On Saturday 15th June, dozens of volunteers descended on the Galston Early Learning Centre and Galston Uniting Church grounds for a working bee that left both sites looking sharper and, by most accounts, brought two separate communities a little closer together.
Educators from the early learning centre worked alongside committee members, families and church congregants through the morning, tackling an unglamorous but necessary list of jobs: weeding overgrown garden beds, trimming hedges that had crept past their borders, spreading fresh bark across play areas, and generally tidying the outdoor spaces both groups share. The centre’s Bush Program area, used for nature-based learning, was a particular focus.
Work wrapped up with a shared morning tea, giving volunteers a chance to sit down, compare notes on what had been achieved, and simply spend time together — the kind of low-key social glue that keeps small community partnerships like this one running year after year.
The day also delivered a boost to the centre’s developing bush tucker garden. Mark Engall of Engall’s Nursery donated a finger lime tree, and other community members chipped in Kangaroo Paw and additional native bush tucker plants, giving the garden a meaningful head start.
Organisers from both the Galston Early Learning Centre and Galston Uniting Church have thanked everyone who turned out on 15th June with their time, tools and donations, saying the effort has left a better outdoor environment for the children who use it — and strengthened ties across the wider Galston community in the process.
