Childcare centre wins funds to help transform an unwanted carpark into a green oasis

The brand new Explore & Develop Childcare Centre in Sydney’s inner west suburb of Lilyfield has been awarded $5000 to help turn an urban wasteland into an exciting, child-friendly garden.

Coles, Yates and Junior Landcare joined together to offer $10,000 in garden grants to schools and pre-schools around Australia. Entrants purchased Yates products from Coles supermarkets and submitted their entry through the Junior Landcare website www.juniorlandcare.com.au.

Susan Franco, from the Explore & Develop Childcare Centre, coordinated the entry that proved to be the most appealing to the judges. Here’s an extract: “Our vision is to create an indoor/outdoor oasis with a garden that intrigues, inspires and engages our children on many levels. Our challenge is to turn a car park terrace into a green wonderland, where local plants, herbs and vegetables are blended to become a rich natural landscape for our children to explore, and to develop a healthy respect for the environment. It is our hope that our garden becomes a natural inspiration.”

With this exciting vision, the childcare centre is certainly living up to the ‘Explore & Develop’ part of its name, and is sure to create a green space that will inspire generations of children into the future.

Another five very worthy entrants received runner-up $1000 grants to go towards improving their gardens. They were: Community Kids Mount Gambier Childcare Centre, Mt Gambier SA; St Francis Xavier Primary School, Ballarat VIC; Hume Anglican Grammar School, Mickleham VIC; Arranounbai School, Frenchs Forest NSW.