Dandelions School Backpack Drive 2024

School holidays have only just begun, but we’re already getting ready for the 2024 school year with the Dandelions WA School Backpack Drive!

Last year Darling Downs resident Vanessa Miller and I joined forces to get 65 backpacks to Darling Range school kids in need. This year, with your help, we’re going to do better!

I've contributed 20 backpacks to add to the 30+ backpacks, drink bottles and stationery items collected by Vanessa through her Facebook page, The Gift Of Giving. I have also received a generous donation from Lisa at Speedy Spanners in Serpentine, who contacted me with an order for enough stationary and backpacks for 30 students! We will be delivering these much needed supplies to local schools before the start of Term One so our students can start 2024 ahead of the class. Any backpacks can be delivered to my office - Unit 5, 837 South Western Hwy, Byford - after January 4. Alternatively, you can donate directly to Dandelions WA via their website. Please note, we can only accept new and unused items for donation.

Community Garden welcomes Costa

The Byford Glades Community Garden had a moment in the sun at the beginning of the month when Australia's favourite garden guru Costa Georgiadis dropped by to see what all the fuss was about.

The good news kept coming when, only a few days later, the team at the Byford Glades Community Garden were awarded a grant of $6,162 by the Cook Government to continue the delivery of the Byford Community Garden Urban Agriculture Education Program!

The Community Garden not only gives residents the skills and confidence to grow their own food, the surplus food grown at the garden is donated to the Byford Baptist Church Free Food Market as well as the Serpentine Jarrahdale CRC to provide meals for those that need a little help. Thank you to Costa Georgiadis for visiting the garden and validating the program and the great work at the garden.

Community turns out for a good cause

On Wednesday, December 13 the Byford community showed their support for the family of Jess, Joshua, Jaiden and Jack by attending their Christmas Lights for Neuromuscular WA fundraiser.

In June 2023, the family's world was flipped upside down as their eldest son Jaiden was diagnosed with a rare, progressive, incurable neuromuscular disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In solidarity with other families impacted by the same disorder, they elicited the support of friends, neighbours and strangers to put on a great family night out with the purpose of raising funds for Neuromuscular WA. Joshua has been an active member of the Byford Volunteer Fire Brigade for 13 years, and the brigade "came to the party", delivering Santa, and cooking up a storm on the BBQ. Staff at Jaiden's school, West Byford Primary, also came along to offer their support to the family.

Darling Range Community Newsletter

Issue 3 · 22 Dec 2023

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