The Belle General Team Supporting The Girl to Woman Festival

The Belle General Owners
Left to right: Kyla Plummer, Jacqui McCoach and Sarah Baldwin

Hello my name is Sarah and I am one of the three owners of The Belle General Café. In my teenage years I struggled to accept myself, so instead moulded myself to the image of what I perceived to be cool. The price I paid was enormous and it took over a decade for me to fully recover and finally embrace the beautiful woman I naturally am. This struggle for girls has intensified and I for one want to be their advocate and role model. My sister Rebecca once said,
‘true rebellion is having the courage to be yourself’.

Last year we were huge supporters of the very first of these festivals. Kyla was a guest speaker in a discussion group on eating disorders.

Kyla Plummer supporting the day 

Jacqui’s designer jewellery label Jewels by Jacqueline featured and was a popular stall in amongst the market action.

Jacqui’s Jewellery stand will be available for purchase and the first 150 attendees will receive
 a piece of jewellery in their complimentary gift bag.

Last year my husband Ray Karam did an awesome talk on raising girls and the importance of a strong bond between father and daughter and how this then influences our daughters’ choices in partners and relationships. This year he will be talking about maintaining a loving and caring relationship with our daughters, as they go through a sometimes difficult transition from a girl to woman.

Ray is an extremely active local community member and owns a health and bulk organic food store in Ballina called Nourish All of You.

Ray Karam pictured above

This year Nourish and The Belle will be providing delicious affordable food as the G2W Festival represents exactly what we and our businesses are about – community, family and education on heath and well being.
 
G2W is the most inspirational festival I have attended to date… a family orientated day designed to celebrate and appreciate all the extraordinary young woman in our lives. It not only embraces and supports our young women but also their parents, friends and/or relatives through what can be a typically challenging time.
 
The concerns that our girls face in the modern world are ever increasing with:

         •   Media pressures
         •   Imposed expectations to look this way or that
         •   The stress of beginning high school
         •   Cyber bulling
         •   Managing a social media presence
 
This is just to name a few. The range of discussion groups and guest speakers are designed to support with these topics and many more.
 
Saturday 9th of January 2016 at Lennox Head Community Centre is an opportunity for families to have a beautiful Belle General feed at a fraction of the price of our café in East Ballina at Shelly’s Beach and is just a great place to get together to support our community.

The Belle General at 12 Shelly Beach Rd, East Ballina NSW 2478

My 5 kids and I had a ball last year at G2W. My girls particularly loved making their own perfume but also enjoyed the makeup tent and live music. Admittedly, our 3 boys spent most of the time eating but the food was healthy, affordable and delicious, so I wasn’t complaining.
 
All in all the day was informative, fun and touching. A great community event that we, The Belle General  and Nourish are proud to sponsor. This year we will be providing lunch – our awesome nachos being one popular item on the menu, as well as a delicious and nutritious morning and afternoon treats from The Belle Bakehouse. Nourish will be offering fruits, nuts and plenty of healthy snack ideas for your family lunchboxes too.
 
I hope to see you all there!
 
With big love,
Sarah Baldwin and the Team

Left to Right: Kyla Plummer, Sam Plummer, Sarah Baldwin, Ray Karam and Jacqui McCoach