TWICE a week, a team from Brighter Access visit local cafes and pick up their coffee grinds and food scraps to be made into compost for Inverell Community Gardens.
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The group, Brighter Force, has been formed to give Inverell’s disabled community a chance to get to know the wider community while doing something good for the town.
“It's giving them a real sense of purpose. They get a lot of enjoyment out of it, just to get that interaction with the community,” Brighter Force co-ordinator Abby Hooker said. Coming from a hospitality background, Abby she’d realised how much goes straight into the bin, and that the project seemed a natural fit.
Brighter Force take part in the whole process, from visiting the cafes and picking up the scraps, to loading up the cars and bringing them to the community garden to be recycled.
Abby said it was a great chance for the participants to learn how composting works and why it’s so important.
The group are planning to develop their own garden patch in the space, and possibly sell their wares at a market stall.
“They're always learning and we’re just waiting for the warmer weather to then be able to take it to the next level, see the rewards,” Abby said.
Brighter Access hope to expand the program even further and are keen to hear from any in the community who have a possible project for Brighter Force.
“Anything that allows these guys to have a real community interaction and learn life skills.”
Abby said going into local businesses and meeting staff was an important chance for participants to improve their communication skills.
She said it would be a learning curve for both Brighter Force and the community members they interact with, who don’t always have the opportunity to get to know people with disabilities.
“They're a little bit fearful of even initiating conversations,” she said.
“This program’s allowing those conversations to grow naturally.”