What does it really mean to be part of a community?

Sarah O’Neill, a university student who volunteers regularly at the Flame Tree Coop in Thirroul, shares her take on this

Community and environmental sustainability have been the foundational pillars that I have strived to build myself upon throughout my life. Encompassing all aspects of personal health, outward practices and inward beliefs, these principles have guided me through my own metamorphosis, where I have come to find what it is that I want to fill my life with.

Seeking this sense of a community that not only shared in my core values and principles, but made me analyse and act upon them, I finally signed up as a volunteer at Flame Tree after being a member for a year or so.

My first impressions of the Flame Tree community were a deep sense of passion and togetherness that emanated into every aspect of the store itself, as well as the people who filled it.
I felt encouraged and inspired by this beautiful community spirit to further my own knowledge of the value of fuelling my body with quality and nourishing food that this collective had been built around.

I believe that true change, progress and understanding comes from the shared human experiences that happen when we come together as a community, working as one, towards shared goals and aspirations for our future. At its core, to me, this is what the Flame Tree Co-op represents and strives to achieve.

I sincerely encourage anyone who is seeking this connection to come in, say hello and find what the Flame Tree community means to them.

Visit Thirroul’s Co-op at 355 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, flametree.coop