Getting down n’ dirty at CERES
As a B Corp, we’re always looking for ways to contribute to local communities and do our part for the environment. That’s why partnering with CERES as part of our commitment to 1% for the Planet seemed like a no-brainer.
Located on Wurundjeri Country in Melbourne, CERES is an environmental community park, education centre, urban farm and social enterprise hub. At CERES, you can learn about what you can do for the environment, buy local ingredients, supplies, and food, and even get your bicycle fixed! From school children to CEOs, there’s something for everyone at CERES.
CERES Mission Statement
Our involvement with CERES
Their mission to help Melbourne residents engage with nature and support smaller and sustainable businesses really resonated with our B Corp values of making a positive change for the Australian economy and environment. We decided to make an effort as a company to help support CERES in a myriad of ways.
Providing financial support
We’re contributing to the mission of CERES through donating much needed financial support. As members of the 1% for the Planet initiative, we donate a percentage of our profits to a worthy organisation or cause. As a local NGO that may struggle to receive adequate funding, we choose to donate to CERES.
Ben Manassah, Partnership Manager at CERES
Pro-Bono work
Our partnership with CERES has involved more than just financial donations, we are providing pro-bono SEO work to help them reach new customers and further promote the great work they do, like their in-house brand CERES Fair Wood.
Funding new projects
We also worked with their team to choose our own specific project to fully fund. We decided that funding the new Community Bandstand was a great opportunity. The Bandstand project will refresh the Grocery Courtyard and turn CERES into a key meeting place, hosting a variety of community and live music events. This project appealed to us as we understood how it could transform the current Courtyard space and encourage more visitors to come to CERES. We’re also excited to catch a gig or two when it’s completed. The Bandstand has commenced building and is expected to be finished mid 2022.
Ben Manassah, Partnership Manager at CERES
Getting our hands dirty
After months of emailing and zoom catch ups, the Optimising team finally got to spend a Friday at CERES. We volunteered at the community environment park to learn more about what CERES does and how it’s making a difference for the greater community and environment. It was also a fantastic opportunity for us to get our hands dirty, enjoy being outdoors for a day and reconnect with the environment.
The tour of the CERES main location enabled us to learn about the history and future plans for the organic farm, environmental education centre, and community hub. In the compost heaps, we heard a little about the science behind what makes an effective and thriving compost before making our own compost mixture of coffee grinds from a local cafe and sawdust.
Joel Knight, Senior SEO Specialist at Optimising
Other Optimising team members were tasked with weeding the garden beds and planting edible plants such as lettuce, rainbow chard, and basil. We were shown how to remove the plants and roots without disturbing the soil balance and garden bed ecosystem.
Henry Pickering, Paid Media Executive at Optimising
James also had the opportunity to showcase his impressive hedge trimming abilities as we performed some basic garden maintenance. This included helping the CERES team prepare the water filtration system for the expected rainfall by removing debris.
Kara Moss, People and Culture Specialist at Optimising
Stay tuned to find out more about the new Community Bandstand and future community events hosted at CERES.
