July – October 2023

A very yo-yo springy greeting to you all, I am writing this president’s report on the country of the Taungurung people and acknowledge their land, air, and water and recognise their connection to this area on which I live, work, and play. We have moved into Spring and Macedon Ranges is again stunning this time of year as blossoms open, veggies patches sing with popping greens, and people start moving their bodies more through outdoor activities. Our Action Groups have also continued their wonderful actions as always. The amazing Woodend Farmers’ Market Action Group stead-fast and consistent in providing a hub of activity for locals and visitors alike supporting our local producers and Barry McDonald the Town Crier always up for a bit of light-hearted banter is an experience to behold. The Woodend Bee-friendly Society has started its Swam Monitoring Project with gusto and have distributed some of their bait boxes - please head to www.mrsg.org.au/hsmp for a full update on this magnificent project. Off the back of Sustainable Living Films, Forums, and Festivals Action Group’s very successful Under Cover documentary and panel discussion highlighting the increasing issue of homelessness amongst older women, the inaugural meeting of the Macedon Ranges Housing Alliance was convened at Sunbury Cobaw Community Health in October and the group is ready to tackle the issues of housing in our area. The Riddells Creek Cool Changes Action Group are preparing for their first ever Enviro Expo. Fantastic! Thanks to Matty Barry, Samantha Rixon, David Gormley-O’Brien, Vince Mulkerin, and all volunteers who brought these together.

Extending our MRSG love, I was absolutely delighted to be invited by the Romsey Garden Group to introduce our organisation to one of their monthly meetings in August. This powerhouse of locals love to garden, discuss gardens, visit gardens, and drink cups of tea with delicious baked good. They were very impressed that something like MRSG existed in our area, and somewhat dismayed they hadn’t heard of us before. Let’s hope this little relationship will blossom into something soon. Thank you for having me.

Photo: Lenka Thompson with members of Romsey Garden Club (Aug 2023)

The MRSG Committee has $6,000 remaining of our $10,000 budget allocation for seed funding of MRSG projects. Action Groups are encouraged to send project proposals to the committee for consideration.

A number of our Action Groups have been successful in receiving grant funding recently, and these include the Macedon Ranges Regenerative Farmers received a whopping $10,000 for their workshop series, and the Kyneton Transition Hub received $3,000 for their Kyneton Backyard Growers seed-funding project. Congratulations to these two Action Groups and we wish them every success with their projects.

The draft MRSG Strategy is in the final stages of being approved for wider distribution and will be launched at our Annual General Meeting on Saturday 28 October 3pm–5:00pm at the Norma Richardson Hall, 15 Buckland Street, Woodend. Please visit https://mrsg.org.au/agm to register or designate a proxy.

Wishing you all a lovely Spring,
Lenka Thompson (she/her) MRSG President 2022/23

President's Report