Green Connect is a community of people with amazing stories. We are always growing and changing. We love to share these stories and all our news here on our blog. Check back soon for more.
Media release: collaborative funding for Green Connect
Collaborative funding approach to create more jobs in the Illawarra Republished with permission from the Westpac Foundation Illawarra-based social enterprise, Green Connect, is the fifth organisation to benefit from a new collaborative funding approach led by Westpac Foundation which aims to create more jobs for vulnerable Australians. Together, Westpac Foundation and The Ian Potter Foundation will invest $564,000 in Green Connect to help scale its enterprise to create an estimated 111 new jobs and 262 employment pathways over the next three years. Legal firm MinterEllison will also be involved in the collaboration as a key pro bono partner. Green Connect focuses [...]
The Best Sustainable Christmas Gift Ideas 2019
Christmas is magical and we want to share some great gift ideas that are sustainable, memorable and will create much-loved presents. Things that you can make yourself, are second-hand, experiences that will last a lifetime or donations are all ways we can gift this Christmas and also help our planet! These are our tips for Sustainable Christmas Gift Ideas: 1.) Buy less this Christmas! Why not agree to a limit that you and your family will spend, or when buying for kids limit it to four gifts: something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read! 2.) Buy second-hand [...]
Illawarra’s only free-range pork straight from the farm
Green Connect is proud to be able to offer locally produced, chemical-free, free-range pork from our farm in Warrawong For the last 4 years, we have kept pigs on the Green Connect farm, they've been a great addition to our workforce. They root around in the ground, digging up roots and plants and fertilising the ground as they go. Using animals as part of the permaculture process is a great way of diversifying the use of the land. Our pigs are rotated around the farm, where they have huge areas to graze and explore. They are fed vegetable and fruit scraps [...]
Internship applications open
Fair Food Internship Green Connect employs young people and former refugees to do work that helps the planet and the community. We run an 11-acre permaculture farm in Warrawong and an op shop in Bellambi, as well as offering zero waste services and labor hire to local businesses, schools, councils and events. Please explore our website for more information. Our fair food farm provides chemical free vegetables and fruit that feed over 120 households along with several restaurants and cafes through the Illawarra every week. We also produce free-range pork, lamb, eggs and natural honey, and provide farm tours and workshops [...]
Illawarra, home of green jobs
This week Wollongong City Council unanimously passed a motion in support of the Australian government's investment in the recycling industry and "to express an interest that Wollongong be the site of a new Australian recycling plant noting a suitable site or sites for its location" (more info in the minutes here, item 23). We were very excited to hear this! While jobs in Wollongong in mining and manufacturing continue to decline, there’s a new wave of employment opportunities in waste, recycling and the circular economy, that the region is poised to lead. This is a new industrial revolution, where what has [...]
Calling for expressions of interest from Facilitators and Curriculum Developers
We are about to scale up our activities at the Green Connect farm (and possibly op shop) to offer more tours, workshops and experiences, especially for children and families. Once we have an Activity Coordinator in place (see here for more information and to apply), we may need additional Facilitators and/or Curriculum Developers. Please let us know if you are interested in either of these roles and what background you have that makes you a great candidate by filling in the form below.
We’re hiring an Activity Coordinator
We're hiring! Green Connect employs young people and former refugees to do work that helps the planet and the community. We run an 11-acre permaculture farm in Warrawong and an op shop in Bellambi, as well as offering zero waste services and labour hire to local businesses, schools, councils and events. Please explore our website for more information. After almost 9 years working in sustainability, almost 7 years at the Green Connect farm, and now with an op shop, we are often approached to share what we know and there is demand for hands-on activities that help people to learn more [...]
Annual Report 2019
The 2019 financial year was Green Connect's biggest yet. There were some tough moments and some great moments. We grew, we welcomed new team members, and we welcomed the op shop in to the Green Connect family! Importantly, we: Employed 122 young people and former refugees (more jobs) Kept 119 tonnes of waste out of landfill (less waste) Grew and distributed 35,166kg of chemical-free food (fair food) For a full overview of the year that was, download an excerpt of our parent company Community Resources' annual report here: Annual Report 2019 excerpt - Green Connect For the full annual [...]
Meeting with the Governor General of Australia
Today we had the honour of attending a very special meeting between Wollongong City Council, His Excellency Governor General of Australia David Hurley and Her Excellency Linda Hurley, and community organisations making our region more sustainable. Kylie Flament, our General Manager, spoke to Their Excellencies about our work. They were very interested in our work at large music festivals and other events in particular where we’re significantly reducing waste by working with organisers to change what is coming in, and handsorting waste at the events to recycle and compost as much as possible. We talked about the [...]
Illawarra Business Award finalists
We were delighted to get a call to tell us that we are finalists in not one but three (!!) categories at this year's Illawarra Business Awards. Last year was our first year at the awards and we won Excellence in Social Enterprise. This year we have been shortlisted for: Excellence in Sustainability Excellence in Workplace Inclusion Outstanding Business Leader (Kylie Flament) Wish us luck!
Funding for a kids play area and activities at the farm
Thank you to everyone in Wollongong who voted for us as part of My Community Project. Thanks to you, the NSW Government is going to fund a children's play area and kids activities on the Green Connect farm! Here's a bit more about our project, called "Fun on the farm": We live in a world that is disconnected from nature and from where our food comes from. Through an educational play area and hands-on activities on an 11-acre farm, this project will re-connect children and families with plants, animals, food systems and lots of mud. Messy play, [...]
Meet the team-Natasha Wilmer
Natasha Willmer is a born and bred country girl from Temora. In 1996 she found herself in Wollongong, after missing the truckie she was meant to be meeting up with. She came down the mountain, saw the view and thought, ‘Nup, not leaving! I’m staying. Done.’ And she’s been here ever since... Tell me a little bit about yourself- who are you outside of Green Connect? Outside of Green Connect? Do I exist outside of Green Connect? Good question. I don’t do much besides Green Connect. I’m here five days a week. I was a volunteer, I [...]
August 2019 Green Connect News
Last week I went to the Social Impact Evidence Forum in Melbourne and got to catch up with lots of great social entrepreneurs, researchers and funders. I have to admit, running a social enterprise is hard. It was comforting to know that others find it hard too – and that they (like we) do it anyway because we know what a big difference we’re making. It’s hard because we’re trying to run a business with all the commercial expertise a business requires while also doing all the social and environmental good of a charity. There are never [...]
Green Connect’s youth employment program
Tucked away in one of the poorest suburbs of Wollongong, a city built on mining and manufacturing industries that are now in decline, lies an 11-acre permaculture farm that gives young people and former refugees a chance to learn new skills, try new things, make mistakes, meet new people, and make a difference. The majority of the young people that come to Green Connect have dropped out of school or are at risk of doing so. Some have learning difficulties, mental health challenges and/or difficult home lives that have made learning the skills they will need to get and keep a [...]
Volunteer “dig day” at the farm
A group of volunteers came to the Green Connect farm to remove a leftover crop, glean as much edible food as possible, and compost the rest. This was a pilot project from our Food Optimisation team to figure out the best way to ensure that no food goes to waste at the farm. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for future events.
Introducing the Green Connect op shop
The Bellambi op shop that Illawarra residents know and love is joining the Green Connect family and we are inviting the whole community to a morning tea on Saturday 11 May to celebrate. Full press release here
Press release: Green Connect tackling youth employment
Green Connect – a Wollongong based social enterprise – has won a NSW Government contract to help solve youth unemployment. Green Connect has been engaged to create employment opportunities for disengaged young people aged 15-24, who live in the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Southern Highlands, and face multiple and complex barriers to employment. The contract is part of the Youth Employment Innovation Challenge: a $10 million NSW Government program that provides funding to innovative solutions and ideas that help young people find employment in NSW. Kylie Flament, General Manager, said:“We’re thrilled to secure this contract, and to grow [...]
Green Connect wins 2019 Australia Day award
Green Connect was honoured at the Wollongong City Council Australia Day awards last night, winning the award for Outstanding Community Group. Emmanuel Bakenga, Support Worker at Green Connect, and community member Irit Alony who nominated Green Connect, were on hand to accept the award and thank the council and community for their support.
Green Connect wins Excellence in Social Enterprise at the Illawarra Business Awards
We were honoured to win an Illawarra Business Award. Bron Williams, HR & Labour Hire Manager, and Kylie Flament, General Manager, were on hand to accept the award and said: “It’s hard to run a small or medium business. Throw in some lofty social and environmental goals and it seems near impossible, but at Green Connect we do the near impossible every day… thank you to the Illawarra community who believed in us, who buy our products and services, who have provided support when we need it, and who make something that is far from easy, but [...]
Green Connect free range pork
For those who eat meat, Green Connect offers an ethically-raised option: free-range pork from pigs who are raised with lots of fresh produce, space to roam and sunshine.
Social Traders Certified
We are proud to have been a certified social enterprise by Social Traders for several years now. Check out a range of other amazing social enterprises in Australia at https://www.socialtraders.com.au/.