Andrew Gourley has turned a lolly into one of the most recognisable brands known for helping young people during alcohol-fuelled events - Red Frogs Australia.
As founder and visionary leader of Red Frogs Australia, Mr Gourley has made a positive impact in fighting the culture of binge drinking among young people and his efforts were recognised at the QUT Outstanding Alumni Awards in Brisbane today.
Mr Gourley received a QUT Special Excellence Award in recognition of his professional and community achievements.
Graduating from QUT in 1992 with a Bachelor of Business (Accounting), Mr Gourley has used his nous with numbers to support his passion for helping others.
"Working as an accountant has very much helped me with my youth work," Mr Gourley said.
"Understanding budgets and costings is essential when working in non-profit organisations. My accounting degree has given me the knowledge I need to ensure Red Frogs Australia is financially sustainable over the long-term."
Mr Gourley said Red Frogs was the largest chaplaincy service for young people and had established a comprehensive drug and alcohol harm prevention program in Australia that had now been introduced across the world.
"I started Red Frogs in Australia in 1997 after seeing a need to help young people during Schoolies celebrations," he said.
"The idea of using Red Frogs was just to be an icebreaker but it really took off. We have gone from handing out about 80kg of Red Frogs to over 20 tonnes."
Mr Gourley said the Schoolies program was now supporting 17 locations where volunteers assist in providing diversionary entertainment, cooking pancake breakfasts and safely walking people back to their rooms.
"In addition to attending schoolies week, an integral part of the program is about educating high school and university students on responsible drinking and substance awareness," he said.
"In 2014 the Red Frogs Pre-Schoolies Seminar was attended by more than 42,000 Year 12 students.
"Looking back over the past 18 years there has been a huge cultural shift in the way Year 12 students celebrate. We are seeing a lot more students acting responsible and not drinking as hard as they use to."
Mr Gourley said Red Frogs Australia had also established successful working partnerships with state and non-governmental agencies to promote its programs.
"We have expanded from schoolies week to working with university students and we are also now attending big sporting events and music festivals."
Since 1989 Mr Gourley has been a Community Outreach Pastor at Citipointe Church in Brisbane and is currently the chaplain for the Queensland Reds Rugby Union.
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