The morning dogs are barking. By the Return and Earn machine in the carpark you can already hear the clink and clatter of glass and plastic bottles rescued by people making a few extra dollars to get them through the week. Vehicles are pulling in steadily; soon it will be full-on busy as the Marrickville Organic Food And Farmers Market gets underway at Addi Road in Marrickville…
Mostly people just want to run away. The subject is too difficult, too dark, too troubling to cope with. So it’s something of a surprise to find a crowd of almost 200 people at Addi Road in Marrickville on a cold winter’s evening for the launch of the third season of No Laughing Matter, a podcast dedicated to telling the stories of ‘victim-survivors’ of incest.
Judy is a volunteer for the new Wednesday Night Lights shift at Addi Road Food Pantry. Working in tandem with the Street Side Medics service we are seeing a new kind of customer and many people in need.
The Federal Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Andrew Giles MP, came to our Gumbramorra Hall to launch the Multicultural Framework Review, acknowledging Addi Road’s role as a birthplace to multiculturalism 5O years ago.
We answer inequality and social struggle, environmental concerns and cultural isolation with bread and ideas, with political lobbying and food relief work in tandem with film nights, artist gallery shows, and public events like the Addi Road Writers’ Festival.
Addi Road Food Pantry here in Marrickville is closing for another day. A barefoot schoolboy nearby, standing behind a tree, makes high calling sounds. “Is that a bird? Is that a bird?” a couple of women call out, as if they can’t see him.
Today is May Day. Also known as Labour Day and Eight Hour Day. In Marrickville we will maintain just a little of the May Day spirit in a conversation between the novelist Alan Fyfe and the poets DG Lloyd and Magdalena Ball at our Addi Road Writers’ Festival.
Yarrie Bangura says she is always glad to have come to Addi Road. “Everything good started here.”
Look who is the cover star for today’s edition of the Good Weekend inside the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne’s The Age. Only our good friend and ally, Craig Foster.
It’s been a very busy month at Addi Road. Meet our new Chief Operating Officer (COO), Melissa Holmes. And hear about our new collaboration with The Bower, as well as a host of Addi Road initiatives.
