Friends of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens President’s Report 2023

Another year another AGM and I must say the Friends just keeps ticking over in somewhat routine fashion. I don’t mean that in any disparaging way. Indeed it is comforting to be part of such a group. We all know our roles and we consistently deliver as an organisation and meet all our goals and pretty much most of our ambition. To focus on our membership and friends we must always celebrate the wonderful commitment demonstrated all the time by our people. The Growing Friends are the mainstay of the Friends with their weekly assembling to propagate, chat and in more recent times, weed! Let’s dwell for a moment on the ‘chat’ component of the description. The Growing Friends three days per week is such positive activity way beyond dealing with plants. The engagement between people, representing wonderful social capital is an outcome equal to all the dollars our works generate. So our thanks to all who participate and are part of both the works and the outcomes. These same qualities are equally evident amongst our committee members where there is a very special relationship and interaction which is extremely positive. Prior to this AGM there were a number of the committee who felt it was time to hang up their agendas and minutes and call it a day. Then they all reflected and almost all of them are sticking around and we rejoice in this. My thanks to the committee for their dedication and commitment. I have to single out Patrice and Gillie for the amazing and prodigious efforts they both make on behalf of the organisation in so many different ways. Our nursery activity is different from the recent past under the direction and with the amazing energy of Ray. We miss Ray of course but we are also very proud of the success and output of the nursery under the leadership of Mesdames O’Shea and Gough. They’re adventurous and very hard-working. Take for example their recent exercise with seed propagation and the success this has brought in terms of our range and sales. Their antennae are always active identifying new opportunities.

This has been a year where many have been travelling overseas including some of our committee members. I wanted to acknowledge the work of Gillie through these times when she has been the mainstay leading our activity at the nursery for which we are very grateful. Thank you also to our Treasurer Geoff Kerins who is managing our finances expertly but also along with partner Richard doing a power of work on Friday’s at the Shed. Thank you to all our committee members who all continue to contribute in various ways, adding to our productivity. When we think of the nursery we should also think of our customers many of whom are great supporters and regulars at the shed. In this sense the nursery has become so integral to this community, more of that social capital. Long may this be so. So big thanks to all our customers, from the regulars to the spontaneous out-of-town visitors. When thinking of the nursery, our relationship with the Wombat Hill House Café should also be noted. We have great interaction with the café staff and help each other out when the need arises. We are grateful for their support also in their various marketing initiatives, so thank you to them. Patrice’s brief stretches far wider than just the nursery. She leads all the interaction with our shire partners and related organisations. None of the projects or outputs of our interaction with these organisations would occur without Patrice’s deft, yet assertive hand and diplomacy. Our gratitude for all her dedication and commitment. Our fundraising through plant sales and allied activity is all commited to reinvestment in the Gardens. Of great significance in this regard is the range of projects currently identified as the Visitor Enhancement Projects, a partnership we share with the State Government and Hepburn Shire. Patrice will detail the progress or not on this activity. Suffice to say there is great disappointment over the inordinate delays experienced with the Day Basin Project in particular. Covid played a part in this situation along with a range of other factors. We continue to work with our partners on this exercise to fulfil our commitment and to follow-through and honour the massive effort and works of our members towards generating the significant funds involved. As ever we are looking for positive developments towards the fruition of these works.

We also wish to acknowledge the work of our friends the Daylesford & District Horticultural Society. We thank them for including us at their Winter Feast at the town hall. Along with the Hortis we also acknowledge the work of the Daylesford & District Agricultural Society and their efforts with the annual November Daylesford Show and our joint participation in this important and historic event. Likewise we acknowledge the fine work undertaken by the Daylesford & District Historical Society with their custodianship of this community’s unique and special history as they undertake various exhibitions and activities at the Museum. We are excited at the prospect of a weekend of jointly run events and activity celebrating the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens in Winter 2024, partnering with both the Hortis and the Historical Society We acknowledge and honour several friends of the Friends of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens who have died in the last 12 months. These include former Friends President Gael Shannon, joint owner of Lake House and Wombat Hill House Café Allan Wolf Tasker and Mary Ellis long term friend of the Friends and supporter. The Friends of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens have participated in and supported a range of events and activity, as follows; • Bank House Open Garden - November 2022 • Daylesford Show - November 2022 • Growing Friends Volunteers Break-up - December 2022 • Daylesford New Year’s Eve Gala - December 2022 • Support Wombat Hill House Café in their entry to the ChillOut Window Display - March 2023 • Support with submission on the planned removal of Stanbridge planted Cedars - April 2023 • Participated in the Daylesford & District Horticultural Society Mid Winter Feast with guest speaker Prof Tim Entwisle retiring Chief Executive and Director Royal Botanic Gardens - July 2023 • Taylor and Sangster Lecture - Natasha Mogan - November 2023 and we acknowledge and thank Tina Banitska for generously providing the venue at the Atrium Conservatory, The Convent. • Daylesford Show - November 2023 We honour all our members, old and new. We have been delighted that Annie Pyers has been able to return to the shed, courtesy of son Andy and renew her friendships and remain engaged with the group. Annie has a long history with the Friends dating back to the years when her late husband Val was President of the Friends. In July we recognised Ray Robinson for his outstanding commitment to the Gardens as a fundraiser, horticultural advisor and long-term President. Ray has endured poor health in recent times and we have been delighted with his improvement in this regard. He sold his home and has relocated to Ocean Grove where we hear that he is thriving, even including some gardening activity. We send him best wishes and look forward to keeping in touch. During the year we farewelled Nigel Smith our long-term Treasurer who finally stepped down from the committee after his long and faithful service to the organisation. Thank you Nigel. In recognition of his wonderful service we are awarding him Life Membership of the Friends. Sally Malcher, another long term committee member will be retiring this month. Sally’s contribution to the Friends has also been significant, ranging from plant propagation and sales, to weeding, catering, coordination of our jam making and sales as well as service as Vice President. In recognition of her service we are also awarding her Life Membership. Also stepping down from the committee at this time will be Trevor Armstrong and Venetia Blackman. We thank Trevor for his work managing Memberships and Venetia for her advice around managing our database with memberships and enhancement of our website. On the communication front we are attending to our website and look forward to an improved representation of the organisation online for those who search for us. Committee member Denise Robinson has undertaken the updating of the hard-copy Gardens brochure which will be completed soon and made available to visitors and locals alike. Social Media continues to be a major means of our communication, especially related to our nursery plant sales. Local community Facebook pages are the feeding grounds for all our plant sale promotions. On Facebook we have 2,200 Followers, while on Instagram we have 1,200 Followers. Once again my thanks to all members and friends for their support over the past year. We look forward to the coming year where no doubt the qualities and successes identified here will again be repeated.

Frank Page President .