Awesome Newcastle Zooms into Spring

Sadly the lockdown continues into the joyous new season of rebirth, but fortunately Awesome Newcastle has plenty of tools to manage! Last night we enjoyed sips via screen after watching our three finalists present very different, but lovely ideas.

We welcomed three guest board members, returning board members Anne Long of Greater Charitable Foundation and Jamie Ferguson of NSW EPA and first time guest board member Paula Thurnham, a program manager in IT.

Our host fired off the emails with the video pitches and everyone got comfy at home, ready to learn more about the awesome ideas in the region.

First up was Bianca Bartlett from Purple Card Project, a social enterprise working to enable small scale environmental projects through crowdfunding. They want to connect doers with givers and fund positive change. Learn more by watching their video! They would use the money for legal advice, website hosting and development and commissioning the cards.

Next up was Dylan Weir from Sauce and Cart. Dylan told us about how he used to put on big events pre-Covid, and he’s now pivoting to his new business, a sauce delivery service. He’s putting together curated delicious sauce gift boxes. He told us if he won the $1000, he would improve his branding and delivery, giving people a more classy unboxing experience. He’d also use it to expand his inventory.

Last but not least we had permaculture gardener Adrian Garner from Smokva Garden at the Croatian Club in Wickham. Adrian told us about how after the lockdown happened last year, grocery store shelves were stripped bare due to fear. He is in the process of making this community garden a great example of cooperative urban food production. They plan to use the money to make a wide crushed granite paths and hip high garden beds.

Some of our board then zoomed in to discuss the videos. It was great to see one another and check in while also discussing all the different great ideas in our community. As always, it was a tough decision, but everyone emailed in their votes and Smokva Community garden was the winner! Congratulations Adrian, we can’t wait to see the fruits of Smokva’s labour. And thank you to Purple Card Project and Sauce and Cart as well for your great presentations; please keep in touch!

Applications never expire, we might get you back again for another Awesome Newcastle, and if you’ve got an awesome idea, apply for Awesome Newcastle today!