Gardening Capacity Building

2020 has bestowed on us a global health crisis that has disrupted the whole community and most of us were only able to support each other online. Some of our community members have lost touch with us online due to health conditions such as memory loss, hearing difficulties, and hand mobility issues. Our most beloved gardening program was abandoned too with vegetable gardens covered with weeds.

Supported by the Bendigo Bank during 2021 and 2022, we have been excited to slowly welcome back our face-to-face support groups and gardening program amidst the ongoing lockdowns.

Through this program, we have rejuvenated the vegetable patches in our centre and bought self-watering planters, pots and soil to grow vegetables for the Centre’s meals program and fund-raising activities. We also participated in multicultural festivals and Whitehorse Council’s Activation Pods program to raise awareness of sustainable gardening and share gardening skills via meetings and chat groups regularly at our HOPE garden centre.

The activation of this program (2021-2022) was supported by
Community Bank Blackburn South Bendigo Bank.