After years working long shifts as a theatre nurse through the COVID pandemic, Speers Point resident Rebecca Hazell reached a turning point. Like many healthcare workers, the experience left her rethinking how she wanted life to look for her young family and how she could feel more connected to the community around her.
\u201cI still love nursing, but after those years I really wanted to slow things down a little and feel more connected to people locally. I was looking for something that gave me more flexibility while still feeling part of the community.\u201d
Two years ago, while on maternity leave with her second child, Rebecca started a Box Divvy food Hub from her garage in Speers Point \u2013 a community-run grocery model where neighbours order food together online and collect it locally each week. There are no membership fees, but members commit to ordering regularly so the group can buy collectively and share the benefits.
Today around 50 households collect their groceries from Rebecca\u2019s home every Tuesday. On Hub day, people arrive carrying tubs and boxes to collect their orders. Children play in the driveway \u2013 sometimes taking turns on Rebecca\u2019s son\u2019s tiny toy tractor \u2013 while parents swap school tips, recipes and local news.
Rebecca had already been a member of another local Box Divvy food Hub for several years and was drawn to the idea of neighbours ordering groceries together and sharing the benefits of buying collectively while reducing packaging at the same time.
\u201cIt\u2019s such a simple system. People order what they need during the week and then pop in to collect it. Some people grab their groceries and head straight home, others stay for a chat. It\u2019s relaxed and it works really well for families.\u201d
The response from locals was immediate. Within six months the Hub grew from around 25 members to about 50 households, quickly filling Rebecca\u2019s garage with weekly deliveries of fruit, vegetables and pantry staples.
\u201cAt one point my husband had to move his boat out of the garage to make room for the deliveries,\u201d she said.
Each week members collect their groceries, many bringing their own tubs or boxes so produce can be packed without plastic. For many locals, the appeal goes beyond convenience. Rebecca says members appreciate the freshness of the food, the transparency around pricing and the sense that their shopping is supporting Australian producers rather than large supermarket supply chains.
\u201cPeople really like knowing where their food is coming from and that farmers are being paid fairly,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s very little packaging and everything is really fresh. It just feels like a better way to shop.\u201d
Rebecca says the biggest surprise has been how quickly friendships have formed.
\u201cWe moved here from Sydney before we had kids, so it\u2019s been such a lovely way to meet people in the area. My son loves Hub day \u2013 all the kids want a turn driving his little tractor while their parents pick up groceries.\u201d
The sense of connection has extended beyond food. Members have organised \u201ckindness boxes\u201d for families going through difficult times and care packages for visiting seafarers staying nearby who rarely have access to fresh produce.
\u201cPeople don\u2019t expect it, but they\u2019re incredibly touched when the community comes together like that.\u201d
Rebecca still works two days a week at the hospital, but the Speers Point food Hub has become something special.
\u201cIt started as a practical way to shop, but it\u2019s turned into something much more. It feels like it\u2019s bringing a bit of community back.\u201d
Rebecca\u2019s Speers Point Box Divvy food Hub is almost full, with limited spot for a few more families.
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After years working long shifts as a theatre nurse through the COVID pandemic, Speers Point resident Rebecca Hazell reached a turning point. Like many healthcare workers, the experience left her rethinking how she wanted life to look for her young family and how she could feel more connected to the community around her. \u201cI still love … Continue reading “Local nurse bringing Speers Point neighbours together through the weekly grocery shop”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37877"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37878,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37877\/revisions\/37878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}