2 Years of Hemporium Community

As The Hemporium turns 2 we would like to take you on a journey to show you why we came to be where we are. 

Karen Burge, a passionate Cannabis Hemp advocate, Founder of The Hemporium had a goal and vision to move The Ubuntu Wellness Clinic that she had been running for almost 10 years in Hunter st Newcastle to The new location of 87 Young st Carrington. Our business name also transitioned to The Hemporium in this move. 

In July 2024 we signed the lease on a 120 year old building in young St Carrington. 

This beautiful old building served its purpose for the many previous owners including but not limited to a Butcher,  Cabinet Maker, Timber Mill, a children’s Fairy Party Space, Antojitos Mexican Restaurant, Ground up Espresso Café, and the beloved, well loved, iconic Frankie’s noodle bar.

The evolution of The Hemporium in the last 2 years has been likened to Doctor Who’s Tardis. Every time you walk through the door there is something different to see. 

We built our clinic on a limited budget with recycled furniture. Our gardens were built by the community for the community using recycled bathtubs for our garden beds, an old trampoline was the base for our moon gate and a beautiful new mural was painted by young, local passionate artist. 

At the front entry of our premises we have our Medicinal Kitchen Cafe, our Cafe’ is not your average Café. 

We believe that everything we put in and on our body feeds Wellness or Disease therefore our food and beverages do not contain any nasty processed ingredients or industrial seed oils, especially NO CANOLA OIL. Our Menu is based on the wisdom of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”. We believe that our body was designed to function best with the food, herbs and spices that nature has provided.

A large majority of Australians have autoimmune conditions. For those living with these conditions every time we put any synthetic ingredients, or processed food in our body, our body's natural intelligence knows it is a foreign object and starts attacking itself. That is why everyone who eats or drinks from our café feels deeply nourished and nurtured because there is no immune reaction because of the purity of our ingredients. 

Our Cafe is open Monday and Tuesday with Coffee and a light grab and go menu including raw treats and in-house baked Hemp, sweet potatoes and beetroot brownie and Paleo GF Banana Bread. Our full Cafe menu to dine in or takeaway is available Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 8am-2pm. 

After walking through our Cafe you enter or Hempothecary Wellness Clinic, here you will find a large variety of products that support you to take your health back in your own hands. In the last 12 years we’ve had wonderful results supporting people with anxiety, pain, insomnia, inflammation, endometriosis, MTHFR gene mutations, chronic conditions and more.

We have a vast range of products on our shelves to support the conditions mentioned above. Alternatively if you have more chronic health concerns or I would like 1 on 1 support to take your health back into your own hands we also have consultations available with our Biologist and our Nurse. 

Alongside our clinical range of products we also have an exciting range of natural products made by local artisans and food specialist providing nutritional benefits for body, mind and soul.

What excites us the most in our clinic is the education that we offer. We have an inhouse Biochemist so we get the opportunity to educate people on the way that the body communicates through cell signalling and cellular communication, looking at the best ways to get the body to talk to itself for ultimate states of Wellness.

After walking through our Clinic you enter our backyard. Our tranquil garden sanctuary. 

A massive 6 metre high brick wall between us and our neighbour, running the length of the building and garden had some murals on it that were not cohesive with the community vibe we were creating.

A member of our community Dan the Karate Kid Painter was a house painter that wanted to start painting murals so with some left over forest green paint from Painting the building we asked Dan to paint mountains over the existing art work and see what evolves after that.

As I sat with my back against the wall under the mountain on on sunny Sunday morning I had a vision of a mother Gaia mural on the wall so I contacted my favourite Newcastle artist Julia Jay and asked her to assist. 

Our Mother Gaia mural is our way of showing our respect for our beloved Mother Earth, and our desire to protect and preserve our precious natural resources for our own wellbeing, our children’s well-being, all future generations, our land, and our water.

Dan started painting the mountains on  the 1st of January and for the last 8 months Dan and Julia-Jay have been slowing chipping away to bring our wall to life. Sarah, another local artist also added a beautiful touch by adding detail to our leaves and feathered angel wings. Thank you Dan, Julia-Jay and Sara for your dedication and inspiration. This mural is an example of Love in action, loving service.

We love supporting local young artist, so we in the last 2 years we have also commissioned Jeremy Dwyer art and Chenelle Kosakowski to paint our toilets.

Unlike other murals in our region that are painted with spray cans, our mural was hand painted with the intention that everyone that sees it feels more connected to the Earth and the elements. 

I will never get tired of hearing the comments of people walking into our back yard for the first time, some say it is a sanctuary, an oasis, Nimbin crossed with Byron and bit of Mullumbimby. Many just look around in awe as they feel and settle into the vibe of what we have created. Our intention was to create a safe place for community to come to rest, to heal,  and to congregate. And I definitely feel our mission has been accomplished. 

It’s been so rewarding to be part of creating something that is just so needed in our community. A space  where your nervous system can rest and reset and you feel nourished and nurtured just by being here.  

We have already held so many amazing events here in the last two years including book launches, reggae parties, coffee raves, a ukulele festival, meet ups, art music jams, yoga, meditation, drumming circles, kids yoga and more. And we are super excited to see what else comes to fruition in our space in the future. We have built it and now we’ll see what comes. 

So what’s next ? More education, reggae parties, more live music gatherings, art jams, cooking classes, introduction to wellness, pain support groups and whatever our community needs to feel supported, inspired and have a little fun on the way. 

If you would like to stay up-to-date with what is happening here simply subscribe to our website, like and follow us on Instagram and Facebook. 

In closing I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has visited our establishment, and everyone that has helped build our space. And to those that plan to visit but have not yet done so, we look forward to seeing you here some time soon.

It is because of you that we are here.

Bright Blessings 

Karen Burge and The Hemporium Vibe Tribe