I am thrilled to announce that I will visit my beloved home Australia over April 2022! It has been 2.5 years since I left in August 2019 - which is insane. Please help fund my journey to see my family, friends, art community and fulfill artwork commitments. Every dollar counts and will greatly help! How will the funds raised be used? The funds will be used towards my travel expenses for the round trip including: return flights from London – Sydney; connecting transport; multiple covid tests; travel insurance; and my passport renewal fees. My story? I left my beloved home Australia in August 2019 when I made the commitment to relocate to London to study my Master of Fine Art (in the Interprofessional studio) at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. Now on the other side of the degree, I have graduated with Distinction and have remained on in London to pursue my art and research career, and am now currently on a Graduate Route visa until July 2023. Thank-you to everyone who has supported my MFA studies and my journey so far, I could not have achieved this goal or accumulated this life experience without your support. For a long time, there was no option to come home, firstly I was too sick with covid, followed by the borders closing, and then tickets being horrendously expensive and unreliable, in addition to expensive and lengthy quarantine regulations in Australia made it impossible. I could not afford to travel due to my health, finances and time, along with the uncertainty of being able to leave Australia and return to the UK. Now, finally, after all these years it is feasible to return. I can’t begin to explain how excited I am! For so long I felt that I would never be able to return, and along with the memory issues I suffer from long covid and the time away, I have felt that Australia isn’t real anymore… it has broken my heart. I need to come home. I will come home for the month of April and will possibly extend my stay over May (tbc). Why am I asking for support? I am asking for support because I am struggling financially and this important journey home is difficult to finance. I have been mostly surviving off my AUD savings (which are evaporating fast due to the exchange rate into GBP), along with the small income I am able to earn in the UK vs high living costs in London. Additionally, my ongoing (for 2 years now) health issues regarding long-covid have been debilitating and significantly impacted my ability to work full time, and the many tests and treatments have been expensive – it is ongoing. Any contribution will be greatly appreciated and will really help me. I also understand that this time has been financially difficult for many people, and so I want to state that there is no pressure to support my journey back to Australia and I would not want anyone else to struggle on my behalf. It is uncomfortable to ask for support and I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable in not being able to offer support. This is important to overstate. Thank-you Finally, I would like to thank my donors for supporting my journey home to Australia! Please share my campaign page on your social media and/or to anyone who you think might like to support my journey home. See you soon! Thank-you, Elyssa Sykes-Smith www.elyssasykes-smith.com