I wrote this letter to Tash Sultana because I saw her as a young person who had gone through some shit in her life and didn’t let any of it stop her from doing what she wanted to do. Having gone through some pretty crap times myself, I find this pretty inspiring. I work at Reach in Sydney running programs for young people, and I feel like she’s a great person to look up to both for myself and the young people I work with everyday. I also really want to meet her! 😉 Have a read below.

Dude, first off just want to start by saying wow your music is awesome; your raw passion and energy when you jam out is sick.

You probably won’t get this email but eff it it’s worth the risk.

My name is Jana and I’m 20. I’ve grown up in Sydney’s inner West and I work for a not-for-profit youth organisation called The Reach Foundation. No, I’m definitely not asking you for any funds or donations, I just want a minute of your time to tell you a bit about what we do.

About 23 years ago two dudes started Reach in Melbourne with hopes that they could create a place where young people can be themselves, explore who they are and want to be, give them a place to talk and do things they never thought they could, and give them a bit more confidence to chase their dreams. 23 years later and The Reach Foundation still kicks, running in Melbourne, Sydney and the Hunter Valley.

Each year we work with thousand of young people, some who are creators, actors, musicians, writers, artists, doctors, teachers, athletes, travellers, lawyers; the crazy part is they just don’t know it yet or they don’t believe they can ever be these things –  that’s where Reach and our young crew who run the workshops come in.

We have hundreds of inspiring young people who work for our organisation, from ages 16 to 30. These young crew spend hours in training spaces, activities or workshops for personal development to try be the best versions of themselves. Once that seed begins to grow, and these youngings learn the ropes and have more knowledge and self-confidence, we give them a space to learn how to run workshops. This includes spending hours coming up with their own creative content and eventually delivering it themselves; whether it be on camps, in high schools or community workshops. For most of the crew, this isn’t a job they do for money, for a lot of them it is simply because they care and also were once one of those young people who didn’t believe in themselves or thought they could ever achieve their dreams.

In my past few years of being with Reach, I’ve met crew who have travelled to many places, been on tv, made tracks, had their own art shows, started their own businesses, built the courage to get up and speak in front of hundreds of people, owned their sexuality, owned their culture, and stand up for the things they love.

At Reach we talk about people who inspire us a lot and for the past few months, personally, you have caught my eye. I understand you are super busy doing you, but it would be awesome if we could show you what we do and maybe organise you coming to meet some of our young people!

Cheers for taking the time to read this and I hope to hear back from you!