Past and present All Hallows’ School students have united to celebrate their work in fundraising for and refurbishing a garden at a Mater health facility designed to support young people experiencing significant challenges.
The partnership between Mater and All Hallows’ through a shared Mercy Partners connection inspired students to raise more than $26,000 through Mater Foundation for the refurbishment, as part of a school fundraising initiative that saw them raise $50,000 for various community initiatives.
The $26,000 went towards new landscaping, a garden and mural at Mater’s Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Withdrawal Service at South Brisbane.
Mater and All Hallows’ follow the traditions and values of the Sisters of Mercy, founded by Catherine McAuley in Ireland almost 200 years ago, bringing God’s mercy to the community through acts of compassion.
The School and Social Justice Captains led the school's fundraising efforts throughout 2025 for the refurbishment of the community garden space.
Past All Hallows’ Social Justice Captain Ruby Carroll was one of those students, joining the next generation of student leaders to tour the finished product.
Ms Carroll says the goal was to create an inviting outdoor space for young people using the facility.
“We really wanted to incorporate a lot of greenery into the garden to create a calm space for people to reconnect with nature,” Ms Carroll said.
“We wanted to emulate that through the mural we painted as well and bring nature into an urban space.”
Artwork for the mural painted by the students was designed by local artist Hue Kedge.
“Our fellow students really got behind it and gave a lot of time and generosity to the project,” Ms Carroll said.
“As social justice captains we spearheaded fundraising in a few ways, we did dress-up days, we sold coffee beans, and we did homeroom fundraisers.”
2027 Social Justice Captains, Sophia McMullen and Sasha McKenzie-Sillar, said seeing the fruits of past captains’ labour would inspire them to carry out the Mercy mission, vision and values in their senior year.
“It’s really nice to encourage the younger students who are just starting to learn about social justice at our school and show them what we can achieve,” Ms McMullen said.
“I’m very excited to give back to the community as a social justice captain.”
“It was really special to see what we raised money for,” Ms McKenzie-Sillar said.
“It was really cool to see what they did with the space that people get to come to, and how it really helps them.”
The Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Withdrawal Service at South Brisbane provides a live-in program for young people aged 13 to 21 to safely withdraw from substances in a comfortable environment.
Acting Operational Director for Mater’s Young Adults and Mental Health Services Amanda Tilse said research demonstrates that therapeutic environments play a crucial role in substance use recovery.
“The outdoor space looks fantastic and is all the more inviting for our young people thanks to the compassion and hard work of All Hallows’ School students and their fundraising through Mater Foundation,” Ms Tilse said.
Mater Foundation Chief Executive Andrew Thomas said he was proud of the continued partnership between All Hallows’ School and Mater Foundation, which is an active representation of the Mercy values we share.
“The garden looks magnificent, and it’s important work that meets our mission to improve the health and wellbeing of our community, and to continue the Mater tradition of care and compassion,” Mr Thomas said.
