What a crazy start to spring – hot one day, cold and raining the next. We love a bit of rain at the farm so are welcoming the wet – as are the kids who have visited lately and splashed in some very muddy puddles.

There’s lots happening at Green Connect as usual! Here’s the latest…

Funding – yay!

We have been awarded three grants in the last couple of weeks, including the My Community Project grant to build a kids area and design and coordinate children’s activities at the Green Connect farm (thank you to everyone who voted for us!). We’re very excited about what we can achieve over the next three years with this funding. Stay tuned!

Climate strike

Tomorrow, millions of people around the world are expected to take to the streets to demand climate action. Join us in Wollongong or find an event near you to show your support.

Thank you for helping on R U OK Day

On R U OK day last week, our amazing Staffing Manager, Bron, checked in with lots of our staff and many were OK but some were not. She asked what she could do to help and after speaking to lots and lots of people, came back to the office with a small list of things people needed that would make all the difference.

THANK YOU to our amazing community who responded to our callout on Facebook for these items. Knowing what each of these gifts would mean to each young person or former refugee that we support and employ made us all a bit teary at your kindness. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Award finalists

We have been shortlisted for three Illawarra Business Awards!

  • Excellence in Workplace Inclusion
  • Excellence in Sustainability
  • Outstanding Business Leader

We are excited and nervous. All will be revealed at the awards on Friday 18 October. Wish us luck!

Donate-tools-wollongong

What’s happening at the Farm

We’re excited about the future of the farm as a space for environmental education and ecotourism, building on more than six years of hard work that has turned it in to the productive permaculture space it is today. If you have ideas or want to be involved, let me know!

Dig Day

Once a month we invite anyone and everyone to join us for a Dig Day. Come and get your hands dirty, meet some new people, and glean every edible item left over from our harvested plot before we let the pigs in to feast on the roots and leftovers. Volunteers can take food home and anything left over will be donated to a local charity.

The next Dig Day is 9am to 1pm on Friday 27 September. Please email Felicity at [email protected] to get more details and let her know you’ll be there.

School Holiday farm experiences for kids

Visits to the farm are proving very popular during school holidays and we have sold out each time. If you want to bring the kids to the Green Connect farm to see where food comes from, meet some farm animals, and learn a bit about plants and gardening, get in quick! https://green-connect.com.au/product/farm-experience-for-kids/

Workshops and events

September

  • Dig Day (volunteer activity) – 9am-1pm Friday 27 September, free – more…
  • Beekeeping Workshop – 9am-4pm Saturday 28 September, $182pp (discounts for veg box customers) – more…

October

  • Kids Farm Experience – various dates and times in October school holidays, $10pp – more…
  • Intro to Green Connect farm tour – 10-11am Wednesday 16 October, $22pp – more…

November

  • Grow Your Own Vegetables – 9am-5pm Saturday 9 November, $182pp (discounts for veg box customers) – more…
  • Farm to Plate (summer), exploring what’s in season and how to cook it – 10am-1pm Saturday 16 November, $86pp (discounts for veg box customers) – more…

Pork

We raise small numbers of animals at the Green Connect farm to help turn the soil and eat all the yummy leftover vegetables, and to offer delicious, ethically-raised, free-range meat that we sell directly from the farm. The meat is only available every three months and our last lot was almost all sold through pre-order, but there is a little bit still available, frozen.

If you or someone you know would like to purchase ethical, free-range pork, directly from our farm and available for pick up from our Port Kembla office, please order via https://green-connect.com.au/product/frozen-pork-cuts/.

What’s happening at the Op Shop

Hello Aussie Books for Zim!

We are very excited to be partnering with Aussie Books for Zim, who set up libraries in Zimbabwe in communities who have never had access to books. The ABZ team has moved in to our Bellambi site and is ramping up their operations. We’re donating as many books as possible to ABZ, so keep them coming!

Events

  • Upcycling: Funked Up Furniture – 6-7.30pm Wednesday 25 September, $30pp through Rumpus – more…
  • Thrifty Threads – 10-11.30am, Saturday 9 November, $30pp through Rumpus – more…

Come and browse

We’re located at 16 Bellambi Lane, Bellambi (just over the railway tracks from Bunnings).

We keep our prices low so that the whole community can benefit and we can keep as much as possible out of waste.

Clothes – $12/kg

Toys and board games – from $1 each

Necklaces and earrings – most $3 each

Books – $2 each ($1 each for children’s books)

Homewares – from $1 each

The op shop is located at 16 Bellambi Lane, Bellambi. Opening hours are 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, and 10am to 2pm Saturday. Contact us on 02 4207 9616 or [email protected]

What’s happening in Zero Waste

Event season is here

The summer season is approaching so we’re gearing up for lots of waste management work at events, helping them to be as sustainable as possible by reducing landfill-bound items coming in, and by composting and recycling as much of the event waste as possible. It’s work that matters – and offers lots of employment opportunities for our staff, mainly young people and former refugees.

Helping businesses manage their waste

More and more businesses, schools and venues want to introduce or improve recycling, or figure out the best way to reduce the amount of waste they send to landfill, and we can help! Our expert Zero Waste team conducts audits and formulates waste management plans to reduce waste altogether, maximise compost and recycling, and minimise landfill.

If you need someone to manage waste at your event, or sort out recycling systems and more in your workplace, contact our Zero Waste Manager on 02 4243 1537 or [email protected].

What’s happening in Staffing Solutions

The crazy winds in August and September have kept us very busy at sites all over the Illawarra and southern Sydney to ensure that litter doesn’t make its way in to the environment. We have also started working with a new landscaping customer and cleaning homes when the owners move out.

Great news for two of our staff

We recently celebrated two of our long-term staff, both former refugees, purchasing their own home. It was an exciting day and we couldn’t be happier for them. It can be really hard coming to a new country where you might not speak the language, understand the culture and customs, or know anyone. Green Connect was created to help former refugees and young people (because they are the two groups with the highest rates of unemployment in the Illawarra) to get and keep jobs, and in industries that are good for the planet. Eight years on we’re having quite an impact!

If you need hardworking, reliable staff for short periods of time and/or at short notice, contact our Staffing Solutions team on 02 4243 1537 or at [email protected].

Until next time, have a great weekend ahead!