On the 13th of December last year, Sara Hill, director and founder of Go and Grow Gardens posted on her Facebook page news that many start up social enterprises hope to share. “We have reached our fund raising “Tipping Point” of $15,600 which means all pledges will be drawn and we can move into production next year! Yay!!!”
Make a Change interviewed Sara last year on her tips for a start up social enterprise and clearly her advice is excellent!
“Go and Grow has succeeded so far,” explains Sara “ by taking little steps and moving at a pace that our community feels comfortable.”
Being aware of her stakeholders needs has been important, but equally important has been the daily action of “showing up” and “getting the work done.”
“Consistency is just so important, to not only build our profile to successfully crowd fund, but create real relationships. Just yesterday at the Eaglehawk Community House we were gathering poo for the garden and we had a new person from the community join in. It was a great day of new friends and conversations, plus getting a job done in the garden.”
“The whole purpose of Go and Grow Gardens is to find connections to grow food. Sure the fresh home grown food is great, but the benefits of Go and Grow are many.” Sara identifies these benefits as mental health and connecting deeply to our environment. “This is what drives me each day. My work is all about connecting people to the environment and one another.”
The partnerships Sara has established to deliver Go and Grow have been reinforced by the successful Start Some Good campaign. It means for Go and Grow suppliers of garden boxes, FEO, a new and reliable income stream and employment opportunities. Likewise for PepperGreen Farm, who produce their seedlings, they are another Bendigo social enterprise who benefits from additional revenue.
Sara has plans to continue “Going” and “Growing” including a formal launch in April, building connections to the local community through a partnership with Eaglehawk Primary School to host weekly garden fresh community meals to raise funds for the kitchen garden program at the school and a workshop series to assist those community groups with boxes to keep growing and connecting people with gardening and fresh food.
Stay in touch with the Go and Grow team on Facebook.
Photo Credit : Rebecca Huddy
Written by Tamara Marwood of Create Business. Tamara is a maker, player and communications expert working across community, commercial and the not-for-profit sector.
Photo Credit : Nina Birss
Written by Tamara Marwood of Create Business. Tamara is a maker, player and communications expert working across community, commercial and the not-for-profit sector.
– See more at: https://makeachange.org.au/latest-news/one-person-can-make-a-change#sthash.GK1gQp40.dpuf
Tamara is a maker, player and communications expert working across
community, commercial and the not-for-profit sector. – See more at:
https://makeachange.org.au/latest-news/one-person-can-make-a-change#sthash.GK1gQp40.dpuf
Tamara is a maker, player and communications expert working across
community, commercial and the not-for-profit sector. – See more at:
https://makeachange.org.au/latest-news/one-person-can-make-a-change#sthash.GK1gQp40.dpuf
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