THIS morning from 9.30am until 12pm there will be a range of assorted plants, seedlings, fresh fruit and produce, vegetables, and herbs on offer at the Spring Gardening Sale in the Hamilton Performing Arts Centre forecourt.

The Spring Gardening Sale is becoming an annual event for the Hamilton Area Rural Australians for Refugees (HARAR).

HARAR secretary, Gill Hiscock, said this is the fourth year that the event will been run.

“We are a group concerned about the welfare of refugees and asylum seekers both in Australia and in offshore detention,” she said.

“Although we are told offshore detention no longer exists and all those who have been detained have been moved to Australia, there are still actually 70 left on Papua New Guinea after the centre on Manus closed.

“They have no access to any support or employment – they endured 10 years on Manus first.

“Those who came to Australia are allowed to live in the community, but again have no access to any support or the opportunity to work – they are still in limbo.”

Ms Hiscock said the aim of the Spring Gardening Sale was to raise funds to support the work of many bigger organisations, such as the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne.

“This year we are planning to send money to Afghanistan to support the underground movement to educate women and girls, which is prohibited under Taliban’s rule,” she said.

“In previous years the Hamilton and District communities have been fantastic at supporting our event – last year we raised over 2500 and we hope we can repeat that result this year.

“As in previous years, there is a raffle for a wheelbarrow full of things to help every gardener and this will be drawn at the end of the sale on Saturday.

“There will be naturally lots of perennial plants for sale, also a big variety of tomatoes, vegetable seedlings, pot plants, honey, eggs and produce.”

HARAR president Peter Cook will be entertaining visitors in the morning with some busking.