Australia’s Largest Charity Kitchen Opening in Morningside

Teaming up with Foodbank Queensland, the largest food relief organisation in Queensland, FareShare is getting ready to open its doors in Morningside.

Following their acquisition of the former biotech laboratory at 46 Steel Place in Morningside, Australia’s largest charity kitchen is only a few weeks away from cooking at its first location in Brisbane.

The $4.5 million custom-built, production kitchen is reportedly capable of carrying out FareShare’s goal of cooking five million meals a year by 2023.

Foodbank Queensland will work with FareShare in reducing food waste and providing healthy cooked meals for Queenslanders experiencing food insecurity. Together, the teams aim to cook 1.25 million meals in the first 12 months, gradually scaling up to reach their target goal.


Photo credit: FareShare/Facebook

FareShare is now calling for Brisbane volunteers who will be willing to lend a helping hand in providing free and nutritious meals to those in need. Their new kitchen needs 300 volunteers to help in assisting their in-house chefs in preparing, cooking, and packing up meals.

The first shift at the kitchen will start in September 2018 prior to their official opening in October. Take note that volunteers must be at least 18 years old, unless part of a secondary school group.

Register to be a volunteer.

For more information and updates, visit FareShare’s website or Facebook page.

$15-Million Brewing Collaboration Centre proposed for Morningside

Morningside residents may soon witness the rise of a $15-million Brewing Collaboration Centre following Shaun Lockwood’s development application for Brisbane Brew Partners.

The proposed collaborative brewing centre aims to serve as an incubator brewery for new brewers, contract and gypsy brewers. It will have a 200,000-litre capacity, a boon to local production, as a way to augment the output of brewers that need more capacity.

Brisbane Brew Partners also targets to suit hospitality chains looking for their own beer brands, as wells as festival and event producers who want to have an event-specific beer.

Photo credit: Facebook/Brisbane Brew Partners

Brisbane’s Burgeoning Beer Scene

One of Lockwood’s mission in building the hub is to support upcoming brewers who can’t afford to have their own brewery yet. The brewing centre will provide them with the capacity to brew their own beer so they can focus on selling them.

The facility will also enable interstate brewers to brew their recipes in Queensland for the Queensland market.

Brisbane is set to have a major boost in its brewing sector since, on top of the $15-million brewing collaboration centre, a $30-million riverfront brewery is also opening in Murarrie in the first quarter of 2019.


Read: Scottish Beer Giant BrewDog to Open a $30-M Riverfront Brewery in Murarrie


“If You Can’t Find It, Build It.”

Lockwood is previously known for developing a successful chain of childcare centres when he and his wife couldn’t find quality childcare in their area. Guided by his principle, “If you can’t find it, build it,” the family established a family day-care of their own.

Applying the same approach to his brewing centre, he was inspired to boost the Australian craft beer scene by supporting Brisbane’s burgeoning brewing scene.

Photo credit: pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au

Lockwood is confident that the development application will be approved. He is hoping that it will be given a go soon as the Morningside facility is scheduled to open in December 2018.

For more information and updates visit the Brisbane Brew Partners website or check out their Facebook page.

Several Childcare Development Applications in Morningside Opposed by Residents

Morningside residents have been opposing several proposals for childcare centre developments in the area.

After a meeting held near the site for a proposed childcare development at 163 Richmond Rd, 39 submissions from the residents were received by the council indicating mixed opinions for the proposal. Whilst some of the residents support the proposal, the majority of the submissions oppose the development due to traffic and safety concerns.

Another application for a childcare centre development at 2 Richmond Rd is being opposed by residents for the same reasons.

Shayne Sutton, Former Councillor for Morningside had opposed the latter development­ application after its submission in 2017 and said that it is unacceptable. It has been requested to be scaled back since the plans for the 13-metre high, four storey building are in a three-storey zone with a 9.5-metre limit. Also, the plans do not include a required 5-metre dedicated space for a planned bikeway.

Proposed Childcare Centre at 2 Richmond Rd Photo credit: pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au

Oversupply of Childcare Centres

Aside from these two proposals, three more childcare centres were proposed in the area. These are located at 83 Thynne Rd, Morningside; 52 Junction Rd, Morningside; and 527 Old Cleveland Rd, Camp Hill. That makes a total of five childcare centres being proposed in the area that will deliver 485 extra spaces.

In a recent study conducted by Urban Economics  and commissioned by the Australian Childcare Alliance Queensland (ACA Qld), there is an oversupply of childcare in Queensland.

According to the study, there are currently 156 proposed, approved, ang under construction childcare centres in Queensland. Once completed, these centres will deliver approximately 16,600 additional places. Only 33,000 additional places are required in the state between 2016-2036 and currently, there are already 27,729 available places in Queensland. If all the pending childcare centres will be built, the total capacity of childcare centres will exceed the 20-year projection by 34 percent.

With this, the  ACA Qld recommended that the Council carefully analyse the need for new facilities, its impact on the community, and the implications for the occupancy rates.

Morningside’s Cate Campbell Aims for Gold in Gold Coast 2018

Multiple world record holder and Morningside homeowner Cate Campbell once again earned her place in the country’s elite swimmers’ circle as she continues her decisive way to the Gold Coast Games.

Campbell heads south this April in her bid to collect five golds in her five swimming events — the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, and 4x100m medal relay.

Photo credit: cate_campbell/Instagram

At age 25, the Morningside resident has already established her name in Australian swimming. A veteran Olympian, swimming fans also remember her as one of the two sisters who reportedly were the first ever sisters to have clocked podium finishes for the same individual event in either Olympic Games or World Championships.

Cate Campbell, and her sister, Olympic champ Bronte Campbell, have been together in the water since they were toddlers. Since then, they have trained together and as the Commonwealth Games near, hopes are high that they will have another podium finish together.

Side by side in success

The Campbell duo were born two years apart in Malawi, a country in southeastern Africa. They learned how to swim from their mother, who was a synchronized swimmer. According to their past mentors, their parents never pushed them into the sports. Rather, it was their love for swimming that led them to train.

The Campbell family moved to Australia in 2001. It was here that the sisters entered competitive swimming. Since then, the sisters have been reaping numerous awards from swimming competitions until their excellence inevitably led them to their winning streak in the international swimming arena.

Photo credit: cate_campbell/Instagram

Their winning streak began in Beijing 2008 when teenage Cate won the bronze in the 50m freestyle.

London 2012 saw the first Australian sisters compete in the same event at the same Olympics when the nation rooted for them in the 50m freestyle. Cate, with her relay team, won Australia’s only gold medal in that Olympics.

In the 2015 World Championships, the world saw the siblings share the same podium for an individual event for a worldwide sports event.

This time, it was Bronte’s turn in the spotlight. She won a double gold in the event for the 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle. She was joined by her sister on the podium when Cate won a bronze in the 100m freestyle. Cate also finished fourth in the 50m freestyle.

The sisters continued their winning streak in Rio 2016, where Cate broke the world record in 52.78 s in the 100m freestyle as early as the heat event. However, buckling under the weight of expectations to get the gold, she finished 6th, a bit behind her sister who finished 4th.

They made up for it in the relay, where the sisters and their team broke another world record with their relay team in the 4×100 freestyle relay in 3:30.65 s, adding another pair of gold medals to their medal tally.

Sibling rivalry

Being in constant competition with a sibling whilst the world is watching is certainly never easy. Cate and Bronte, however, takes sibling rivalry in a different light.

According to Cate, she hates losing, except when it is her sister who defeats her. Bronte shares the same perspective. She says that if someone beats her in a game, she would rather it be her sister. She even jokes how not normal it was to be the third best swimmer in the world but only the second best in the family.

Photo credit: bronte_campbell/Instagram

In the upcoming Gold Coast 2018, each other’s presence would truly bring a positive effect on the sisters’ performance.

“Cate wouldn’t be as good without Bronte and Bronte wouldn’t be as good without Cate,” their coach Simon Cusack said.

Scholastic Morningside Warehouse Hosts Children’s Book Sale

Kids and parents will be treated to two days of massive discounts during Scholastic Australia’s warehouse sale. Children’s books will go for as low as 50 per cent off their original retail price. Customers can fill a box with selected books for only $40. Options range from picture and chapter books, novels and activity items.

The sale will be held from 17th of November, from 7:00 am until 5:00 p.m., until the 18th of November from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Entry to the event is free. The venue is at Unit 2, 350 Lytton Road Morningside.

Importance of Reading With Your Kids

A father reading to his child
Credit: CCO Public Domain / Stock Snap / Pixabay

A 2016 study published in the Australian Journal of Education has found that some children are affected when parents stop reading stories to them. A survey of children aged 8 to 11 years old, in the upper primary school grades of Year 4 and 6 in Australia, found that some kids regretted the lost opportunity of having their parents read a book to them.

Anna has shared that her mother stopped reading to her when she started reading on her own. She said that she regretted losing her alone time with her mum. Another child, Jason, has shared: “They kind of stopped when I knew how to read. I knew how to read, but I just still liked my mum reading it to me (sic)”.

As one of the sadder cases, Hayden had no one to read with. This has resulted in poor pronunciation and comprehension and insecurity issues. Not having anyone has always frustrated him.

“Because some words I can’t understand. I just try to sound them out, but once I sound them out, I can’t get it. But some of the words are so easy that I just read. Read them. But I…when I’ve got a word that’s bad, I just skip it, go back, and once I see the same word, I’ll skip it, and I’ll go back pages. I’ll try to sound it out. Then I’ll go back. Then I might read the whole thing again”.

Some children, on the other hand, say that reading aloud to their parents is relaxing. They also think that reading to them makes their parents happy. Marco said that his mum gets really delighted when he reads to her. Kara, on the other hand, likes reading to her friends and her classmates. She reads a “happy book” to them when they are upset.

Scholastic Australia

Children who enjoyed books
Credit: Scholastic Australia

The warehouse book sale is an annual activity held by Scholastic Australia to help promote reading and the love of books among children and families.

Scholastic Australia has been in the children’s publishing industry for more than 45 years. It is a part of Scholastic Inc., which publishes and distributes children’s books across the world. It is currently building its name in the new media industry as it starts to produce and license content for films, TV, online platforms, and other related online materials.

To know more about the Scholastic Morningside Warehouse sale, click here.