Busselton artist’s work up for auction to raise money for South West Autism Network

The South West Autism Network is looking to attract bids on a work created by a Busselton artist in an auction to raise funds for its services. The needle-felted piece depicting a Busselton Jetty scene was created by Busselton artist Melanie Jarman. It is now on display at the entrance of The Goose Bar and Kitchen on the city’s foreshore, with all money raised in the auction to go to the South West Autism Network to improve its services for the neurodivergent community. A spokesperson for the South West Autism Network said there were several areas where additional funding would help a lot. “We haven’t actually decided as of yet what area the funding will go to, but theoretically it would go to something like how we produce go-to guides which are beginner information books for a few different age groups, available online or paper copy, so it could go to printing and producing those,” she said. “We do social groups (for) kids up to adults that we’ve done for years but we’ve not been able to do for the last couple of years. Because of staff and volunteer shortages, COVID and things like that, it was all put on hold. “But we’re hoping to get that off the ground again next year, so it could go into those groups.” The artwork is the second in two years created for a charity auction by Jarman after a piece of hers raised around $2000 for the Busselton Safe Space last year. This year, the piece took the better part of three months to complete, with much of the work done during her open studios when community members could have a go and help with its creation. Jarman said she was happy to make a difference with her creativity. “I was looking for a local small charity that I could support, and we have a few family members or close friends with children with autism and it’s just a worthy cause to support,” she said. “If they can raise $2000, $3000, $4000, I mean the sky’s the limit. If they can raise some money then they can have it all and just put it to whatever they need to do.”