Esther Sokoya’s passion for bringing people together is the driving force behind her latest community venture which has been enthusiastically supported by locals and businesses alike.

‘Too beautiful for the tip,’ the ad said. A story of how an old piano found new life, and how its new family discovered its superpower of connecting people.

On my visits to the Central Mountains Men's Shed in Lawson, two things stood out to me: here were a group of men who gained skills, fulfilment and pride from their work at the Shed, and here were a group of men with strong bonds and friendship.

Under the artificial lights of a shopping aisle, it’s easy to forget the origin of food. For Polona and Nathanael of Bullaburra, raising their own meat is a way of taking themselves out of the global meat-impact equation. Discover their story here.

Sitting in half shade, half sun on the veranda of his Lawson home, Phil Somerville tells me that juxtaposition is an effective tool for cartoonists: “Putting two unlikely things together can spawn an almost original idea”.

Agroforestry around the world is demonstrating a promising solution for reducing the climate crisis. In a recent hands-on workshop in Hazelbrook, participants created a food forest and learnt how they could ‘bend time’ by accelerating its growth to help create a fertile earth for all organisms to survive.

Belle Butler visited Lawson Public School during Nude Food Week - an annual event that encourages families to pack school lunches without single-use packaging. The event promotes minimising plastic waste and opting for healthy food choices.

A ‘Battle of the Bands’ may conjure up fierce rivalries and competitive theatrics, but contestants and audiences at the 2023 MYST Youth Festival last month, were bound by mutual awe at the exceptional talent on display.

There is something delightful about opening up a used book. The dog-eared folds of interrupted chapters, the smudges of thumbed pages, the rushed scribbles of another reader’s thoughts... Explore Hazelbrook's RoseyRavelson bookshop here.

Twenty years ago the hanging swamps of North Lawson were being churned up by 4WDs and motorbikes. The passion of local residents saved them - discover their story here.