Omni Business and Accounting Solutions is a Ballarat based business up for the challenge of sorting out your bookkeeping, and keen to do it in a sustainable way. Omni, with sixteen years’ experience in the field, has untangled numerous accounting issues for their clients. It has also partnered with Fifteen Trees to plant 100 trees every 12 months.

Omni founder Nicole Simmons is highly motivated to run her small business in an ethical, environmentally friendly way. Every day, rain hail or shine (okay, maybe not hail…) she wakes at the crack of dawn and walks round one of the jewels in Ballarat’s crown – Lake Wendouree. Lake Wendouree is a place of remarkable natural beauty in the middle of a bustling city, bursting with native birds and other animals. It’s also a reminder of what we stand to lose if we can’t mitigate the environmental impact of human activity.

Fenton Creek, VIC | 100 trees | 2021

Buloke and Northern Grampians Landcare Network (BNGLN) is celebrating its 35th year of caring for country. Their aims are to regenerate lost habitats, create biolinks on agricultural land and enhance nature. We are delighted to be able to support them and their members by offering native trees. This year, the group received 3,500 trees of which 100 were generously sponsored by Nicole.

Bron and Dave (and their two young children) have a 600-acre property near Fenton’s Creek in North-Central Victoria. With a farming background, the family are developing and managing their property sustainably, and preservation and enhancement of the ecosystems is a priority.  They planted these 100 trees to restore areas that had been previously cleared and to get carbon back into the soil.  The trees were a mix of Grey Box and Yellow Gum. With plans to further revegetate the property in future, the resident birds and mammals (including antechinus and echidna) will be very grateful!

Murrundindi, VIC | 100 trees | 2020

The Murrundindi region of Central Victoria, another area of outstanding natural beauty, has felt the sharp edge of climate change in recent decades. From devastating bushfires, through diminishing habitat, to the more insidious changes in temperature and rainfall that alter native flora growth patterns, the region has taken a battering. It needs us, and it needs the trees provided by generous sponsors like Omni Business and Accounting Solutions.

Volunteers from the Upper Goulburn Landcare Network planted Omni trees this year. Those 100 seedlings will join the fight against land degradation and deforestation, provide shelter for native fauna, and help offset the impact of Omni’s business activities.

Anyone who spends enough time in nature tends to develop a strong urge to look after it. We’re convinced, like Nicole, that a daily walk by the water or under the trees can only do good. Both for the walker, and for the planet.

If you would like to know more about sponsoring community tree planting projects and how we can assist you in becoming a more sustainable business, please Contact Lou <[email protected]>.

Writer – Sarah Hart.

Sarah is an artist whose passions include the stories and experiences of women and narrative driven creative work. Her aim is to delight, to reveal glimpses of everyday beauty, and to celebrate flights of the ordinary. Sarah works across a range of media, with an abiding interest in pen and ink, mixed media and the human form. You can find Sarah here