MEDIA RELEASE March 2013 EARTHCARE FAIR Growing Community - Love food, hate waste The Hawkesbury EarthCare Centre invites the community for a day of entertainment, displays, fine food, music, children's activities, market stalls, tours and demonstrations. Celebrate the beautiful Autumn season with a fun day for all the family. Taste the local harvest and relax in the beautiful rural surrounds of the Hawkesbury. EarthCare is an Environmental Education Centre on the Hawkesbury campus of the University of Western Sydney, Richmond. The Fair is hosted by the ATA (Alternative Technology Association) and the HDRA (Henry Doubleday research Association) that run the centre. Our members will come together on the 4th May to share the latest in alternative technology says Jenny Dibley from the ATA, Australia s leading not-for-profit organisation promoting sustainable technology and practice. ATA provides advice on conserving energy, building with natural materials, reusing, reducing the use of and recycling natural resources. The Fair provides the opportunity to see the HDRA Organic Garden with information, displays and seeds available to encourage more ecologically sound farming and gardening says Sue Wall from HDRA. Sue is one of the team of volunteers that trial different growing methods and enjoy the organic vegetables from the community garden. There will be guided tours of the garden and produce available for purchase. Discover the secrets for healthy soils and healthy plants with composting and worms farms, you can even buy your own worms (nature s recyclers) to take home. Many people come together in the community to support the day. Lucia Okumura brings together local musicians with the Chorella Choir starting the day at 9am. Followed by a wonderful mix of musicians performing every hour until 3pm, including Tarna Rosentreter, Green Tree Serenade, Macquarie Towns Ensemble, Angus Findlay and Bowen & Clare. Relax outdoors with beautiful melodies whilst enjoying a cappuccino from The Coffee Warehouse and homemade cakes, or soup from local produce. At lunch experience a vegetarian cooking demonstration by light hearted Ling Halbert as part of the Love Food Hate Waste program. The University of Western Sydney Regional Centre of Excellence will share ideas of how we can save money and reduce waste with their recycled fashion items.
To tempt the senses visit John Street in action making bread and taste the delights of freshly baked organic bread. Maybe with a spread of honey from our volunteer s own bee hives. Wander through the many stalls with information and displays about sustainable living. Learn about actions for climate change and the growing Transition Networks. Meet the local people from Sahaja Yoga for a free meditation experience. Make a visit to the Hawkesbury Council, Hawkesbury Environment Network and Hawkesbury Rainforest Network displays to discover the latest in bushland information and native plants for your properties. The recent listing of the Western Sydney Dry Rainforest as critically endangered makes their work more important than ever. Find out how you can get involved? Kids can join in the many activities with a nature focus. Create your own work of art with seeds, do Aboriginal rock painting with Uncle Greg, make your own pot with seedlings to plant. Meet giant Percy Pumpkin & Mrs Plum Fairy who will be roaming the garden having lots of autumn fun. If you ask nicely they may even take you on an adventure up the garden path. Art and crafts from around the district will be on display and for sale, the perfect mother s day gift. Local spinners with their spinning wheels in action providing demonstrations and craft for sale. The Hawkesbury Community Art Workshops will open the Piggery Studio on the EarthCare site. See demonstrations of print making, the potter s wheel and artists using a range of mediums with oils, watercolour and pastels, from portraits, still life to landscapes. Combine your day with the Secret Garden s Autumn Fair on the western end of the campus. Opening their doors from 9am to 5pm inviting everyone to experience this beautiful garden and nursery. A large range of plants for sale at wholesale prices, all grown as part of their horticultural therapy program. The children will love meeting the resident pigs, chickens, ducks and farmyard animals. Relax in the beautiful rambling gardens and enjoy a devonshire tea or a sausage sizzle. Face painting and children s activities will add to the fun with lots of treasures to be found with white elephant stalls. All part of growing community at the University of Western Sydney as it celebrates its... year. Combine the Secret Garden and the EarthCare Fair, two centres run by the community, to delight in the Autumn Harvest! Event: EarthCare Fair Where: Hawkesbury EarthCare Centre University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury Campus, Bourke St, Richmond, NSW. When: 4th May 2013 Time: 9am -3pm Cost: Entry by donation Contact : Eric Brocken/ Karen Gray Email: info@earthcare.org.au
Ph.: (02) 45678424 Mobile: 0438 731 712 or 0428 988341 Web: www.earthcare.org.au