Neighbourhood house week was under way across the Whittlesea municipality this week, from May 8 to 14, with the theme of ‘locals connecting locals’.
Neighbourhood house week is an annual national celebration, recognising the important contributions of over 1,000 neighbourhood houses across Australia.
Lalor Neighbourhood House and Thomastown Neighbourhood House (TNH) both host a range of weekly activities and services for the local community.
From social craft groups and information sessions, to playgroups and parties, there is always something to do at your local Neighbourhood House.
Thomastown Neighbourhood House manager, Liz Skitch said that TNH works within a community development framework to create community engagement through events, activities and volunteer opportunities.
“The theme for this year’s Neighbourhood house week is ‘locals connecting locals’ and this really reflects our work at TNH,” Ms Skitch said.
“Events such as the Promisetown Picnic and activities like our Playgroup or Women’s Circle really bring community members together. Even our coffee cart at the Thomastown Library provides a place for locals to catch up over a cuppa.
“Through providing these opportunities to connect our community is greatly strengthened.”
TNH delivers the popular Promisetown Picnic twice a year. The family fun day was recently attended by over 1000 community members and was delivered by the TNH events team made up of 20 volunteers.
Ms Skitch said the team at TNH values diversity, equity and accessibility and these values are shared throughout the community in all work they carry out.
“It creates a really inclusive and diverse team and when the community sees this represented, it has really positive and powerful outcomes. It’s the butterfly effect,” she said.
Hannah Hammoud
