What's Brewing

I put ideas I'm brewing here because they're not really my ideas (whose are?) and I'd rather attract collaborators than "protect my intellectual property."

Tom Allen leading a kids workshop at the Warrnambool Community Garden

Kid Co. Business School

Underway

Inquiry-based learning, rooted in community. The Kid Co. Business School facilitates a thorough and meaningful dive into the world of small business for kids who want to learn skills in a real-world setting with real-world feedback.

Where my thinking is at

The pilot is underway: Term 3 2026, Wednesday afternoons at Nightcliff Uniting Church, with up to ten kids aged 10-13 building one business from scratch over seven weeks. Everything points at a real deadline: a stall at Nightcliff Sunday Market on Sunday 23 August. The week after, we sit down with the takings and unpack what actually happened. Fees are pay-what-you-feel. It costs about $175 per child to run and no kid misses out over money. Down the track I'd like to move to a co-operative model where the profits from each round provide the seed funding for the next, and kids who've done the program stick around to mentor the next lot, watching the seed fund grow to enable more ambitious projects. For now, the job is getting one round done well.

More about this →
A flock of birds taking flight from a wooden barn against a vivid blue sky

Ecstatic Dance

Dreaming

Ecstatic dance, conscious movement, moving meditation; call it what you will, I've received so much from a regular practice of listening to and moving my body in tune with something that goes beyond words and thoughts.

Where my thinking is at

I love music, I collect and curate playlists like my life depends on it, and I love my work as a marriage celebrant and MC: it feels like a natural fit to begin facilitating a movement practice. The barriers I'm working through at the moment are: I don't know how to DJ, and I'm not trained in a modality like 5Rhythms or Open Floor (both of which take many logged hours all over the world to attain). I'm imagining running fortnightly or monthly dance sessions with clear intentions and strong boundaries: no substances, plenty of natural light, bring everything you're carrying from your day or week with you and dance it through your body. To make this happen I need (at a minimum) to find a space where I can pump a pre-made playlist and start advertising regular events. Over time I'd love to get the DJ skills and equipment to curate the experience live, and to deepen my facilitation skills through a formal training process.

I'm interested in this
Tom Allen on stage at the Little Food Festival with a young participant and an audience of children

Children's Theatre Production

Dreaming

A simple, grassroots theatre production of a classic play, put on by your local neighbourhood kids in the park.

Where my thinking is at

Theatre and drama bring me to life: from a young age I loved being on stage and dressing up in character. Theatre is a wonderful opportunity for children to participate in community entertainment, rather than being passive consumers of it on an iPad. This doesn't need to be complicated: just a kid-friendly script of a classic story (like A Midsummer Night's Dream or Peter Pan) that can be performed in an hour or so with an intermission, a basic set construction, costumes, and a venue. Darwin during the dry season is perfect for this because there are so many beautiful outdoor public spaces this could be held.

I'm interested in this

Want to be part of something?

Whether you want to collaborate, pilot something, share a venue, or just tell me what you think — I'm all ears.

Let's Talk