We have identified that there are people in the local area that lack an understanding of a nutritional diet and access to cost effective, nutritional foods. So to address this issue we are going to develop a community garden at Marshal Mount and following the growing of fruit and vegetables we will then support participants to be able to prepare cost effective, nutritional meals based on what they have produced.
This project will also allow people to be able to participate in more meaningful activities in their daily life and at the same time develop some valuable life skills. The project involves working with the following organisations: RC (Rotary Club) of Dapto - project lead; Aruma, Disability Services (previously House with No Steps), Dapto Anglican Church, Dapto Conference of St Vincent De Paul Society and the Department of Communities and Justice Corrective Services.
The first stage will be funded by the RC of Dapto and will commence in October 2019 and will involve:
- identification of 8-10 participants for the pilot- Dapto Conference of St Vincent De Paul Society and Aruma
- developing the garden beds in October - Department of Communities and Justice Corrective Services
- planting of the garden beds with summer plants in November 2019
- weekly visits by the project team - Rotary Club of Dapto and participants during November to March 2020
- harvesting of produce as they become available
- cooking lessons by Jill Peace, manager of The Cafe - Dapto Anglican Church during March-April 2020
- final report and recommendations for the next stage April 2020
The second stage will require more funding and will be dependent on securing the funding from another source. Hopefully from the NSW Government Grant under the ‘Community Building Partnership Program’. An application has been logged and successful applications will be notified in late March 2020. If we are successful, this stage will be conducted from April 2020 until October 2021.