Kurrajong’s Runway for Change is a long-table dinner event filled with fun, fashion and celebration. Photos: Supplied.
Not-for-profit disability services provider Kurrajong will hold a fashion show for the Riverina community at Wagga’s Hildasid Farm on Saturday, 15 November.
Kurrajong marketing and communications manager Jennifer Crosskey said the Runway for Change event was more than a fashion show, it was a celebration of confidence, creativity and inclusion.
She said Kurrajong clients would take centre stage and model the spring-summer 2025 collections from local boutiques such as Proud Poppy, Ted & Olive Boutique and Ninja & Ji. The clothes were handpicked by the models themselves after visiting the Wagga stores.
“To put it simply, it’s a long-table dinner event and halfway through the night, our Kurrajong clients will be putting on a fashion show supported by [these brands],” Ms Crosskey said.
In addition to benefitting the activities currently on the farm, funds raised from the event will support three new initiatives at Hildasid Farm: the Kurrajong Mobile Cafe, which provides barista training and opportunities for employment and social connection; a Percussion Playground to promote sensory engagement and creativity through music; and an accessible camping experience.
Ms Crosskey hopes the accessible camping experiences will allow people with disability to build independence and outdoor skills in a safe and supported environment.
“It’s not something that usually people with disability would be able to do outside of a supportive environment,” she said.
Sitting out on Gregadoo Road at Lake Albert, Hildasid Farm is a small non-profit farm where people with disability grow, learn and thrive. The farm offers a variety of activities, including an art studio, a bike track, a sensory garden and community gardens.
A few years ago, disability services provider Kurrajong Waratah was gifted a parcel of land by the late Dick Nash and his wife, Maisie, which they’ve named Hildasid Farm in honour of the late Mr Nash’s parents, Hilda and Sid Nash.
Now it’s one of Kurrajong’s most loved community spaces.
About 75 per cent of Kurrajong’s client supports are funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), but Ms Crosskey said it was the generosity of the community that helped bring the programs to life.
“We need community generosity at events like Runway for Change to fill the gap,” she said.
“We want to make sure that we can keep providing new experiences and different things for people to do, to keep learning and growing in that safe environment.”
After a long lunch a few years ago, Kurrajong has done a great deal of work to build up Hildasid Farm to what it is now. Ms Crosskey said it was on the cusp of something great and she hoped there would be more events in the future.
Funds raised from the dinner will be used to support three new initiatives, on top of current activities, at Hildasid Farm.
“This is the first one that we’ve done for a while, and it’s the first large event that we’re running at Hildasid Farm,” she said.
“There’s some really cool projects that will need support in the future.
“We’d love to see this event running for years and years to come.”
Runway for Change 2025 will take place on Saturday, 15 November, at the Hildasid Farm, off Gregadoo Road, Lake Albert, from 4:3o pm to 8:30 pm. Tickets are $95 and include bubbles on arrival, wine on the table, bar service and a two-course dinner. Funds raised will support Hildasid Farm activities and new initiatives. For more information or to book tickets, visit the Runway for Change events page.
