Origins...
In April 1996, a war-like act of violence occurred which shocked the nation: the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania.
Thirty-five people were slain by one gunman with military-style weapons. Among the victims were Alannah and Madeline Mikac aged six and three respectively. They were murdered with their mother, Nanette.
The two girls were very similar in age to Dr West's two children – also two girls – Gabriela and Caity. Then, a few days after the massacre, he saw some drawings by Alannah Mikac flashed on the TV news. He looked at his own children's drawings around his house and at that very moment the idea for the Alannah and Madeline Foundation came into being.
The idea for a foundation to help child victims of war had changed into a vision to establish a lasting memorial to the two little girls so brutally murdered in Port Arthur.
After eight months of turning the idea around in his mind, Dr West contacted the murdered girls' father, Walter, and explained his vision. The two men met in January 1997 and so the Alannah & Madeline Foundation was born.
Three months later, coinciding with the first anniversary of the massacre, the Foundation was launched by the then Prime Minister, John Howard, who agreed to become Patron. The Prime Minister was later joined as Patron by then Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and as International Patron by Crown Princess Mary of Denmark - who grew up in Tasmania.
After seeing the Alannah & Madeline Foundation consolidate and expand over ten years, Phil West returned to his original dream and established Renew the Spirit Foundation to support child survivors of war and terrorism.
