It's good to give
Giving back to our community is an important value at Barefruit. We’re very proud of our involvement with, and pro-bono work we do for, several charities and community projects.
Every year we give hundreds of hours of pro-bono time, financial donations and in-kind support to local charities, organisations, events and sports teams, including Biala Support Services , Rafiki Mwema, Northern Rivers Football Academy, North Coast Cricket Council, Lennox Head Football Club and many more.
Rafiki Mwema – a Loyal Friend
One of our founders, Claire, is also a founding board member of Rafiki Mwema, an Australian-based charity dedicated to repairing the physical and psychological damage inflicted on survivors of child sex abuse in Kenya. Rafiki is dedicated to breaking the cycle of abuse, to give all children the chance to live as children should. Barefruit donate the office space for the Rafiki headquarters in Ballina, and Claire and the team donate hundreds of hours each year in support and fundraising, including marketing strategy and planning, event management, SEO and Google Ads. A proud board member and Corporate Sponsor, Barefruit has donated well over $100,000 of time to Rafiki since the charity was set up in 2012. Claire was lucky enough to visit the children in Kenya in December 2022 – a life-changing experience.
Women for Women
One of the last events before the first Covid lockdown in 2020 was a charity event Barefruit held in honour of International Womens Day. This brought together over 140 local women for a fun & inspiring night out and just over $10,000 was raised for Rafiki on the night - a great success!
Biala Support Services
Our other founder, Evan, is the Chairman of local charity, Biala Support Services. This Not-for-Profit has been supporting people with a disability and their families in the Ballina region for over 50 years and are dedicated to encouraging quality of life for people with a disability. With an established special school in the heart of Ballina, they are also a registered NDIS provider. In the last year (2022) Evan and the team at Barefruit have dedicated over $20,000 in Pro Bono work to help Biala with a brand refresh and the creation of brand-new website.
Northern Rivers Football Academy
Claire and Evan have a sport-mad son, and Evan is also his coach in a number of those sports. One of them is as an official coach of the Under 13’s squad with the NRFA, an elite football (aka soccer) program in our region with 200 members. Claire also offers marketing advice to the club and has engaged them in a partnership with Rafiki Mwema.
Just Futsal Association
Barefruit have been supporting the local Futsal Association for a number of years with free marketing advice and assistance. This included the organisation and promotion of the inaugural Solomon Islands International Cup held in Honiara. You can read more about the Solomon's Tour here.
Lennox Head Football Club
We’re proud to have sponsored LHFC for the last 6 years. There are over 500 members in this club, all members of our local community.
North Coast Cricket Council
Evan is the Secretary of the North Coast Cricket Council. They run all the local junior cricket competitions and the representative teams for the Northern Rivers.
We are fortunate to be in a position to give back, and we encourage all individuals and businesses to do so. We are proud of the love and support Evan, Claire and the Barefruit team give to the charities and projects that help improve our communities here and overseas.
'Everyone can do something, however big or small. Imagine where we’d be if everyone did some ‘thing’'. Claire Harding, 2022
