Redcliffe: When Ryan Elson was losing his twin son Jake to terminal bone cancer he relied on his community and now he’s giving back.

The former police officer and commercial real estate agent was running his own business in 2017 when tragedy struck.

“We were given devastating news,” the 50-year-old charity founder said.

“Jake (pictured below) was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer in his neck. My business basically ceased to operate and everything was about Jake.

“I was in the darkest place I had ever been. I needed to find a bright light, something positive. It occurred to me that my family and I were so loved and supported by the community.”

After posting on social media Ryan found a tribe of people who were also seeking consolidation.

“The first ever Tribe event was me putting on Facebook: ‘If you are lonely, isolated or anxious, I will be at the Belvedere Hotel at 5.30pm, you will be safe and welcomed.’

“People came. I did it again the next month and the next.

“By the time Jake died in 2018 we were doing coffee sessions once a week, a beach gathering, and a pub gathering once a month.”

Since then, Tribe Social Belonging – which has its own live music clubhouse – has helped thousands of Brisbane locals.

At its heart, Tribe is a charity that offers opportunity through connection. As a social enterprise the Tribe Clubhouse was opened to connect lonely and isolated people, and bring them into their community. 

The Clubhouse hosts safe and welcoming events such as art, karaoke and board games, with free barbecues and outings.

Saturday nights are for original bands to play.

The venue has hosted a stack of incredible local bands, with a killer line up announced for the Undead Summer Festival on December 16 (pictured below).

Ryan said live music was at the core of the clubhouse, because it brought people together.

“You meet some of the nicest people in a death metal mosh pit.

“We opened the clubhouse so we could control our own space, create more regular events and put gigs on, plus I love live bands.

“It also made me think, what if you don’t have anyone? What if you are going through your darkest hour, whatever it is, and you have no one to talk to?”

He’s even created Tribe Drive (below right) which assists people that don’t have the to help to obtain a drivers licence.

Bendigo Bank stepped in donating a car to the charity, which volunteers use to help learners get their required hours.

“We also provide NDIS support because so many people with disabilities are lonely and isolated.”

However, the club is for all people.

“One of the best things we feel we do is get able and disabled people together fairly seamlessly.”

Ryan said he loved nothing more than seeing someone who was once seeking community find their people.

“It’s so fulfilling watching someone who has been lonely and isolated for a long time start to lighten up, create a friends circle and re-engage with life.

“I also love taking chances and sticking it up all the haters and doubters.

“This role has given me more peace and satisfaction than anything I have ever done.”

He worries about the future of life music after heavy-handed local councils closed down several music clubs after noise complaints.

“It’s in danger of the whingers and complainers that clearly don’t like others having a good time.

“Live original music has such a rich history in this country but these days it feels like the same people that saw early Chisel, Midnight Oil and INXS want live venues shut down. I don’t get it!”

Ryan – who is also husband to Emma, dad to Zac (Jake’s twin), step-dad to Lexi and Kai, has a “sorta dorta” Maddie and “an array of waifs and strays who come and go” – now wants to see more Tribes established across Australia, including the Sunshine Coast and even in his home town of Hobart, in a bid to bring more people out of the shadows and into connectivity.

“We used to look after each other in a tribe or a village, but now people tend to ignore each other either through fear or lack of time,” he said.

“How about next time you say hello to that old person you see in the cafe, say ‘hi’ to a young person you see often or get to know your neighbour. That interaction may be the best thing that has happened to them in a long time.

“You don’t know what someone else is going through.”

While the Tribe logo looks similar to Pink Floyd’s famous prism, featured on “The Dark Side of The Moon” album, it is actually based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which is a theory of developmental psychology that states our actions are motivated by certain physiological and psychological needs that progress from basic to complex.

It’s a theory the charity models itself on.

Tribe Clubhouse is at 4/457 Oxley Ave, Redcliffe. Phone: 0422 232 437 or visit https://linktr.ee/tribesocialbelonging for more information.