Spoil your mum this Mother’s Day with breakfast, entertainment and a unique shopping experience at the Cotton Tree Markets.

You can also go in the draw to win some great gifts and prizes from the local artisans by entering the Cotton Tree Markets’ special Mother’s Day Competition.

Bloomhill Cancer Help, General Manager, Mervat Thompson said most of the products sold at the market were handmade by local artisans or sourced locally making it a great place to pick up a unique gift for Mum.

“There will also be a variety of new stalls offering candles, spices, as well as party and decor decorations and much more,” Mervat said.

The markets, managed by Bloomhill Cancer Help, are held every Sunday at King Street, Cotton Tree from 7am to 12 noon, and feature a range of local fashion, homewares, toys, sculptures, skin care, jewellery, art and crafts plus plenty more.

Sunshine Coast local and star performer, Sue-Anne Stewart will delight the market crowd with her music this Mother’s Day. Sue-Anne’s powerful songs are drawn from solid folk heritage, with a punchy roots feel subtly carried by her passionate vocal styling. She has performed alongside many well-respected artists, and at many well known festivals including Woodford Folk Festival.

To enter the Mother’s Day Competition, simply spend $20 or more from a participating stallholder and complete an entry form available from the Bloomhill Information Tent and participating stallholders.

“Our wonderful stallholders have offered a variety of prizes for the competition that will allow us to select multiple winners,” Mervat said.

The competition commences on Sunday, 14 April and entries close on Sunday, 5 May. Winners will be drawn on Mother’s Day, Sunday 12 May. For more details about the competition and how to enter visit www.cottontreemarkets.com.au.

Bloomhill Cancer Help is a Sunshine Coast based charity and provides support and assistance to those affected by cancer. Operated by a team of dedicated staff and hundreds of volunteers, Bloomhill offers counselling, transport to appointments, respite care and a range of complementary therapies and other practical help to more than 900 clients.

Receiving no on-going government funding, Bloomhill relies on community support and funds raised through the markets and its Op Shops to provide its services.

Revenue from stallholder site fees is placed back into the community through Bloomhill’s services and programs, enabling Bloomhill to provide support to a greater number of people during their time of need.

“By shopping at the Cotton Tree Markets you’re not only treating your mum but also helping to support those with cancer on the Coast,” Mervat said.

For more information or to register your interest in becoming a part of the Cotton Tree Markets, please visit www.cottontreemarkets.com.au or email cottontreemarkets@bloomhill.com.au. You can also keep up to date with what’s happening at the market by following our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/cottontreemarkets.

The Sunshine Coast Literary Association continues to receive a stream of entries from writers across regional South East Queensland for this year’s Writers’ Competition.

Entries in this year’s competition close on Friday, 26 April. For the second year, the competition is open to residents in the Moreton Bay and South Burnett Council areas as well as the Sunshine Coast and Gympie. There are four entry categories including junior short story, young adult short story, open short story and open poem.

President of the SCLA, Kerri Jackson said the competition provides an outlet for writers in the region to receive recognition and encouragement for their work, as well as valuable feedback from professional, accomplished writers.

“The competition was strong last year, demonstrating the amazing abilities of writers throughout these regions,” Kerri said.

“This year we’ve conducted writing workshops in February, March and April, to encourage and prepare people for the competition,” Kerri said.

There are four categories in this year’s competition including:

• Category 1: Open Short Story, to a maximum of 2500 words
• Category 2: Open Poem, to a maximum of 40 lines
• Category 3: Young Adult (High School, Years 8-12) Short Story, to a maximum of 1500 words
• Category 4: Junior (Primary, Years 5-7) Short Story, to a maximum of 1000 words

There is a chance to win some great prizes with each category having a $200 first prize and $50 second prize, as well as certificates for all winners including Highly Commended entries.

A panel of experienced judges select the winners and announce the results of the Competition at the SCLA Awards Dinner on Wednesday, 19 June. More details regarding the event will be available closer to the date.

The Sunshine Coast Literary Association is a not-for-profit association dedicated to nurturing, showcasing and celebrating literary talent throughout the Sunshine Coast region.

“Our writing competition was first held in 2007 and has been run every year since 2009 so it is a key element of the Association’s calendar,” Competition Co-ordinator, Ian Laver said.

There are a number of sponsorship opportunities available. For more information email info@scliterary.org.

Each entry is $7 with a maximum of three entries per candidate. Entry forms and details are available online at the SCLA website, www.scliterary.org, or by emailing info@scliterary.org. All entries must be received, post marked no later than, 6 April 2013.

The Sunshine Coast Literary Association is set to inspire local writers to put pen to paper with a new travel writing workshop – Travellers’ Tales – Near & Far.

The workshop will be held from 9.30am to 1.30pm on Saturday, 13 April at Wallace House, 7 Wallace Drive, Noosaville.

Presenting the workshop and guiding participants to travel writing success is Ann Rickard, writer and editor of Noosa Life, the lifestyle section in the Noosa News. Ann is well travelled and has been writing about her adventures for the past 18 years.

Author of six humorous travel narratives, Ann said she hoped the workshop would inspire and empower participants to write engagingly about their travels.

SCLA President, Kerri Jackson said the workshop would provide writers with all the tools needed to start their travel writing journey.

“The workshop is an ideal way to develop skills in the specialist genre of travel writing, whether for memoir, blogging or more appealing postcards,” Kerri said.

The Sunshine Coast Literary Association is a not-for-profit association dedicated to nurturing, showcasing and celebrating literary talent throughout the Sunshine Coast region.

The association offers regular literary workshops, seminars and events, an annual writing competition, and monthly Front Write Up literary performance evenings that provide an opportunity to showcase the talents of its members.

This workshop is $25 for members or $35 for non-members. Morning tea will be provided but you will need to bring a pen, paper and your enthusiasm.

Spaces are limited so be sure to book your spot quickly. Tickets must be pre-purchased by emailing info@scliterary.org.

For more information on beginning your journey as a writer or becoming a member of the SCLA, please see our website www.scliterary.org.

More than 180 people joined Sunshine Coast food specialist, Tania Hubbard this week to celebrate the launch of her latest range of specialty cake mixes at a Red Carpet High Tea event.

Gluten Free Grain Free Company co-owner and author, Tania Hubbard said the event marked the next chapter for the company as it released its new range of Cafe and bake@home cake mixes.

“We are excited to be introducing some of our new flavours: chocolate, strawberry and a huge favourite the date and cinnamon cake,” Tania said.

“We have been developing the range for more than two years and all of our amazing taste testers have helped us to bring this new range to the market,” Tania said.

The Gluten Free Grain Free Company’s bake@home mixes are designed to make it even easier to cook great-tasting, gluten and grain free goodies in the comfort of your own kitchen and are packed with natural nutrient-rich, wholesome ingredients that taste great.

Tania, a diagnosed Coeliac, held the launch during Coeliac Awareness Week, 13 – 20th March wanting to spread the word to the millions of Australians living with the disease and other food allergies and intolerance that there were products available that they could eat safely without compromising on flavour or nutrition.

Tania said the turn-out at the event was overwhelming and proof that her products were enjoyed by many and filling a much-needed gap in the market.

“We were honoured to have Sunshine Coast Mayor, Mark Jamieson as a guest speaker at the event and to launch our range,” Tania said.

“And we had an amazing response from all our guests who were tasting the new flavours for the very first time,” Tania said.

The new Cafe range will provide selected cafes throughout Australia the opportunity to bake Tania’s exclusive range onsite, giving their customers a fantastic range of gluten free, grain free, nut free and dairy free cakes they can enjoy with their favourite coffee.

To enquire about stocking the bake@home retail range or to receive an information package for the Cafe range, please email info@glutenfreegrainfree.com.au.

For a complete list of stockists or to purchase the bake@home range of Tania’s cookbook, gluten free grain free – food we love, visit www.glutenfreegrainfree.com.au.

Maleny State High School students will have the support of a network of organisations with the signing of the Maleny Collaboration Partnership agreement tomorrow.

The partnership, brokered by Queensland Youth Industry Links Inc. (QYIL), aims to prevent and address youth disengagement.

Partnership Broker Deborah Moseley said the signing of the partnership between Hinterland Community Development, Maleny State High School, Maleny Neighbourhood Centre and United Synergies would assist the partners to create and enrich student learning opportunities beyond the classroom and support education leaders to make classroom learning more meaningful for young people.

The partnership has the North Coast Education Regional Office, Youth Support Coordinator, Youth Connections and QYIL Partnership Broker all working in a regionally directed and collaborative approach.

“The partnership will improve access for support services. Working together the partnership will build closer links and collaboration between education, industry and community,” Ms Moseley said.

Maleny High School Principal, Brian King said partnering with the Chamber of Commerce, TAFE and Business & Industry had supported the High School and Flexi School.

Hinterland Community Development, Community Development Worker, Holly Aston said this partnership was a great example of how everyone could all work together to support young people in our community.

The new Partnership Agreement would create ongoing sustainability for the Maleny Collaboration, which provides the best possible opportunities for students to move from school to work.

“Just one of the opportunities that can be achieved through an effective partnership is to address the needs of local business to employ local youth, while also improving the likelihood that students will complete traineeships,” Ms Moseley said.

Maleny Flexi School has been a great partnership between Maleny Neighbourhood Centre and Maleny State High School to support young people to learn in different ways. This flexibility has been developed with the support of United Synergies through the Youth Support programs.

The Partnership Agreement demonstrates the ongoing commitment for these key organisations to continue to work together in ways that support youth. Career education and Youth services are key objectives of this partnership.

QYIL is the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay region provider of the Partnership Brokers Program, funded by the Australian Government, to build partnerships with schools, businesses and community groups and develop partnerships at a strategic level which influence the region’s response to Youth Attainment and Transition. The National Program consists of more than 1,450 active and self-sustaining partnerships involving more than 4,700 partner organisations. New partnerships continue to form every week across Australia.

Image (Left to Right): Ian Fitton from Maleny State High School, Holly Ashton from Hinterland Community Development Association, Tony Lenihan from United Synergies and Angela Griffin from Maleny Neighbourhood Centre.

The Cotton Tree Markets will be bustling this Easter, with a great selection of Artisan products from over 70 stall holders and entertainment by Pete Trickett aka Captain Tricko.

A regular favourite of Cotton Tree Markets, Captain Tricko is a one-man band who plays the blues and folk music on musical instruments home-made from pieces of junk. You’ll find him in his favourite place, sitting on an island, under the palm trees and picking a tune on his cigar box guitar from 7.30am.

The markets, managed by Bloomhill Cancer Help, are held every Sunday at King Street, Cotton Tree from 7am to 12noon, and feature a range of local fashion, homewares, toys, sculptures, skin care, jewellery, art and crafts plus plenty more.

Bloomhill Cancer Help, General Manager, Mervat Thompson said most of the products sold at the market were handmade by local artisans or sourced locally making it a great opportunity to pick up something unique.

Revenue from stallholder site fees is placed back into the community through Bloomhill’s services and programs, enabling Bloomhill to provide support to a greater number of people during their time of need.

Bloomhill Cancer Help is a Sunshine Coast based charity and provides support and assistance to those affected by cancer. Operated by a team of dedicated staff and hundreds of volunteers, Bloomhill offers counselling, transport to appointments, respite care and a range of complementary therapies and other practical help to more than 900 clients.

Receiving no on-going government funding, Bloomhill relies on community support and funds raised through the markets and its Op Shops to provide its services.

“By shopping at the Cotton Tree Markets you are helping to support those with cancer on the Coast,” Mervat said.

“Since taking over the market we have also supported an increasing number of artisan stall holders with out numbers going from 40 to 70.

“We have also established a new website – www.cottontreemarkets.com.au – as well as a Facebook page – www.facebook.com/cottontreemarkets – promoting the market and supporting our stall holders.

“The Facebook page is also a great place to find out what’s happening at the market each week.”

“We invite everyone to come down and enjoy the Easter atmosphere, enjoy the markets and the wonderful shopping and cafes in the Cotton Tree precinct,” Mervat said.

“We are always on the lookout for new and unique stallholders, so please contact us if you would like to register your interest,” Mervat said.

For more information or to register your interest in becoming a part of the Cotton Tree Markets, please visit www.cottontreemarkets.com.au or email cottontreemarkets@bloomhill.com.au.

The Gluten Free Grain Free Company will celebrate the launch of their latest specialty cake mix range with a Red Carpet High Tea celebration on Tuesday, 19 March.

The event will be held at the SCAIP Building in Nambour at 10.30am with more than 150 people expected to attend including local business owners and Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson, who will be launching the company’s new range.

Gluten Free Grain Free Company co-owner, Tania Hubbard said the high tea would mark the next chapter for the company as it launches its new range of Cafe and bake@home cakes.

“I am excited to be introducing some of our new flavours: chocolate, strawberry and the Italian date & cinnamon cake,” Tania said.

“We have been developing the range for more than two years and all of our amazing taste testers have helped us to bring this new range to the market,” Tania said.

Tania said the event was also a great opportunity to celebrate food innovation and food production businesses in the region.

“I am passionate about working in partnership with other businesses to find ways that the company can incorporate local product and local food into our range,” Tania said.

“We are working alongside some fantastic businesses including Tim Adams Specialty Coffee for the development of our Italian Coffee Cake and Vicki Taylor, owner of Red Hot Chilli Pepper to get just the right mix of spice for our Date, Cinnamon and Rosemary Cake.

“The event will also give people the chance to taste all the new flavours for the first time,” Tania said.

The Gluten Free Grain Free Company’s new Cafe range will give selected cafes throughout Australia the opportunity to bake Tania’s exclusive range onsite, giving their customers a fantastic range of gluten free, grain free, nut free and dairy free cakes they can enjoy with their favourite coffee.

The bake@home range will be available in selected supermarkets, health food stores, organic grocery markets and other retail outlets and via the website, www.glutenfreegrainfree.com.au – giving everyone across Australia the opportunity to bake great food at home.

Bloomhill Cancer Help, a long-standing Sunshine Coast-based charity, is eager to show their appreciation to the local community for all the help and support its received leading up to and during its expansion.

Bloomhill’s General Manager, Mervat Thompson said the support Bloomhill has received over these past few years has been overwhelming, and proven just how supportive people and businesses within the community were.

“While we did get a grant from the Federal Government for the expansion, we were able to raise a further $120,000 to refurbish the existing part of the building from our Target 300 campaign. This is over and above the ongoing support we receive from donors, sponsors and supporters of our six Bloomhill Op Shops,” Mervat said.

“With no ongoing government funding, Bloomhill relies on the money received from donations, fundraising activities and its Op Shops throughout the Coast to continue providing its much-needed services.

“We have also recently been appointed the Managers of the Cotton Tree Markets, which means you can support Bloomhill just by shopping at the Markets every Sunday,” Mervat said.

“Without the support of the community, Bloomhill would not be able to continue offering its high level of care to those who need it and that need continues to grow,” Mervat said.

Since 1997, Bloomhill has provided support and assistance to thousands of people affected by cancer and their families throughout the Sunshine Coast. Operated by a team of dedicated staff and hundreds of volunteers, Bloomhill offers counselling, transport to appointments, respite care and a range of complementary therapies and other practical help.

To cater for its growing number of clients and to give more people access to its amazing services and support, Bloomhill built an extension to its existing therapy centre that included five new therapy rooms, state-of-the-art kitchen, additional office space and a beautiful, big recreation room. Since the opening of the new therapy centre in June 2012, Bloomhill’s client base has risen to well over 900 current clients.

“Our client numbers continue to grow daily, which shows us just how much Bloomhill’s services are needed here on the Coast,” Mervat said.

“Thank you to everyone who has offered their support to Bloomhill through volunteering, participating in fundraising, monetary or in-kind donations, and we hope for your continued support into the future,” Mervat said.