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[title]A bouquet of flowers can be symbolic of a variety of sentiments: congratulations, adoration or condolences. But for the women working at an unassuming floral delivery service in Brunswick East, the flowers they work with are a vessel for much more than thoughtful gifts. They represent community, hope and new beginnings. The Beautiful Bunch is a florist, but it’s also a nurturing space for young refugee women to flourish.
The florals facilitate the business’ true mission: supporting and uplifting women from refugee backgrounds, and guiding them in fostering their independence. The not-for-profit came to be in 2020, when founder Jane Marx closed her previous social enterprise – an events company that employed migrant and refugee women – amid the pandemic lockdowns. But its forced closure opened the door to a new floral format, creating job opportunities and a better work environment for the women who needed help most.
“The model was really well considered and intentional, and was the result of years and years of learning what works and what doesn't,” Marx says. “As part of the events social enterprise that I ran, the floristry component was by far [the women’s] most favourite thing to do.”
But the events industry had limitations with helping some young refugee women gain employment. Single mothers struggle to manage working nights, some women can’t serve alcohol for religious reasons, and the work requires a high standard of the English language.
“There are barriers to participation I just wanted to remove, so that we could help women that other social enterprises and certainly conventional businesses couldn't help,” Marx says.
The Beautiful Bunch offers paid traineeships to refugee women in an inclusive, supportive environment. The eight-month courses cover floristry, as well as digital and financial literacy and business administration skills. Classes include education in taxes, superannuation and budgeting, so the women can prepare to embark on their own independent careers. Currently, there are fifteen women undertaking a traineeship, receiving mentorship from experienced florists and graduates of the program who have become permanent employees.
“We take an individualised approach to everyone who we work with,” Marx says. “We work with women that are certainly on a scale in terms of confidence and capability… [but] we require nothing other than a desire to work here.”
The goal is to help the women assimilate into the Australian workforce, gently guiding them through new experiences. Coming to a job interview alone is a nerve-wracking task for many of them. One of the keys to the social enterprise's success is the community of women it has created, who are able to welcome newcomers in and make them feel comfortable. New trainees bond with the other women, who may be from the same home country or speak the same language,
“It's very intentionally created, that work environment, to make sure that they feel comfortable,” Marx says.
“People can't learn if they don't feel they can be vulnerable, and so you need to make sure that they feel they can be vulnerable in that setting, and that that's going to be received.”
Marx has a long history of working in social enterprises, starting from when she interned at clothing production non-profit the Social Studio (now housed in Collingwood Yards) to then opening her own café at 25 where she employed people seeking asylum. Part of her inspiration to work in the space came from when she volunteered as a private English tutor for migrant women living in social housing. She said this experience was “life-changing”.
“[They were] all mothers, who were new arrivals to Australia… a lot of them were very concerned – even though they were thrilled to be in Australia – about the career prospects for their children.”
In June of this year, the Beautiful Bunch welcomed four Palestinian trainees who had recently arrived from Gaza. The team had been planning how they could support Palestinian women for months, and Marx worked with human rights lawyers who were doing pro bono cases for Palestinians fleeing Gaza. They put her in touch with the women she went on to employ, and the business was able to launch a separate flower subscription model to financially support them, plus a scaled-back, specifically tailored traineeship program. This allowed for them to work in a calm space, rather than operating within the fast-paced daily delivery business.
Marx says it was nerve-wracking, as the business had never done anything like it before.
“They need time [for] healing… [so] we have tried to make it as little like a conventional work environment as possible [for them],” she says. “Little by little, they have become more comfortable with the place… everything's still very fresh, new and raw.
“They come in now and they smile, and they are happy to be there, and they are able to converse with their peers like they weren't initially. By earning an income, they were able to see the beginnings of a future for themselves in Australia.
“It has been one of the most beautiful things I've had the privilege of witnessing.”
Marx says that while she understands people want to help those suffering the impacts of humanitarian crises in tangible ways, they also usually want a quick fix.
“If you're wanting that more direct way of assisting someone, just listen to the community leaders that are local and see what they're saying. We listened to the local Palestinian community… we’ve always tried to be led by what the community leaders are saying.”
You can help to support the young Palestinian women working at the Beautiful Bunch by buying a Girls From Gaza weekly flower subscription, which will deliver a bouquet of fresh, seasonal flowers to your door. All the proceeds go directly to providing employment for the four women, who will hopefully be joined by others soon
"We can't do this particular work unless people subscribe, we have been really heartened by the support we've received, but we can always do with more subscriptions because there's hopefully going to be more people being able to come here," Marx says.
Nada Ahmed is a 21-year-old trainee at the Beautiful Bunch, whose family are originally from Eritrea. She came to the florist after a friend told her about how much she loved working there.
“It’s extremely supportive,” Ahmed says. “I can lean on a lot of the people here… I feel like I can freely ask anyone there for help, and they're always there.”
All of the young women have felt therapeutic benefits through working at the florist, even in the simple act of making bouquets each day.
“Working with flowers is really meditative work, especially if you're able to do it slowly,” Marx says. “It's also, for a lot of people, a connection to home… some of the flowers they recognize and they have a connection to them.
“I would like to think, it's certainly not enough, but it is very healing in a sense.”
If you'd like to support the Beautiful Bunch, you can purchase flowers on the website, or buy a Girls From Gaza subscription here.
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