People lined Todd Mall in Alice Springs on Saturday as Frontier Services Patrol Minister Colin Gordon rode a camel to Adelaide House, as the Alice Springs Uniting Church Centenary Celebrations began, marking 100 years since the establishment of the Australian Inland Mission (AIM).

Colin was retracing the steps of early AIM Patrol Padre Bruce Plowman on his travels through central Australia. Today, Colin continues in his footsteps providing practical and emotion support to remote families and communities located across the Centralian Patrol.

The Alice Springs Uniting Church is hosting a week of celebrations as part of the National Trust’s Heritage Week. On Saturday, Adelaide House was turned into a living museum with nurses in period costume, regular short talks and a birthday cake for people who were born there. Adelaide House is named after the original AIM Hospital in Alice Springs. The hospitals were named after the places where funds were raised to support the work.

Frontier Services staff based in Alice Springs joined with the local community for the celebrations which continue this weekend with a special AIM Centenary Dinner and Service planned.

The Alice Springs AIM Centenary Celebrations have brought together people from across the country who have been connected to the work of the AIM and Frontier Services, as its successor in the Uniting Church.

Go to our Centenary page to find out more about celebrations taking place this year.