Profile: Chris Reed, Executive Officer

Our organisation: Kevin Heinze Garden Centre Inc.

What we do/who we help: The Centre provides horticulture based recreational and therapeutic programs for adults and children with disabilities. The Centre also has art and craft activities, vocational training and is a leading provider of occupational therapy placements. About 40 organizations attend the Centre on a regular basis and we provide regular rostered programs for about 400 participants. It is the largest and oldest program of its type in Australia. The emphasis at the Centre is having fun and learning in a very pleasant environment.

What inspired me to get involved with the Kevin Heinz Garden Centre? I have tertiary qualifications in horticulture, health science, disability studies, teaching and management. This was one of those rare opportunities where all of these could be put to good use. It is a fabulous and unique place.

My responsibilities: I am the Executive Officer and responsible for the operation of the Centre. The Centre has a very active Committee of Management to provide governance. I am involved in all aspects of the Centre from developing funding streams, marketing, policy development but I am most at home doing hands on things like propagation or working with kids to build a frog pond.

Our team: Amanda Marshall is second in charge and organizes our volunteers, administration and promotional work and has a passion for arts. Daniel Moss is in charge of our vocational training and his passion is the environment and sustainability. Rod McDonald is in charge of providing individual programs and his passion is hotrods. The essential part of our team is our 90 volunteers who support our participants and provide a wonderful social interaction with all of the people attending.

Our greatest challenges: Funding is always an issue. It takes a lot to provide our services but we manage. We also see the need to be recognized for the work we do. Recreational gardening and therapy it is often underestimated for the value it provides participants. This includes reducing stress, providing passive exercise, social inclusion, friendship, helps keep a healthy and active mind (used widely with mental health and dementia patients) as well as producing clean healthy food.

How have we utilized goodcompany? We have had a great association with Kate and Mark Hore from Hudcomm Productions who volunteered to produce our wonderful 30th Anniversary DVD. This is now used as our key marketing tool. We were very fortunate to also have Jane Edmonson from Gardening Australia to appear on the DVD as the host presenter.

Tips for Community Groups and skilled volunteers working together: Have an open friendly relationship and give the professionals the opportunity to develop the project their way.