The annual BraveheartsHats for High Tea Garden Party charity event is almost here and the ladies of Greater Springfield are keen to raise funds again for the organisation. The group aims to raise $20,000 this year.
Bravehearts
The group is one of Australia’s leading child protection organisations. It was founded in 1997 by Hetty Johnston, who established the organisation following the sexual assault of her daughter. At the time, she couldn’t find any organisation to turn to for help.
They have now 65 people across Australia that are providing world-class child protection training and education initiatives. They also offer counselling and support. They also do research that promotes an evidence-based approach to addressing child sexual assault.
Event Details
The fundraiser will be on 17 March from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tickets start at $70 and they have started to go on sale.
Now on its fourth year, the event will be held at a new venue year. Normally always held at the Brookwater Golf and Country Club, it will be held at the Hillstone in Saint Lucia this year because they are expecting a higher number of attendees. This year’s hosts will be Kat and Stav Davidson.
The Run 2 Give Foundationhas officially launched the McGrath Springfield Greater Springfield Marathon Festival last month and they have high hopes for the event as this is the first that it came to the region.
They are expecting to see over 1,000 runners to turn up for the event. This is the foundation’s third event in Queensland. So far, their events have received positive feedback, which serves as their inspiration to grow the event in the next couple of years to getting 5,000 runners.
The Greater Springfield Marathon Festival will include:
42km
35km
28km
21km
14km
7km
Kid’s 1km fun run
The foundation is dedicated to raising awareness and funds for registered charities through sporting events.
Steven Hodgson fo McGrath Springfield is involved in this event, something that they see as a great way to give back to the community. This will be one of the biggest events in the area and this will also be the first marathon in Ipswich.
The new pontoon and boat ramp at Springfield Lakes’ Regatta Lake officially opened in the first weekend of February and residents in the Greater Springfield area are encouraged to enjoy the new facilities at what is being called the Regatta Lake Pad Hub.
To celebrate the opening, Ipswich Mayor Andrew Antoniolli, Charis Mullen MP, Councillors Ireland and Morrison did the official cutting of the ribbon.
The afternoon included activities on the lake and demonstrations from local maritime modellers. There were also free snow cones for the kids as well as fun water activities.
Funded by the State Government through its Get Playing grant program and Lendlease, the $500,000 upgrade to the lake has given better access to residents and lake goers.
The Springfield Centenary Canoe Clubwill be one of the local groups to use the facility. Expressing their thrill at the latest improvements, they are also hoping that the new facility will boost the local kayaking and water sport community of Springfield Lakes and the region.
Springfield Centenary Canoe Club, which also operates Riverhills, aims to make their club the biggest in Queensland. Currently, six members of the club are canoe polo masters world champions.
Masterchef 2017 runner-up Ben Ungermann has finally opened up his ice cream parlour, the Ungermann Brothers Ice Cream Parlour on Limestone St., Ipswich.
Photo credit: Ben Ungermann / Facebook
After quitting his day job, he decided to go into business with his brother, Danny. Originally, their plan was to build a Dutch-themed cafe to pay homage to their grandmother. But the clamor from Ben’s fans was for an ice cream shop. So, ice cream shop it is.
The ice cream parlour opened on Australia Day this year. The whole place emits good vibes with its chequered floors and blue retro lounges, it’s the perfect spot to be.
Offering gourmet ice cream, customers have 15 flavours of hand-crafted ice cream to choose from.
Some of the popular “adult ice cream” flavour is the lavender honeycomb, lemon, honey and thyme, Dutch spice, roasted garlic or liquorice and fennel.
Photo credit: Must Do Brisbane
The fairy bread ice cream and the vanilla bean are winners for kids.
Ben has also hired an apprentice from among the people from all over the nation who submitted their applications. Lauren Bishop from Jimboomba now enjoys the singular opportunity of being Ben’s apprentice chef at the Ungermann Brothers Ice Cream Parlour.
Following the opening, Ben and his brother have been very happy with the overwhelming support. They thanks their customers as well as fans via Ben’s Facebook page.
Food is within your reach in Greater Springfield, which will delight the culinary souls out there. Foodoramight be coming to town!
According to Foodora, the Greater Springfield area is part of their priorities this year. News of the potential project has delighted many restaurant owners because this could help them widen their reach and better cater to people who doesn’t have the time to eat out.
Other food deliveries UberEats and DeliveRoohaven’t shown interest yet in the area and it is only Foodora for now that sees an opportunity in the Greater Springfield area. For UberEats, the area does not have enough restaurants for them to consider providing their services yet, whilst DeliveRoo has kept mum about the possibility.
Foodora is being used in 22 countries and caters to over 36,000 restaurants all over the world.
For residents of the Greater Springfield area the likes of Journey’s Kitchen arriving at your doorstep no longer seems like a far-fetched notion now.
A Vinnies store may be forced to close in Ipswich due to a severe lack of volunteers, and others in Springfield and other surrounding areas such as Sumner Park and Redbank Plains are in great need of volunteers too. Without a regular stream of volunteers, it is conceivable that these other shops would struggle to remain open too.
In Springfield, the op shop needs volunteers to handle sorting and pricing public donations. With such a small team of volunteers, the op-shop is struggling to prepare goods for sale. The local community has shown great support for the op-shop thus the influx of donations; however, the shop is still short-staffed.
To add to that, the Springfield shop is very busy with a growing number of customers. An executive officer from St Vincent de Paul Queensland’s Western Diocese said that they need people to work in the afternoons and weekends.
The organisation is dedicated to speaking out against causes of poverty and equality on behalf of the people they serve. They help people in poverty and funds raised through op-shops in various parts of the nation are given back to the community to help the poor.
Just last year, parents faced year-long waiting lists for childcare in various areas of Ipswich, including Brookwater, an area also known as “Nappy Valley.”
Developer OPD submitted an application to the Ipswich City Council for a childcare facility on Magnolia Drive. The facility can cater to 105 children and will create 18 new jobs. It also includes a cot room for babies, which is in high demand.
The only operating childcare facility in the suburb is Goodstart Early Learning, which is always full, hence the nickname “Nappy Valley.”
Cr David Morrisonalso said that he has been getting many feedback about the lack of childcare facilities in the area as well as in Springfield and its surrounds, Redbank Plains and Collingwood Park.
The demand for a childcare facility is strong for babies under two years. Former Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale said he receives at least three complaints and pleas from parents who need childcare each month. He said that the council is working closely with developers to encourage more companies to open childcare facilities in several areas.
Calls for a synthetic track to be built in Springfield have caught the attention of the local community and the Ipswich City Council.
Coach Stacey Taurima of Athletics Australia expressed his frustration over the lack of a sports facility for the Springfield team in the area. Although there is a facility in Nathan that they use, Coach Taurima said its availability is limited, which is why building a synthetic track in Springfield seems to be the best solution.
The Springfield community seems to agree with Mr Taurima as well, having expressed interest in having their own facility attached to a university campus or a part of a development. On the other hand, the council is open to this possibility but they haven’t yet identified an appropriate site for it. There are also plenty of considerations that must be taken into account, to build such a facility.
Building a facility like this requires millions and conditions must be thoroughly assessed before the council gives the go-signal. That said, it would take some time before a synthetic track is built in Springfield. Still, having one will definitely meet the needs of the local Ipswich community.
Surrounding Springfield Lakes, Augustine Heights has become informally known as Ipswich’s fast food capital.
This news came upon the opening of Australia’s biggest Red Rooster store in the suburb in early December joining the newly-opened McDonalds in the area. Zaraffas and Guzman Y Gomez also joined the fast food family in the suburb.
According to the development director of Springfield Land Corporation Commercial, these fast food chains are a good fit for the area and that residents should expect more to come.
They will not only bring food chains but they will also open other types of establishments that will bring more jobs to the people. These recently opened fast food chains have given thousands of jobs to the community. The recently opened Red Rooster still have at least 40 job openings to be filled. There have been over 120 jobs created across the two open stores since it started construction in April.
Competing For the Title of Fast Food Capital
However, Augustine Heights is up against both Redbank Plains and West Ipswich as “fast food capital”. Both these suburbs also have a significant number of fast food establishments in their vicinity.
Jones Road Reserve in Augustine Heights in Greater Springfield is one of the top 10 fossil sites in Queensland. In 1900, turtles, insects, rainforest flora from 50 million years ago were uncovered in Augustine Heights and scientists from the Queensland Museum believe that there are more to find.
Due to these findings, geologists and palaeontologists are appealing to Greater Springfield developers to work with them to ensure that significant specimens are uncovered and not destroyed.
The road in Springfield is said to have more flora as the area had a lake and was surrounded by rainforest. The good news is that there is now new technology that scientists can utilise, such as CT scanning, which allows them to scan rocks and reconstruct the fish in full. Without this, uncovering fossils can mean splitting a rock in order to see if there is fish inside.
Scientists are hopeful that Greater Springfield developers will cooperate with them. They also said that they are willing to work with any organisation but they won’t get in their way.
