Peter Baines, Hands Across the Water

My guest this episode is Peter Baines OAM.

After working in the NSW Police Force for 22 years, the majority of which in the forensics team, Peter founded children’s charity Hands Across the Water. His passion for helping children, particularly those in Thailand where Hands does most of its work, was cemented during his time working in Thailand after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

With 600,000 charities & not-for-profits in Australia we don't need more @peter_baines Click To Tweet

In addition to leading Hands, Peter is the principal of Peter Baines Consulting, where he helps businesses build effective sustainable leadership programs through a unique mix of leadership and corporate social responsibility initiatives.

There are a few elements of this podcast that are not for the faint hearted as we talk about some of the confronting work that Peter did in Bali and Thailand.

I spend 80% of my time volunteering & running Hands Across the Water - @peter_baines Click To Tweet

You can find Peter and get involved at Hands Across the Water.

You can connect with Peter on twitter and Facebook.

You can connect with Hands Across the Water on twitter and Facebook.

You can listen to this episode via the link above, on iTunes or Stitcher or via the podcast app on your smartphone.

What we discussed:

enjoying all aspects of life
work-life balance and life integration
the freedom and flexibility of working for yourself
22 years working for the NSW Police
working in the forensics team as a crime scene practitioner and how it changed over time
working in Bali after the 2002 Bali bombings and not being welcome as a member of an Australian police force
the appreciation of the Thai people when working in Thailand as a first responder after the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami
3,500 decomposing bodies in a temple after the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami
mental health support
how and why Hands Across the Water started
working for Interpol in France in the Counterterrorism team
working for the United Nations
not spending donor money on administration or salaries
making sure our investors are happy with how we spend the money
advice for people who want to start a charity
decomissioning a charity – Ian Thorpe
measuring the impact of what you want to do
being awarded an Order of Australia Medal, and the Thai equivalent
how you can get involved with Hands Across the Water
creating shared experiences