Are you looking for a great Community organisation to join?
Our Project manager, Rob Hili has joined a community garden group called Swamp, Located at the old pioneer dairy property at Tuggerah and shares his adventure.
The Sustainable Wetlands Agricultural Makers Project (SWAMP) – Central Coast, provides a space for people to visit and connect to grow a community of likeminded people that may be isolated, new to the area, want to join a community garden, learn ways to grow and eat food, gardening tips, sharing local stories and local history, connecting in with our Indigenous communities and learn new ways to grow food and eat food together.
SWAMP is a Sustainable Community Garden Project that facilitates a meeting space for people to come and establish friendships, knowledge and new wisdom, an opportunity to share story of past, present and future, ways to connect to the land and environment, education resources and workshops around the permaculture lifestyle. SWAMP is a place to meet, greet and form life-long friendships around growing food and sharing story.
SWAMP activated the site and grows the community garden with the support of community organisations, businesses, Council and volunteers. Always keep a look out for when they hold workshops, educational events, field days, picnics, tours of the heritage site, storytelling yarn circles, wellness & health workshops, nature playgroups, art in the garden, seasonal food celebrations, paddock to plate events, film festivals, music festivals, artists in the park and the local food trail.
Swamp have community connections with local organisations such as Youth Connect, The Glen Centre, AimBig Employment, Baran Indigenous Services, surrounding community garden communities.
The core members of SWAMP are a collaboration between professionals in nutrition, food, gardening, creatives, IT, health and wellbeing, children’s education, horticulture, ethnobotany, project management, waste management, with an emphasis on environmental sustainability.
The team is made up amazing people like:
Sue Bradley : Co-Founder, Project Co-Ordinator & Community Connections
Sue is a mother to three daughters who are her inspiration, they are the ones who give her the strength and commitment to be involved in SWAMP, so to leave a long-lasting legacy for them to live in a world that is still able to grow food in the soil, clean water to drink and fresh air to breath, but most importantly that they know they are connected to nature and are nature, it lives within us all.
Cheralyn Darcey -Co-Founder, Garden Curator
Cheralyn is an ethnobotanical gardener and botanical history author of twenty internationally published botanical titles. She produces and presents a weekly live 2-hour gardening radio show, At Home with the Gardening Gang, on CoastFM963 and is a member of the Board. She also writes the weekly Down in the Garden page for Central Coasts News and The Coast Chronical. Cheralyn volunteers at SWAMP to create the gardening designs, systems and education.
Cassie Harris - Co-Founder, Community Engagement Facilitator
Cassie Harris is facilitator of Women’s circles, rites of passage ceremonies and Nature Connection teacher here at Swamp Central Coast and her vision for Swamp is to facilitate the space where the remembering of our intrinsic connection to the natural environment can occur. Where community support structures created through ceremony, sharing of knowledge, crafting and rewilding can be established.
Mandy dos Santos - Co-Founder, Children and Family Program Coordinator
Mandy is a nutritionist, food scientist and passionate food educator. Professionally, working with families, educators and children to empower their exploring of food in a way that they can develop a positive relationship with it, through play-based learning. She adores food and nature, and wants to share that with everyone.
Woodie McClean -Co-Founder, MC Microbe | Arts Director & Waste Manager
A locally grown industrious musician and avid eco-warrior, MC Microbe brings an open mind and collaborative nature to represent the creative industries and the microbial macrocosm beneath our feet here on the Central Coast. He is also an expert on Worms. Who new they had five hearts? LOL
Grahame Crough -Co-Founder, Garden Curator
His primary motivations are fun, pleasure, awe, creativity, physical and mental health and a heavy sprinkling of nutrition benefits. As a curator at the SWAMP Community Garden, He gets to share this experience and the sheer pleasure that comes from growing plants and nurturing the soil.
I have been involved with the group since July and I can thoroughly recommend joining this amazing group. I was welcomed with open arms and have learnt so much about not only growing food, but more importantly, the benefits of being part of a community. I made a lot of new friends and been introduced to the farming community of the central coast, which I did not know existed. The location is also a hidden gem.
At SWAMP they have volunteers from all walks of life, and you don’t need to know how to garden to become a volunteer. You will learn and share about the gardens, understand all the activities available to you for volunteering and meet new friends.
BECOME A VOLUNTEER
Start the process towards becoming a “swampie”.
Please check their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CentralCoastWetlandsPioneerDairy/ for dates of the next volunteer inductions or contact the team at info@swampcentralcoast.com.au