Brunswick East’s Beloved Ceres Faces Closure Without Community Support

Until 1982, Ceres was as a landfill site. That changed when a small group of locals approached the council about using the land to grow vegetables and make compost. Over the years, volunteers have planted hundreds of trees and shrubs and lobbied governments to clean up the creek. Now the four interlinked sites are a community haven, welcoming well over 500,000 people a year at no charge.

But like many non-profit organisations across Australia, Ceres is facing extremely tough economic challenges.

“Ceres costs about $2.5 million a year to keep the Ceres Park running and open for the whole community to enjoy for free,” CEO Cinnamon Evans tells Broadsheet. “Over the last year or so, there’s been a sort of a perfect storm of factors. Increasing operating costs, increasing competition in the funding landscape, and just the cost-of-living crisis putting pressure on our enterprises. We just haven’t been generating as much on that side. So we need to fill a gap.”

Ceres launched a fundraising campaign and needs to hit $150,000 by June 30 to secure its future. Despite the pressure, Evans is feeling optimistic. The campaign has raised more than $125,000 since launching 18 days ago.

Beyond the fundraiser, Evans says Ceres is asking the government and philanthropists for emergency funds, and conducting an internal strategic review to increase revenue. Still, community support and engagement are at the heart of keeping not-for-profits like Ceres alive.

“I warmly invite everyone to come and participate in whatever way is meaningful for them,” Evans says. Come enjoy a coffee, buy a plant, walk around the park, visit Joe’s, come to an event. You know, join a workshop – all the things – order food boxes online, just be part of it. Just come and be part of it.”

The Ceres fundraising campaign is live until June 30.