FEATURE STORY
A growing need for space Henley_CC
Finding the right place to bring people together in a world where we increasingly work from home and live in even tighter spaces is becoming more essential, particularly as we head into a post lockdown world. Vennu is a new booking website for special, unique community spaces and Hunter’s Hill has jumped on early. WORDS BY NICOLA RICHES
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uzanne Campbell relocated to Berry from Sydney more than a decade ago. By that time, Sydney’s expansion, both up and out, was in full swing: more people, housing challenges and increased density. Lifestyles were changing too. Suzanne could already see the importance of more space in an increasingly urbanised world. One of the answers to that problem was on her new doorstep in Berry. Berry’s beautiful Uniting Church was built in 1932 and is a favourite for local weddings. Wesley Hall, the original 1884 Wesleyan Church, isn’t too far away and has been lovingly refurbished. Then there’s the Berry Branch of the Country Women’s Association that meets in an historic listed building in the heart of Berry. With its modern kitchenette and simple facilities, that building is, as you would imagine, cute as a button. 12 TVO
These are the types of places you could walk past and appreciate on a stroll through Berry, or our local suburbs like Hunters Hill and Lane Cove. And although you might casually wonder if you could use these great spaces for another purpose – maybe a party, an exercise class, a meeting, or even as a workspace – it might not be immediately clear how to make that happen. Suzanne’s background is in technology. She describes her corporate life as “extraordinarily rich” and counts, among her many successes, inclusion on Crikey’s “most influential people in Australian tech” list. Now she is the founder and CEO of Vennu, a platform that bridges the challenge (a need for space for people and communities) and the solution (venues like that cute as button CWA hall). The idea was quite simple, as Suzanne explains, “In the newer parts of my town, there are younger families who do
