After months of preparation, the St Stephen’s Community Farmer’s Market, an initiative of Carramar Uniting Church, will be up and running with its first market to be held on Saturday 5 September. The congregation meets weekly on Sunday mornings at St Stephen’s School Carramar, a Uniting Church in WA school.
Responding to a need for local people to gather in a relaxed and informal environment, the market will make use of many local market gardens which exist in the northern suburbs, providing shoppers with a direct link to local growers and producers. As well as fruit and vegetables, Rev Narelle Collas, minister at Carramar Uniting Church and chair of the St Stephen’s Community Farmer’s Market Board, said that the market will showcase the best produce in the local area, including meat, eggs, bread and local artisans.
Business students from St Stephen’s School are also in the process of developing stalls. Buskers and food vans providing meals and snacks will also be a highlight.
Narelle said that the Community Market hopes to promote a healthy lifestyle – physically, socially and spiritually – and that it will help to build a strong sense of community in the local area.
“As St Stephen’s and the church are a Christian community we believe our mission is to engage in and with the local community in ethical ways,” Narelle said. “The Uniting Church is committed to loving God and loving our neighbour and much of its role is to stand alongside the individual, inside and outside the church. This involvement in the community market is just one of the many ways in which we try to do this.
“We will be encouraging a high ethical standard with all our stallholders and that through this and welcoming and open atmosphere of the market we hope to build a strong sense of wellbeing within our community.”
From Saturday 5 September, the St Stephen’s Community Farmer’s Market will operate each Saturday from 8.00am–12noon at St Stephen’s School Carramar. For more information contact Narelle at Carramar@unitingchurchwa.org.au, visit their website at www.sscfarmersmarket.org.au or like them on Facebook as St Stephens Community Farmers’ Market.