Ambassadors

Deborah Knight

Deborah Knight is an Australian Journalist and Presenter for the Nine Network, co-hosting the Today Show and presenting Nine News in Sydney on Friday and Saturday nights. She is also a regular presenter on radio and contributes to 2GB Sydney and 4BC Brisbane.

Deborah has experienced the loss of a family member and knows the impact it can have not just on an individual but on an entire family.

Here’s what Deborah had to say about Feel the Magic,

“When a child loses a family member they can be effected for the rest of their lives. My father died when I was just 1 year old, and while I never knew him, his loss is still felt very keenly by me and our entire family. Helping children to feel happiness and realise that they are not alone is invaluable, and James and Kirsty and brightening so many young lives. I’m so honoured to be involved in supporting Feel the Magic and sharing the work they do with others.”

Josh Aloiai

Josh Aloiai is a professional rugby league player in the National Rugby league Competition.

He began his rugby league career in New Zealand before moving to Australia as a teenager where he signed with the Parramatta Eels. Playing for the Eels’ Holden Cup side, Josh impressed greatly to earn selection in the 2014 Junior Kiwis squad before suffering a hip injury in 2015 that hampered his progress at the club.

Moving to Wests Tigers to try ignite his career again, Josh made his first-grade debut in Round 1 of the 2016 season and went on to feature in every game that year — becoming the first player in club history to play every game in their rookie season. He finished the season with two tries, over 1500 metres and 400 tackles to his name, despite having his hand broken midway through the season.

Josh suffered a broken jaw in pre-season heading in to the 2017 season, and a fractured patella during the season as well that limited the powerful forward to just 15 appearances. However, his talents were impressing the club’s coaching staff — earning him a contract extension.

Josh Aloiai made his international debut for Samoa in the 2018 Pacific Test match against Tonga. It was another strong season from Josh, who passed the 50-game mark in the club’s Round 15 loss to the Raiders.

Josh is signed at Wests Tigers until the end of the 2019 season.

Scott Pye

Scott Pye is an Australian professional racing driver for Walkinshaw Andretti United in the Virgin Supercars championship.

Scott grew up racing go-Karts and travelling the country with his Father. At age 19, Scott’s father passed away from lung cancer after an 18-month battle.

At the time, Scott was racing in Formula Ford in Australia and he and his Dad’s goal was to reach Formula One. When Scott’s father passed away, he found himself in a difficult spot in his career, no money and unsure of what was next without the guidance of his Dad. That year he decided he would leave Australia and move to England to pursue his dream of racing Formula One.

With no budget or contacts at the time, he spent the remainder of that year doing everything possible to get a budget together. In October, just 8 months after his Dad passed away, he moved to England to pursue his dream. During his time in Europe, he won the British Formula Ford Championship in his first attempt, signed a factory deal with Mercedes Benz and won in British f3 before a lack of funding landed him back in Australia where he has since pursued a career as a professional racing driver in the Supercars Championship.

He has now become a race winner and has twice finished runner up in the Bathurst 1000. He now enters his seventh year as a professional racing driver.

Betty Klimenko

Betty Klimenko is the first woman ever to own a Supercars team and is shaking up the sport dominated by males.

In 2017 in front of 50,000 spectators at Mount Panorama and a television audience of 2.7 million, Betty’s team Erebus flashed first across the finish line of the nations most famous car race, the Bathurst 1000.

Here is what Betty had to say about our cause.

“It’s a privilege and an honour to be an ambassador for Feel the Magic. What these children go through is close to my heart as I lost my mother when I was 10 years old and know first-hand the feeling of loneliness and abandonment that can fill your mind and soul. It’s wonderful to know that through Feel the Magic these kids will have an outlet and a way of dealing with their grief when a loved one passes on. Grief and loss changes lives forever, having an organisation that understand and help bring balance and a smile to faces that have only known tears is truly amazing”.

Dimity Clancey

Dimity Clancey is an Australian news journalist working with the Channel Nine news network. Dimity regularly reports on current issues on a national and international scale.

Dimity and her family know first hand how hard it is to grieve the sudden loss of a family member and understands that putting a smile on a grieving child’s face is something very important.

Here is what Dimity had to say about our cause

“When a child is grieving, teaching them to smile again is the greatest gift anyone could give them. James and Kristy have discovered a magical way to brighten young lives, when their world has shattered around them. As a teenager who was touched by tragedy, I can truly appreciate the importance of Feel the Magic to a vulnerable family. I am so proud to support this beautiful organisation and all it represents.”

Michael Usher

Michael Usher is an Australian presenter and reporter, with the channel Seven network