This publication is a testament to the hard work of the following local people who volunteered two days each week for six months to research, write, publish and illustrate this book.
John Vidler
Melanie Mitchell
Andrew Jeszke
Allan Fairbairn
Rhonda Miller
Sherry Robinson
John Vant Veld
Lee Tiplady
Jason Doyle
Siobhan Hird
Christine McFarland
Kate Curteis
Angela Scales (Illustration & Graphics)
Leigh McClelland
Kathleen Bell
This project was funded by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (formerly DEWRSB) under Work for the Dole. Wesley Uniting Employment Newcastle West provided supervision / sponsorship of the project. Both DEWR and Wesley Uniting Employment are commended for their support and commitment to this valuable project.
Community Greening in Newcastle was a six-month project with the following aims:
- Contribute to the collective memory and community awareness in Newcastle
- Inspire and document community achievement of improvements in the local environment
- Provide meaningful opportunities for unemployed people to gain and develop skills and experience.
In an economic climate where unemployment appears to be a permanent and increasingly prominent feature of the landscape, it is imperative that people have the opportunity to refine and develop career skills. The loss to the local community as a result of unemployment and under-employment is considerable. This project showcases the immense talents of local people in areas related to historical research, journalism, graphic design, and publishing.
In addition to documenting and celebrating the considerable achievements of the local community in preservation and protection of the local environment, this project aims to encourage a continuing community approach to creating a broad range of employment opportunities in the Hunter. In this respect, the project was successful in creating an opportunity for meaningful employment of one of our noted local historians.
Ross Edmonds is a local historian with a broad knowledge of the regions history. His passion and expertise were essential to the success of this project. His commitment to the content and endeavour chronicled in this book, and to the practice of History, was an inspiration to all concerned.
Thanks go to the many people who agreed to interviews, and to those people who generously lent scrap books and other material. These people are mentioned by name in the references for each chapter.
This project was undertaken with assistance from Newcastle City Council and activities were based at the Palais Royale Youth Venue in Newcastle. Palais staff have shared the venue with us over the last 6 months and were co-operative in providing assistance and advice. Particular thanks to Dale Garbutt, and to Ingrid Woodrow for her assistance with editing. The council printery staff were also approachable and co-operative.
Particular thanks are also given to the staff of the local history section of the Newcastle Region Library, and the University of Newcastle Archives. In both cases staff assisted greatly in the process of locating material and generally coming to grips with modern library technology.
The original proposal for this project was guided through the maze of bureaucracy by Colin Brown, Lynlee Johnson and Narelle Ryan. The ongoing monitoring and supervision of the project required a valuable contribution from Sue Mc Cluskey, Suzanne Brown, Richard Chippendale, Joanne Gibson, Chris Murray and Julia Barker.
This book was compiled as a non-profit exercise to develop a community resource, and copies have been distributed free of charge to all local public and high school libraries. Wesley Uniting Employment will also be making this publication available on the World Wide Web.
While every effort has been made to ensure the authenticity of all reference materials, the authors apologise for any discrepancies. The book is intended for community use and educational purposes. A major aim is to stimulate further debate and discussion of issues relating to environmental preservation and management in Newcastle.
Lisa Woodrow
Employment Consultant
Wesley Uniting Employment Newcastle West
| << Previous |