The development of Kemptville Campus continues, as we look to make it a centre of activities for the entire community. This involves catering to a wide variety of groups and interests. Here are some of the ways we’ve been growing.
Local food and greenhouse programming:
With such a rich agricultural background, Campus was pleased to incubate the Kemptville Campus Community Garden project in 2023. Completely run by volunteers, the Garden became more than just a plot of land, it’s also a great educational tool for kids and adults alike. Start-up support for the project came from the Municipality of North Grenville.
Our AJ Logsdail Greenhouse is a hive of activity most days, with regular programming and volunteers tending plants and growing them for sale as a Campus social enterprise. You can book the space or plan a workshop there.
We have just finished a feasibility study for an incubator-kitchen facility to support local food businesses and community groups and we are exploring the possibility at a couple of Campus locations to see what makes sense. This would allow us to support local food producers and farmers who want to do value-added processing and packaging for local markets, and provide wraparound supports and training for food entrepreneurs on topics such as food labeling and marketing. We just won a Sustainability Award for this work from Sustainable Eastern Ontario!
This is the beginning of many exciting projects related to local food happening on Campus. We hope to branch out over time to really support a growing local food economy in Eastern Ontario.
Education and training on Campus:
The three schools and three daycares on Campus are all growing as the population of North Grenville grows. Elementary and high school students at Rivière Rideau and Notre Dame continue to enjoy the Campus space including the gym, the trails, and the outdoor classroom. We partner with TR Leger on apprenticeship training, with support from the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training, Immigration and Skills Development.
We offer a variety of training formats for adults and students, and will offer our first Level 2 Motive Trades apprenticeship course starting April 2024.
We remain focused on creating an even more welcoming and safe space for children, with a series of traffic calming and sidewalk installations planned for summer 2024.
Last year, we partnered with Notre Dame on an agrifood business course with support from the OMAFRA Rural Economic Development fund. The students created a new website showcasing local food producers in North Grenville and the surrounding area: https://sites.google.com/ecolecatholique.ca/alimentslocaux?usp=sharing.
Alongside the schools, our child-friendly campus provides many programs and services; e.g. Leeds-Grenville Children’s mental health, Wellington kids speech therapy, Dreaming Heart Art workshops, and sporting activities.
Sports and recreation:
The JAGS (Kemptville Minor Football) and Mission Volleyball now provide opportunities for children’s participation in sport in addition to any group being able to rent our gym, soccer fields, or the Agroforestry Centre for forest school and outdoor education.
Arts on Campus:
We welcomed The Dreaming Heart Art Studio and Painted Key Therapy to Campus in 2023, and saw another successful Kemptville Live, with 19,000 attendees. And we’re excited to see what 2024 has in store!
We are in talks with local arts groups about establishing an artist’s residency on Campus to help us build community while providing cost-efficient shared space and supports for arts groups. Another initiative we’re exploring is a musical instrument lending library with local partners including J.A.M. Productions and the North Grenville Public Library.
Every day, we’re exploring options for the Campus grounds and buildings. By continuing to provide spaces for nonprofits, local organizations, and individuals to host events, workshops, and programs, Campus hopes to continue building a diverse and welcoming place for the community to come together.