Volunteering has always been an important part of my life. I grew up in a family that cared for individuals with special needs. From a young age I was actively involved in their care, helping them craft, cook, and socialise on weekends and school holidays. Between the ages of 16 and 18, I volunteered at the only domestic violence women’s shelter in Adelaide, where I taught a weekly art therapy class and assisted with the school holiday program for resident children.

I recently volunteered once a week for several months at a local op-shop, fixing jewellery, helping to sort donations from our community, and diverting materials from landfill.

Today, I continue to dedicate my time to various environmental and community-driven projects, including:

✔ Founding Circularity Lab – A registered charity dedicated to promoting textile circularity, reducing textile waste, and fostering community connections. Our mission is to empower communities to shape a sustainable fashion future by eliminating textile waste through education, collaboration, and innovative design. By championing circularity and engaging marginalised communities, we foster creativity, inclusion, and lasting impact in the movement toward a waste-free world.

✔ Monthly Bushcare Volunteering at Cremorne Point – Due to urban development, the North Sydney area has less than 49 hectares of bushland remaining, less than 5% of what was once abundant with native flora and fauna (1). Restoring this native habitat is vital to the survival of local species, including Eucalypts, Acacias, Banksias, flannel flowers, and fauna such as tawny frogmouths, kookaburras, eastern whip-birds, sulphur-crested cockatoos, superb and variegated fairy-wrens, white-browed scrubwrens, eastern water dragons, and leaf-footed bugs (1).

Bush regeneration emerged in the 1960s through the pioneering work of Mosman residents Joan and Eileen Bradley, who developed a systemised approach that continues to guide bushcare practices today (2).

References

(1) Smith, P. & Simth, J. (2010). ‘North Sydney Council Natural Area Survey’, North Sydney Council Report, September 2010. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340775998_North_Sydney_Council_Natural_Area_Survey_report_to_North_Sydney_Council

(2) Mosman Parks & Bushland Association. (2025). ‘Joan and Eileen Bradley developed the Bradley Method of bush regeneration’, Mosman Parks & Bushland Association, April 2025. Available at: https://www.mosmanparksandbushland.org/the-bradley-sisters