if he would be a champion for these powerful neighbourhood connectors/networks, he was delighted to be involved.
“As a social psychologist and researcher, my main interest is in how local neighbourhoods and communities function, why some do better than others, and how healthy local communities are the key to a healthy society. So when I met Amy Churchouse, I was immediately engaged by her passion for locality, and her determination to find practical ways of connecting people with their neighbourhoods via the Good Karma Network concept.
As I wrote in Australia Reimagined, Amy is motivated by ‘her desire to help people work together to solve problems and to realise they can make a difference by being more open-minded and compassionate’. The Good Karma Effect inevitably spreads beyond the creation of networks that facilitate mutual help” like the ‘social streets’ concept in Europe, GKE enhances the sense of belonging and the emotional security that comes from knowing your neighbours.
The book clubs, conversation groups, dog-walking groups and other spin-offs from GKE all demonstrate that the capacity for compassion and connection is within us all, but sometimes we need a catalyst to encourage us to express it in practical ways. Once it is set in motion, the Good Karma Effect is unstoppable!”
