A new chapter for our farm: moving to North Richmond

In early March this year, we shared the sad news that we had to vacate our much-loved farm at Orchard Hill by late 2024. If you missed that update, you can read it here.

At that time, with the backing of the Polese family, we began the search for a new farm to relocate to. We are excited to announce that, from September 2024, we will be the proud leaseholders of a 13-acre property in North Richmond, which we will start transforming into the new farm and home of our social enterprise.

This new property has many features that meet our needs: plenty of cleared and arable land, reliable water, established water infrastructure, numerous sheds, a handy workshop, and a sizable house that also offers us office space.

From this new farm, we will continue offering our community members access to a safe and welcoming space where they can work alongside others, learn, and develop the skills and confidence to seek a place in mainstream work environments.

We will also have the opportunity to recreate a special communal space to host gatherings with our school, corporate, aged care, disability, veterans, and other community partners.

It will be incredibly sad to leave Orchard Hill, a place full of so many meaningful moments and memories. On the other hand, we are thrilled to open a new chapter with so much meaningful opportunity.

We couldn't be more thankful for the generous support of Marc Polese and his family in making this happen. As with Orchard Hill, the Polese family will be our landlord, continuing a 15-year relationship that started with Marc's father, Beppi, for which we are so grateful.

We look forward to keeping you informed of developments over the months ahead. There is a lot of work ahead of us in planning and implementing a transition to this new place. If you think you could help us in executing this quite challenging transition, please don't hesitate to contact us.