Community News
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Laundry service for friends in need
A new initiative in Castlemaine is providing a free laundry service to people experiencing homelessness and members of the community doing it tough. The ‘Laundromat of the Future’ service is operated by not-for-profit organisation, Orange Sky, at Sac O Suds Launderette. Orange Sky provides people experiencing homelessness or doing it tough (whom they call ‘friends’)…
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Celebrating our goldfields past
Chewton Domain Society and Parks Victoria are holding a double celebration to mark the 20th birthday of Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park and to commemorate the Diggers’ 1851 Monster Meeting next month. The event will be held on Sunday December 11 at the Monster Meeting site in Golden Point Road, Chewton. Parks rangers will lead…
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Fringe media partnership with MainFM
Castlemaine Fringe has announced an official media partnership with MainFM 94.9 for the 30th anniversary of Castlemaine Fringe Festival in 2023. Festival chair Jacqueline Brodie-Hanns said they were pleased to be joining forces with MainFM for next year’s event. “We’ve got an exciting program in the works with the Shop Windows Art Tour happening again, Scrabble…
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Let’s celebrate
MainFM’s Able Radio and Windarring Castlemaine are putting on a get together to celebrate International Day of People with Disability. The event is on Friday December 2 at the tea rooms in the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens, and celebrates the contributions and achievements of people with disability and promotes inclusion in the community. Everyone is welcome…
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Museum spruce up
Kyneton Museum is getting a spruce up! The museum will close temporarily on December 12 to prepare for restoration works planned from mid-January 2023. Kyneton Museum is in the former Bank of New South Wales building in Piper Street, built in 1856. It houses changing exhibitions in the original banking chamber downstairs, while upstairs the…
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Flood recovery calls for volunteers
Amy HumeDisaster recovery group BlazeAid is calling for volunteers to assist flood efforts in the Bridgewater area. The volunteer organisation has helped farmers restore thousands of fences and clean up properties ravaged by disaster since the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. Woodend volunteer Graeme Allen is coordinating the base at Bridgewater Recreation Reserve, which launched the…
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Wine, music and goodwill
Wine, music and goodwill towards refugees set the mood for a fundraiser at Norma Richardson Hall in Woodend last Friday. Special guest for the evening was David Laity, founder and CEO of Goodwill Wines. In 2009 David, like so many others, had his livelihood wiped out by the Black Saturday fires. But with the help…
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Flood recovery a long process
Macedon Ranges residents have heard flood recovery is expected to be a long process with widespread damage from the October flood events. The mayor, Cr Jennifer Anderson, said Darraweit Guim was one the hardest hit areas in the shire and efforts were continuing shire-wide to support flood-impacted residents. “Some people in our community may not…
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Busy in advocacy
Life has never been busier for Woodend resident Jean Ker Walsh. “Retirement can be challenging,” she says. “But it’s enabled me to concentrate on the things that matter.” What matters to Jean, apart from family and friends, is a commitment to social justice. Jean co-chairs Grandmothers for Refugees, utilising her experience as broadcast journalist, political…
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Wooling Hill Run to raise funds
Dynamic duo, Hayden Walsh and Karen O’Sullivan who recently launched their book If I can, you can, are teaming up once again for a good cause. They are asking the community to participate in the Mount Macedon Realty: Wooling Hill Run 2022 this October to raise funds for Kyneton Health’s Palliative Care in the Home…
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Saving clothing from landfill
Castlemaine CWA will be holding a produce/cake stall on Thursday October 13 at Ray Bradfield Rooms to raise funds to assist them in their work to save discarded clothing from landfill. CWA members have been busy doing their bit for the environment helping to cut down on clothing going to landfill by repairing or recycling…
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Get prepared for emergency expo
Flood risk and fire season preparation will be front and centre at the Emergency Response Expo at Castlemaine’s Western Reserve this Saturday October 8. The event is expected to be bigger than ever with close to 30 organisations attending, including the SES, CFA, Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria, DELWP, Disaster Legal Help Victoria, and Wildlife Victoria.…