Stay up to date with the latest news...
* From our CEO
* World Environment Day with the City of Ryde,
* Corporate Contributions
* Henley Garden Party
* Gordon Garden Club
* NAIDOC Week
* Meet and Greet
* Local Heroes
* Rain Checks
* As Easy as ABC
* Backyard Biodiversity
* Staying Safe in the Garden
* Winter Newsletter
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From Our CEO
Dear All,
It is the end of the financial year and time to look back at what the last 12 months has meant to Easy Care Gardening.
This time last year, NSW residents were about to go into the longest lockdown we had experienced.
Just as we were emerging out of lockdown, NSW experienced severe weather conditions starting at the end of November and this continued until mid April. Our gardening services for our clients were again disrupted until May 2022.
Twelve months on, we are almost back to normal activity.
Over the last 12 months, Easy Care Gardening was able to:
🥳 Celebrate an end of year with a bowls/dinner at Cheltenham on 3 December
🇦🇺 Attend the awards presentation for winning the Mayor of Ku-ring-gai Council's 2022 Australia Day award for outstanding service by a community service
💐 Run workshops with Ku-ring-gai Council, City of Ryde and Hunter's Hill Council and the Department of Communities and Justice for NSW Seniors Festival throughout March- April
🧑🌾 Conduct the annual Volunteer Training Day on 2 May
🌅 Have an excursion for National Volunteer appreciation week at the Coal Loader on 16 May with our Patron Judy Horton in attendance. Many thanks Judy.
🌏 Have a stand at the City of Ryde Sustainability Festival on 4 June for Earth Day
In June we also welcomed Peter Cocks as our new HR Coordinator to Easy Care Gardening - read more in the newsletter below.
As we start the new financial year, Easy Care Gardening will be:
* Upgrading our systems thanks to the generous sponsorship by the James Kirby Foundation and the donations received during the March Ethical Jobs campaign.
* Replacing some tools in all areas thanks to the generous support by City of Ryde, Hunter's Hill Council and private donors.
Kind Regards,
Daniele Di Paolo on behalf of Leanne Babic (on annual leave).
🪴P.S. A Thank you to the Gordon Gardening Club, for inviting me to speak at their June monthly meeting. It was a pleasure to meet so many keen gardeners, some of whom had been Easy Care Gardening volunteers and clients and all members share the same values as our organisation. Thank you again.
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Easy Care Gardening wishes to thank our Supporters in 2021-2022
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👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Thank you also to all the Corporate and Groups: ABRDN, Optus, Deloitte's, American Express, Bunnings Warehouse, St James Church and MERCYWorldWide who have supported us throughout the financial year by volunteering.
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Apology
On Friday 24 and Monday 27 June, our office experienced an outage of our internet, emails and telephone lines which meant Easy Care Gardening's entire system was down.
We have been working with our external IT and Telstra to restore our systems. Easy Care Gardening apologises to all clients, volunteers and staff who were inconvenienced by the outage and thanks you for your patience during this time.
Easy Care Gardening is working towards upgrading our systems in the new financial year to reduce future outages.
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WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2022
I often remark that our gardeners are also environmental warriors, so it is only fair to acknowledge their efforts on World Environment Day. Why the claim? So many of the properties we help manage are very near the bush, and our teams are constantly removing weeds from their gardens that are likely to invade it if not kept in check. These are a combination of garden escapes like Privet, Fishbone and Asparagus Fern, Mickey Mouse Plant and Morning Glory Vine… all considered ornamental until they become uncontrollable!
These volunteers pull out and prune back many unruly garden bullies, keeping not only the gardens themselves in better condition, but also the reserves, National Parks and parks that are often interspersed in our suburbs.
This World Environment Day I spent my time at the Sustainability Festival in Ryde letting people know about Easy Care Gardening and the work of our incredible volunteers. As a result we have already had a few new members join us, including a corporate team.
It was a great day of demos and stalls, and certainly something I’d do again.
Meredith Kirton, Marketing and Communications Manager
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Join millions of people reducing their plastic waste
Plastic Free July® is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities. Will you be part of Plastic Free July by choosing to refuse single-use plastics?
Yes! I will take the challenge!
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Thanks for entering our Coal Loader photograph competition.
Congrats to Patricia Chan for her winning entries, two of which are below.
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MERCYWorldWide
MERCYWorldWide joined ECG on the 18th June to help out Normanhurst resident Glenda. Leslie Tweneboa from MERCYWorldWide helped organise the day, saying “It was lovely working with both you and Peter and also getting to meet lovely Glenda!”
“It was a great day – the team was enthusiastic, bubbly and everyone including the client enjoyed the day. The results were amazing – we filled up two green bins, and had 23 bags and 5 bundles of green waste. Thirteen MERCYWorldWide Volunteers and Peter Sadler worked very hard” says Renate, ECG coordinator.
Ms Tweneboa added “I had such great feedback from our volunteers and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it! Definitely looking forward to our next session!”
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Henley Garden Party
Deputy Mayor Elizabeth Krassoi opened the event in Henley and Councillor Penny Penderson also attended.
Elizabeth Krassoi made everyone feel included, quoting Kermit the Frog’s famous line
”It’s not easy being green!”
Meredith Kirton from ECG caught up later with Ms Krassoi who said “It was a stunning day to relax in the garden and to reconnect with community aged care services and with each other.” And added “What better way to learn a little about Easy Care Gardening, than at a garden party over a cup of tea and a CWA scone?”
📷 Elizabeth Krassoi and Penny Penderson
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National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.
You can support and get to know your local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities through activities and events held across the country and in the City of Ryde. The theme of NAIDOC Week 2022 is 'Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!'
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"We would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land upon which we now garden. We pay our respects to the Ancestors and Elders and honour their continuous and enduring care of Country and the stories that are embedded within."
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Do you need help with your Aged Care Applications?
An Aged Care Specialist Officer (ACSO) is part of My Aged Care face-to-face services. They can help with your aged care matters.
Our ACSOs can help with all of these:
- providing in-depth information on the different types of aged care services
- checking if you’re eligible for government-funded services and making a referral for an aged care assessment
- helping you appoint a representative for My Aged Care
- providing financial information about aged care services
- connecting you to local support services.
You can book a free face-to-face appointment with an ACSO at Brookvale or Hornsby.
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Meet Pete. He has just started at ECG working in Human Resources a few days a week. I’m sure you’ll all welcome him warmly.
Peter Cocks was born and bred in Western Australia, and comes to ECG via Victoria, having lived and worked there for the past 10 years. He has experience in gardening too, having once owned an acre patch of fruit trees and natives in Perth.
More important than his gardening credentials, Peter brings with him over 25 years experience in a variety of industries, from finance to aboriginal housing, statutory government bodies and not-for-profits.
A father of two, Peter is also an ex-pilot and qualified swim and kayak instructor. He still volunteers for Angel Flight, though he stepped down from flying 10 years ago and now ferries regional and outback patients from Sydney’s airports to their medical appointments in the big smoke.
We can’t wait to hear more from Peter over the months ahead. 😇✈️🩺📈
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Last month was National Volunteer Week and nominations are now open for Community Heroes - an initiative that recognises and thanks those who contribute through volunteering.
We would love you to nominate individuals who are deserving of this commendation who live or volunteer in the electorate of Ku-ring-gai.
Please contact:
The Hon Alister Henskens SC MP | Member for Ku-ring-gai
Electorate Office, 27 Redleaf Avenue, Wahroonga NSW 2076
Or the ECG office with:
- Name of nominated individual
- Your name and contact details of nominator
- Brief description of why the nominated individual should be acknowledged.
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FINE WEATHER WARMS THE SPIRIT
The extraordinary weather conditions have impacted our ability to garden, and the weeds have loved the rain, so we have been hit by a double whammy🌧☔️⛈🌂🌦💧
If you have spare hours to garden, we need your help to try and catch up on clients’ gardens while the weather is cooler and (hopefully) drier over winter and the weeds take a short break in their growth before spring.
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ALERT
NSW DPI is working to protect the NSW honey industry by ensuring eradication of the parasite.
The eradication plan is supported by a varroa mite biosecurity zone covering an area within a 50 km radius of the Port of Newcastle infestation.
Within this biosecurity zone, no hive or bees can be moved, no honey or comb can be removed from hives, and beekeepers must let NSW DPI know the location of all hives by:
Emailing hive.location@emergency.dpi.nsw.gov.au, or
calling the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline, 1800 084 881 (9 am to 5 pm, 7 days a week).
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Other Dates for the Diary
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The Granny Smith Festival
Save the Date! We are excited by the return of the Granny Smith Festival (GSF) on Saturday 15 October 2022. Get ready - you won’t want to miss it!
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The Easy Care Gardening Annual General Meeting, 2022
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THREE CHEERS FOR GARDENING AUSTRALIA!
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Congrats to Gardening Australia for your Logie Nomination for a Logie award for ‘Most Popular Lifestyle Show’. The Gardening Australia team said “2021/22 has been a most challenging time for all. We are so proud that we may have helped in a small way, by being a source of comfort, connection, and inspiration.”
Whilst they may not have got the gong (it went to Travel Guides) Gardening Australia stole our hearts! 👏🏼🎖🌿📺
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Staying Safe in the Garden
Limbering up in winter before you garden is the perfect way to avoid sprains and strains, gain flexibility and improve your balance.
Jenny Bateman took our ECG training group through some easy yoga moves you can do seating or standing to prepare yourself for gardening.Check out a short video from the day here.
In the Winter Newsletter Shuna Papahatzis has written more on Working Safely in the Garden. You can check it all out here.
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Winter Newsletter
Our winter newsletter is out now. Read up on our excursion, Seniors’ Festival and garden safety. Find out more about pets in the garden and also some updates on corporate volunteering, and tips on winter gardening.
View Newsletter >>
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We LOVE feedback. If you have an idea, want to say thanks, or let us know something, we'd love to hear from you. You can contact us at info@easycaregardening.org.au |
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