Juggling Act

The Westside Circus Story

After being diagnosed with hyperactive attention deficit disorders at the age of two, Debby Maziarz spent her childhood years attending therapy sessions. She was also on a strict diet and trying to find a positive outlet for her overactive mind and body. She says: "Parents were always complaining about how I distracted their children in class. I had so much energy and nowhere to put it."

Maziarz's supportive parents undertook a journey to find a suitable activity that could engage their daughter. "We tried various sports but when Mum took me to a juggling workshop with the Women's Circus I was hooked. I started training two nights a week."

In 1997, after graduating from university with degrees in education and performing arts, Maziarz started working as a youth worker with the Moonee Valley council. In this role, she realised the potential to use circus as a tool to engage young women at risk. Her initiative - The Westside Circus - was a success and started to grow. After two years Maziarz decided to make the circus a full-time concern. "I said to my boss I need to resign and I need to take the circus with me."

The Challenge

Finding philanthropic sponsorship.

The Solution

Maziarz needed money to get her circus on the road. Her first request was to her council employer, which officially owned all Westside Circus's equipment. She says: "I wrote a letter to council formally asking them to donate the equipment ... They gave me the mats, the stilts and a box of envelopes and said ‘Good luck'."

With only one full-time job under her belt, Maziarz felt she needed professional guidance to get the business established. She approached ten different business managers from a range of areas including her furniture retailer father and the manager of the Women's Circus and asked their advice. "Everyone was very generous but I made sure I used their time wisely and asked intelligent questions."

The manager from the Women's Circus suggested Maziarz contact Leadership Victoria for assistance with development of her business. "They coordinated ten sessions with six business professionals who could help me with the basics of setting up a business. At the end, I walked away with a solid business plan."

Leadership Victoria also helped establish the Westside Circus board. Maziarz says: "Leadership Victoria brokered the partnerships. There was an interim board of six people and four are still with me including the chairman Jack Haber."

To continue to develop Westside Circus Maziarz needed to secure philanthropic funding. She says: "I was writing all these submissions but they were not successful." Then Maziarz heard about a submission-writing workshop run by the Reichstein Foundation, but she needed to raise the $800 attendance fee. "I personally delivered a written request for funding to two businesses - the local furniture shop and the footy club - they gave me $400 each. It was the best day session I had ever been to."

The workshop taught Maziarz to change her approach. She says: "I learnt to ring organisations and find out what sort of areas they will fund, to have at least three people read my submission beforehand and to build the relationship. I nurture my funding relationships like my marriage: I invite them to be part of Westside Circus, I turn up to their parties and I'm always polite."

The Jack Brockhoff Foundation provided Westside Circus with their first grant in 2003. Maziarz says: "We needed to apply for a specific item, not just an amount of money. The Brockhoff Foundation in partnership with The Variety Club provided our first minivan."

Maziarz believes that support from one organisation leads to further support from other avenues. "If I plan to attract ten different supporters, as soon as I get one it adds weight. I ring the other nine straight away to let them know."

The Result

Westside Circus receives assistance of about $300,000 from about 20 different stakeholders (amounts vary each year). Maziarz says: "We have never received one core grant to cover our operational funding. As a result we have become very resourceful and try to make it happen for ourselves."

Currently Westside Circus is concentrating on finding a new venue as they will need to vacate their Fitzroy warehouse next year. "We've been in this venue since 2004; a board member was aware it was empty. Now we need to find a long-term lease somewhere nearby. It will cost us at least $50,000 just to move premises."

Last year, Maziarz delivered a presentation at the graduation ceremony for Leadership Victoria. She says: "Westside Circus is a great success story for them. They really helped me get where I am." Does Westside Circus still receive rejections for their funding decisions? Maziarz says: "All the time. But now six out of ten will be successful - it used to be two."

Author Credits