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The story behind Upstander + The Nugget's new pup

Welcome to The Nugget, a 24k gold newsletter about Castlemaine's people and events

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The Nugget
February 07, 2025

★ MEET A LOCAL SUPER SISTER ★

Briega “can sing” Young

This time last year, an Aussie woman was being killed every week at the hands of a man. A sudden spike of violence against women in Ballarat, which took the lives of three women, brought the wretched situation home to sit like a stone in the pit of our stomachs.

"I could feel the exhaustion from all the women around me, and the despair," says Briega Young, a singer-songwriter and member of local band, M79.

"I've grown up in this town. I don't feel like I can walk around at night any more the way that I used to. We shouldn't have to feel that. Our culture really needs to change."

She remembers talking about it at rehearsal with bandmate Bradley Dawson.

"Bradley was like, 'You know I love and support women so much. I'm an ally. I would never hurt anybody.'

"I said 'Yes, I absolutely know that, but that's sort of not enough. We need help. We need help to feel safe and supported.'"

"Bradley was like, 'all right, I'm gonna do something about that.'"

Most of us have had no idea how we might make a difference with an issue like violence against women.

Bradley doesn't want this story to be about him, but he deserves huge props, along with Lisa Mills of M79 for what they did next.

The two have created Upstander, a fundraising event happening Sat, 8 Feb, at Lot 19, supporting the freedom and safety of women. Upstander will raise money for the Annie North women’s refuge and promote men’s behaviour-change programs.

"This event is a chance for our community to come together on this issue, for education, for remembering and to celebrate the wonderful women in our community,” Briega says.

“It's a chance for the menfolk to get together and support us. Share the outrage, share that grief with each other, that worry and also hope for change.”

Do not expect finger pointing or anything that might scare the kids. The Upstander vibe is an uplifting one.

"It's going to be a dynamic and joyous day. There will be incredible circus workshops for young people, face painting, food and lots of dancing."

And we haven't even got to the music. A super group of local performers will be joining forces on stage.

"Instead of individuals singing their songs, we thought, why don't we all get together and sing each other's songs?" Briega says.

Three incredible musicians from MaCapella, Tara Flinn, Briony Phillips and Stef Carson, have stepped in to help coordinate and arrange the songs for the group.

"Felicity Cripps is performing two of her songs that we can jump in on. Azzy Jay is bringing her flute. We have Shobie Owens on cello… Charlotte Brash on drums, and she's eight months pregnant, so that's a really beautiful,” Briega says.

“Lisa Mills is leading a song. Jen Moore and Tina Ray will be DJing. Pearl Doherty is a young artist who's going to sing a new song she's just launched.”

It's the kind of warm, supportive event that young, teenage Briega needed when she was coming onto the scene in Castlemaine.

"At that time, I was like, 16. There just weren't heaps of spaces for young, female singer-songwriters to perform. There was pub rock and like, just, guys on guitars,” she says.

“But I was just me and a keyboard. It wasn't that cool, like, I didn't have a band."

She pushed herself to enter an open-mic competition at the Railway, where she performed an original song.

"I didn't ever expect to win. I just wanted to perform. I won this beautiful guitar. I remember it being presented to me and two minutes after I had got it, some guy comes up to me and goes, 'I'll give you $500 for that. Because, you know, like you're not gonna do anything with it."

"I got to a point, I guess, in my early 20s, where I didn't really want to perform solo in pubs here. Now, I think we’re seeing a real shift for women in music, plus there are a lot more platforms, different places to perform, like art spaces and at outdoor events.”

Briega says she loves the way the town has changed over the years and how fervently it supports emerging talent at events like Castlemaine Idyll.

"Greeting new people in the town has just been so exciting,” Briega says.

“It's a wonderful place to be. It's beautiful to see families and all kinds of people make the decision to live here because it just enriches the whole space."

❀ INTRODUCING PHOEBE, THE CHUG ❀

Chihuahua x Pug = Chug

Phoebe was not on my 2025 Bingo card.

In January, my daughter and I took our OG dog to get a trim at the Poodle Groomer in Yapeen. This is where we met Pheebs. She was hooning around the shop and would swoop in to lick our shins.

Pheebs is a rescue dog and Arrow, the groomer, was fostering her. You can see where this is going.

Within days Phoebe, the quirky, boggle-eyed Chihuahua-Pug cross had moved to our house and into my daughter’s room.

They say with rescue dogs, their true personality doesn’t emerge until they settle in their new home. That process takes three months.

Over the past few weeks, she come out of her shell enough to get reacquanted with her bark. She sees defending the house by barking as her fulltime job.

Pheebs is 4. She hasn’t had a great start in life and wasn’t treated very well in her last home. She’s pretty freaked out by other dogs and any passing car, bike or delivery person.

We have called in the experts and kicked off training. We appear to have a long road ahead. Here’s hoping it leads Pheebs to calmer place where she feels safe and loved.

♡˖ EVENTS ˖♡

𖥔 TALK TO MOI PLOISE 𖥔

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