Red dirt underfoot, blue skies overhead and 50 kms until the finish: welcome to The Pilliga Ultra.

East Point is proud to be a major sponsor of The Pilliga Ultra, a wild run that takes athletes through the ancient eucalyptus woodlands of the Pilliga Forest in the northwest of NSW.

For a brand synonymous with the pounding waves of Byron Bay, East Point is excited to head out to the traditional home of the Gamilaraay peoples to support the lucky 100 trail runners who are preparing to embrace this bucket-list running event.

Created by For Wild Places in an effort to raise awareness to protect this stunning part of Australia, The Pilliga Ultra will consist of a 5km, 20km and 50km route for athletes to experience, endure and embrace.

To celebrate a race well run, East Point will be there to congratulate athletes as they cross the line and provide the well-deserved after party. At just 2.7% ABV, East Point is lightly soured, fully refreshing and just made for finish lines. It’s the beer to choose when you have a lot on tomorrow, or when you’ve left it all out on the trail today.

For more information on The Pilliga Ultra, visit their website.

We’re thrilled to announce six local not-for-profits have been awarded a Northern Rivers Large Grant, with a total of $115,180 being divided between the organisations.

After receiving a strong pool of outstanding applications from many people doing great work in our community, the inGrained Foundation Grants Committee and Board are pleased to announce the successful recipients for the 2021 inGrained Northern Rivers Large Grants Program are:

Agape Outreach

Agape Outreach Inc is a street-level organisation actively working to alleviate poverty and homelessness in the Tweed Heads area and beyond. Since COVID, they have seen a 468% increase in client numbers needing support. Agape will be putting their grant towards ongoing support and outreach services for people in need.

Bangalow Koalas

Steadily building the koala, wildlife and reforestation corridor around Bangalow, Bangalow Koalas are looking to plant over 4000 trees in the area by August 2024 regenerating land and protecting the local wildlife for years to come. Their grant sees a key section of the wildlife corridor progressing within the next 12 months.

Byron Community Centre

The Byron Community Centre are at the forefront of the region’s homelessness crisis. Currently renovating the Fletcher Street Cottage to reopen late this year, BCC will be using their grant to help provide the homeless and disadvantaged community with shelter and support in extreme weather events.

Community Owned Renewable Energy Mullumbimby (COREM)

COREM installs solar systems on community organisations for free, which is then paid back by the savings made on the electricity bills. The solar systems are provided interest-free and when paid back, the funding is re-purposed for the next installation. COREM’s grant is going towards a model of delivery that allows them to sustain this great work.

Green Heroes

Recently rescuing three loggerhead turtle nests from the Fingal and Pottsville areas, Green Heroes built a makeshift incubator and successfully hatched and released over 150 baby turtles with a 96% hatch rate. Their inGrained funding will help them to build a proper and permanent incubator to continue to revive these endangered sea creatures for many turtle hatchings in the years ahead.

Human Nature Adventure Therapy

Through their Activ8 Outdoor Youth Mentoring program, Human Nature Adventure Therapy offer immersive outdoor counselling services for teens in need in our community. Their inGrained grant will support the delivery of many more one-on-one outdoor counselling sessions building mental health and resilience.

We at Stone & Wood and the inGrained Foundation are stoked with the results of this year’s Grants Program. We congratulate each of the successful applicants and look forward to seeing their projects come to life, and thank all the organisations who took the time to apply this year.

inGrained’s work in the community continues throughout the year with the help of Byron locals and visitors to our Byron Brewery. For every beer sold over the bar, $1 goes towards supporting additional local grass roots charities.

To learn more about the inGrained Foundation, its Grants Program and this year’s recipients, visit the inGrained Foundation website, sign up to the newsletter and follow @ingrainedfoundation