Centacare North Queensland welcomed community members and special guests to the official opening of its community garden, yarning circle and Kup Murri area on Monday.
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The yarning circle and Kup Murri provide an open area for new programs and workshops, bringing together all members of the community to connect to country in a safe place.
The garden has been frequented by several community groups since its completion and is ripe for the picking with carrots, tomato, lettuce, beetroot, beans, sweet corn, and radishes all in flower thanks to hard work by Cloncurry Kindy, Rainbow Gateway and the ongoing support of many local businesses.
Centacare North Queensland Executive Director Peter Monaghan said there were multiple benefits of the project, many of which have already come to fruition.
“When Centacare acquired the new Neighbourhood Centre, we felt it was important for the community to have a say in how we used the space – we wanted the community to feel welcome and felt like they owned a part of the centre,” Mr Monaghan said.
“Thanks to, funding from Glencore and Southern Gulf NRM, and the hard work of local community groups and staff, we can see that the garden is thriving, and people are really making use of the facility and the space.”
Chief Operating Officer for Glencore’s North Queensland’s Copper operations Matt O’Neill said he was delighted by the community’s response to the new garden.
“We supported the idea of this project from the start – we could see the benefits to the community, having a space all of their own, somewhere where different groups could come together and share skills and knowledge,” Matt O’Neill said.
“This is what our funding programs are about – capacity building through the sharing of knowledge and skills and seeing positive change and sustainable outcomes for our community.”
“It has been wonderful to see the community benefit that has already been delivered through this project and we hope these benefits will continue well into the future.”