The ACT’s annual celebration of spring, Floriade, has announced a new presenting partner for the next three years in Synergy Group, one of Canberra’s leading consulting and professional services firms.

Floriade and Synergy Group kicked off their partnership with a commitment to “a future that is sustainable and sees no one left behind”. Today, Thursday 28 July, Events ACT and The Synergy Group announced this year’s spring festival would be supporting two local charities, SEE-Change and Raw Potential Canberra.  

“An important bit for us when we considered being a presenting partner for Floriade is that we were also able to bring two charities along in order to foster a broader connection and a broader extension across the community,” said Synergy Group CEO Antonia Marzulli.

When deciding which charities to support, Ms Marzulli said Synergy wanted organisations that were committed to intentional action to change the course of the local community’s future in a positive way. They identified these qualities within two charities – one that champions a sustainable future in SEE-Change, while their second organisation, Raw Potential, is committed to supporting disadvantaged youth without judgement.

“When we think about community, we need to think about sustainability for the future, that longevity and connecting with our youth and ensuring that path forward, ensuring potential is realised.”

The support will provide a boost to both organisations, allowing them to reach wider audiences when people attend Australia’s most popular spring festival; in 2019, over 500,000 people walked through the fates of the month-long event.

Executive Officer of SEE-Change (Society, Environment and Economy), Brook Clinton, says the grassroots sustainability organisation is excited to have the opportunity to speak to people about the things we can do in our daily lives to help with climate change.

While she wasn’t sure exactly sure what events they will have at the festival, Ms Clinton suspects their electric bike library will show up, while garden enthusiasts might like to know more about their Roving Regenerators program.

“If you like gardens, if you appreciate them in any way, you would know that it all starts with the soil. There’s actually a lot we can do, even just in the urban area, to grow fresh soil. The world is running out of topsoil so we should be doing everything we can to protect and grow more,” Ms Clinton said.

Chairman of Raw Potential, John Miller, also wasn’t sure how they would be represented at Floriade just yet; but they do want to ensure they can tell the story of what they do and how they dramatically alter the lives of the people they help.

“For some people, it’s very difficult for them to imagine young boys and girls who were abandoned at 12, 13, 14, 15 with nowhere to go. They are not able to connect with mainstream service providers; that’s where we fill the gap. For many of them, there’s despair but there’s also many positive stories,” Mr Miller said.

He believes it’s important to share Raw Potential’s story as it is easier for people to connect with an organisation if they understand how and why it helps real people. He is grateful for the opportunity, which he is says is “massive” for small charity like theirs, especially after the last couple of years of the pandemic hindering their fundraising efforts.

“It gives us a further opportunity, people can connect with us, if they look and think ‘well, that’s worthwhile, we can support that’ as a really valuable piece of work that done in community,” Mr Miller said .

Floriade will start on Saturday 17 September and run until Sunday 16 October, with this year’s theme being Sounds of Spring.

For more information, visit floriadeaustralia.com

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