Anglicare Riverina’s Ashmont Community Resource Centre has recently been successful in its application for a $22,000 Social Housing Community Improvement Fund grant to develop a Community Garden at the Centre. The application was developed in collaboration with the Ashmont Anglican Parish and will provide opportunities for vulnerable and often isolated families to feel included in a non-threatening community activity.
Kristy Daley, Anglicare’s Manager of Child Youth and Family Services in Wagga, said “Ashmont Community Resource Centre has been a safe, well-respected meeting place for the community for over 15 years. The development of these gardens will see tangible benefits around relationships including trust, diversion from crime, empathy, responsibility and community harmony.” The garden will include raised vegetable and herb gardens, fruit trees, native shrubs and plants, irrigation, paths throughout the garden, a meeting place/yarning circle, storage shed for gardening equipment and potting tables.
“We believe that the strength of the Ashmont Centre is the genuine connection we have with the local community. The community garden initiative is a direct response to a need identified by community members, so we are delighted to now have the funding to provide it. Community members will be consulted throughout the process,” said Ms Daley. “A connection point like the Ashmont Centre makes a real difference in strengthening individuals, families and communities.”
Another service being introduced in 2018 is an eight-week “Sing and Grow” parenting program aimed at strengthening parent-child connection.
Over the last six months, the team at the Ashmont Centre have assisted over 3000 people through emergency relief services, outreach and referral services through Relationships Australia, a ‘Save the Children’ free supported weekly playgroup, Aunty Jean’s Aboriginal Health program, and cooking and basic life skills programs through Wellways. Around 80 Christmas food hampers were also delivered to local families.
Ashmont Community Resource Centre is open Monday to Thursday between 9am – 3pm.
