Greek Community of Alexandria

Category: GREEK DIASPORA

News about Greeks around the world

  • A new Greek Centre on the Yarra

    A new Greek Centre on the Yarra

    The Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) is pleased to announce a plan that will not only contribute to the development of the site at Bulleen, but will financially strengthen the GCM and create new facilities and services for all Greeks in Melbourne. The Plan focuses on the Community’s core activities and services and brings together organizations from across Melbourne in a landmark development called “Greek Centre on the Yarra».

    “The Plan is visionary and testament to the hard work of my fellow Board members, “ said GCM president Bill Papastergiadis of the Proposal. “The Plan resolves the significant difficulties associated with the Bulleen site and will create a space for Greek organisations to call home. The Plan compliments the work of the GCM in its CBD Centre and across its broad program of activity.”

    The Plan is to:
    1. Secure the removal of the onerous overlays on close to 2.6 hectares of the site. This is something that the GCM has been working on for almost two years with specialist consultants.
    2. Sell 1/6th of the site for $11 million to a developer brought forward by consultants who plan to build housing onsite.
    3. Collaborate with Government on the creation of wetlands on the flood prone and hence unusable part of the land. The earthworks and landscaping necessary estimated to cost $2 million dollars will be paid for by the developer and Government. The ongoing maintenance of this land will be the responsibility of Government.
    4. Partner with an appropriate organisation on the development of the GCM retained part of the site, for the construction of an iconic Greek Centre on the Yarra as conceptualised by one of Australia’s leading architects, Billy Kavellaris of KUD architects.

    This new Centre will house: 
    a. Aged Care facilities 
    b. Education facilities allowing the GCM to bring together a number of campuses in the region and save up to $100,000 per annum in rent
    c. Community meeting, gallery and function spaces that will offer a tangible location for community organisations to call home with spaces to meet, celebrate and exhibit their archives and collections.
    d. Retail spaces for a café and or restaurant
    e. On the balance of the GCM land that remains under a flood zone, the plan is to construct sporting fields that are in much demand by local clubs and schools. These are of little impact to the construction of the Centre.
    5. It is important to stress the financial considerations for the GCM associated with this plan. As proposed, the GCM will net approximately $10m from the sale, receive an ongoing profit share from the Aged Care facility once operational, receive rental from the retail outlets and from the sporting field and save close to $100,000 annually from school rentals that will no longer need to be paid. Furthermore, with regard to the construction of the new building, a joint venture with a third party will be sought to fund the construction.

    According to Mr. Papastergiadis the development of the Bulleen site has being a constant request raised with him by many community leaders. “Create a space for us to meet and keep our archives, then we will invest in it’ is constantly said to me” says Papastergiadis. “Not only we are creating a space which is needed by the community, but the project adds so much more to the social and cultural fabric of the community in Victoria. We will work with all of the key stakeholders to ensure that the needs of Greek Australians are appropriately met. This project along with the acclaimed 15 level Greek Centre in the CBD now defines Melbourne as the global Hellenic HQ.”

    “The Board’s proposal is an ideal solution to a perennial dilemma with respect to the development of the old Bulleen Drive-In site that has preoccupied the Greek Community for 30 years,” said the General Secretary of the organisation Costas Markos. “This multifaceted project will provide a cultural and educational infrastructure to accommodate the wealth of creativity within our community. The addition of an aged care facility will assist immensely to the current lack of facilities and services for the elderly within our community. The Board of the GCM strongly believes that the proposal will be adopted unanimously by the GCM members and will also be embraced by other Greek organisations.”

    The GCM’s Vice President Nikolaos Koukouvitakis pointed out “that this is a dream coming true for the community… we have a unique opportunity to develop Bulleen. This is a project for all Greeks and the whole community must support it.”

    Theo Markos, GCM’s Vice President and Education Coordinator, said: “As an active member of the GCM since the early 80s, I am familiar with the site and its problematic history. For the first time in 30 years, the circumstances are such that will allow us to constructively use this piece of land in a way that will benefit the entire community. Voting in favor of the proposal is the only way that will ensure the implementation of the future plans of our organization. “

    (www.greekcommunity.com.au)

  • GCM to assist in promoting Greek medical tourism

    GCM to assist in promoting Greek medical tourism

    Despite the economic crisis, Greece is continuing to make a name for itself in the health and medical fields, and is fast becoming a popular destination for medical tourism. 

    On a recent trip Down Under, renowned Greek Australian fertility specialist and director of Greece’s largest fertility clinic Genesis, Dr Konstantinos Pantos met with members of the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) board to discuss potential ways to further the campaign to boost growth in the field. 

    A popular idea proposed was the prospect of organising and hosting a conference in Melbourne as a forum for Greece to exhibit its many achievements to the broader Australian community.

    Amongst those joining Dr Pantos on the day were GCM president Bill Papastergiadis, general secretary Costas Markos, GCM treasurer and president of the Hellenic Medical Society of Australia, Associate Professor Marinis Pirpiris, and board members Michael Karamitos and Chris Sikavitsas.

    Following on from the December 30 meeting, a follow-up Skype meeting took place on Tuesday between Dr Pantos and Orthopaedic Surgeon and Mayor of Amaroussion, Dr George Patoulis who is also leading the campaign, with Director of the Greek Centre Jorge Menidis and Mr Markos.

    They reaffirmed their agreement that stronger medical, academic and trade networks, particularly in medical tourism, between Greece and the wider Diaspora would be a goal that all parties will actively work towards developing and nurturing. 

    “At the GCM we are happy and thrilled to cooperate with Dr Pantos and to organise the meeting in Melbourne later this year to show some of the medical achievements in Greece,” said Professor Pirpiris.

    Dr Pantos was extremely satisfied by the enthusiastic and positive response he received in Melbourne, which came just after the successful conference the doctor held in New York for the further promotion of medical tourism in Greece.

    If all goes to plan, the conference is expected to take place later this year in November.

    (neoskosmos.com)

  • Donald Trump Appoints Greek-American George Gigicos Deputy Assistant to the President

    Donald Trump Appoints Greek-American George Gigicos Deputy Assistant to the President

    U.S. President elect Donald Trump on Thursday appointed Greek-American George Gigicos Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Advance.

    Gigicos, a prominent member of the Greek-American community, was one of the first people to sign on with Trump’s presidential campaign, originally serving as the only member of the campaign’s advance team. He organized campaign events and rallies across the country, eventually managing around 100 staff members to help coordinate the rallies.

    Gigicos studied at Birmingham-Southern College and began working in event planning and advance planning for political campaigns while still in school. According to Bloomberg, as a college student Gigicos worked in advance planning for the Treasury Department in the administration of George H.W. Bush. After graduating in 1990, Gigicos worked in advance and as an event planner for the Orange County Convention Center in Florida.

    In 1999, Gigicos started the Telion Corporation, a communications firm specializing in event design, organization, and advance operations. As head of Telion, Gigicos worked in advance planning for President George W. Bush’s administration, his 2004 presidential campaign, and the presidential campaigns of John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.

    Reportedly, Gigicos, whose ancestors are from Kalamata, has in every Trump appearance tried to convince the Greek community that the new president shows an interest in Greece and the intention to promote the settlement of the Greek debt and the Cyprus issue.

    (usa.greekreporter.com)

  • Greek-Canadian Cameraman Wins Rory Peck Trust Award for Migrant Coverage

    Greek-Canadian Cameraman Wins Rory Peck Trust Award for Migrant Coverage

    ΟμογένειαLast Wednesday AFPTV freelance news cameraman Will Vassilopoulos was awarded the Rory Peck Trust award for his work on the migrant crisis gripping Greece.

    Filming from October 2015 to March 2016, Vassilopoulos focused his footage on following migrants on their journey as they arrived in Greece from Turkey and were settled in various camps such as the now demolished Idomeni refugee camp in northern Greece.

    His achievements do not stop there as his coverage of the migrant crisis also captured migrants’ protests when in the spring of 2016 FYROM shut its borders to Greece, bottlenecking thousands of migrants.

    A seasoned Vassilopoulos was chosen for the honor of this award because his work “brought the humanity of (the crisis) home” the judges commented on the award website, adding that “It’s difficult to do something exceptional when everyone is shooting it, however tragic and important the story is, and Will really managed that.”

    Shooting the migrant crisis was not without its challenges for the cameraman who said that he found that working on the migrant crisis in particular “very challenging” and that the work brought about “an emotional toll for all of us in the field. It hurts you really hard when it happens at home,” he said.

    “My intentions were always to film with utmost respect for migrants, and to film them with dignity,” he added.

    The Rory Peck Award has been bestowed upon freelance news cameraman and women since 1995 as a part of the Trust in memory of the freelance journalist who was killed in Moscow in 1993.

    (canada.greekreporter.com)