Springboard Community News
The first Springboard newsletter consisted of one A4 sheet in September 1996. To assist with production costs, advertising first appeared in May 1997. The aim was to deliver to every household and community organisation in the Torquay district. It became a 'registered' publication in October 2002 and in 2009 has a circulation of 5,000 print copies, a growing e-mail delivery and on-line www.springcreekcommunityhouse.org.au
Over 300 individual community groups, events and support groups have been represented.
Acapella Festival (Singing Fest)
was first held in August 1997 beginning with a 3-hour workshop continuing with performances by local and regional Acapella groups. Initially, the Festival ran in conjunction with Surf Coast Arts and the Boîte and, of course, was a major fund-raiser for the Community House.
Annual Run-Walk Sundial Dunes Dash (10kms/5kms)
was first organised with the help and guidance of a sports consultant,local Service Clubs, businesses and volunteers. The inaugural event was held on Australia Day 26th January 1997 continuing as an annual event for the next three years.
It was initiated by Carmel Dunstone (an inaugural member of the Committee acting in various capacities including those of Chairperson and Secretary) as a major fund-raiser for the House.
Turn of the Tide (Life Stories of our senior citizens resident in Torquay during the Year of the Older Person 1999.)
Produced with assistance from the Lance Reichstein Foundation and a donation from the Surf Coast Shire, the lives of some of our older residents were documented - an arduous task but enormously rewarding.
The book "Turn of the Tide" was officially launched on July 30th 2000 with an overwhelming response from the families, friends, local residents and certainly the sharing of these lives in print was a heart warming event. One hundred and thirty five people attended.
Our façade
The Surf Coast Shire commissioned artists Clare Gittings and Kyla Vinton to work as community artists at the local annual community “High Tide” Festival in 1999 creating ceramic wall-art for the Community House.
As part of the Festival activities, with the encouragement and assistance of Clare and Kyla, community members created ceramic pieces, images of Torquay activities and nature, with Clare and Kyla spending many more hours completing the extensive ceramic process.
With the wall rendered and painted, the pieces were put in place and officially completed in April 2000.
Tool Library
Early 2001, the House was successful in attracting funding from VicHealth to establish a tool library. This non profit project allowed community groups and residents to hire from a range of tools catering for most residential gardening needs at very reasonable rates. The tools were handed over to the Danawa Community Garden once established.
Cancer Support Group
formed in 2002 for social support, advice on living with cancer, information sharing and the empathy only known between one cancer patient and another meeting every Wednesday morning .
Community Soup Kitchen
commenced August 2004 starting with a class on preparing low-budget, nourishing and healthy soups. All community members were welcomed on a fortnightly basis Wednesdays.
Cooking for Survival became an integral part of our Community Kitchen learning to cook on a budget, meeting new friends, swapping recipes getting together on the first Wednesday of the month.
Post Natal Depression Support Group
was established in 2004 meeting on the first Wednesday of the month.
The Mother Arts community project was launched in July 2005 and was the collected works of the experiences, past and present, of those that have lived or living with Post Natal Depression. A collection of artforms from personal narrative to painted illusions evolved into a creative symbol reflecting shared triumphs and struggles.
Men's Shed
in early 2002 a need was recognised for a Men's Support group in the area concerning itself with social support, critical assistance, community cohesion and many more Men's Health issues. After many years, mid 2007 our Men's Shed became a reality. The Torquay Community Men's Shed is now fully functional and growing with a permanent 'Shed/home' in the pipeline. |
Gariwerd Grampians Numeracy and Literacy Programme 2000
This six-day intensive course was designed for young people struggling with learning in a school environment.
It involved an activity programme including rock climbing, canoeing and other outdoor pursuits combined with organisational tasks to exercise numeracy and literacy skills
Surf Coast Life Activities Club
Since its inception early 2001, the Club continues to grow. The concept of the Club is promoting the benefits of a healthy life style through the co-ordination of physical activities and social interaction for people over 40 years of age.
In just three months, the Club attracted well over 100 members and continues to grow. It was officially launched in March 2002.
Surf Coast Connect (Community Radio)
Funded by the Surf Coast Shire in 2002, this half-hour weekly programme featured a community billboard of events throughout the Shire, local news, interviews and music from Surf Coast Shire artists hosted by Spring Creek Community House representatives.
Living Green Tour (winner of Australia Day Community Event 2004 Award)
The Living Green Tour was the brain child of Torquay resident Lyn Knight in 1999. Spring Creek Community House, a local solar expert and Lyn Knight put a programme together where participants booked a place on the community bus and over the course of two days were ferried to/from eco friendly homes in the Surf Coast Shire.
In 2003, the Surf Coast Living Green event expanded to include an Expo providing an opportunity to view and discuss a range of sustainable focused products and services.
Community Garden (now Danawa Community Garden)
Planning the establishment of our Community Garden commenced in 1999.
After many years lobbying for an appropriate site, in February 2003 the group celebrated their new site at Spring Creek Reserve.
Later that year Danawa Community Garden became its official name and in 2004 became an independent Incorporated Association.
Women on Water (WOW)
A programme designed for women in 1999 who wanted to discover the basics of sailing using a Windrider Trimeran.. All participants successfully completed the programme
Surf Coast Wahinis programme in 2001 provided surfing lessons for older mature women.
Femme Fatale Fishing on the foreshore provided a group of women an opportunity to learn the skills required to participate in this hobby by a qualified and experienced fisher(person) early in 2002.
Surf Coast Community & Business Network
To meet a growing need in the community, the House ventured into a new area of assisting local small businesses and community groups with networking and community support, business short courses, guest speakers and advertising. The first information night was held in August 2005.
What's going on - Social coffee morning highlighting local community services available in the area
Whilst community coffee mornings have always been held at the House, in 2006 coffee mornings took on a new look which was not only to welcome new residents but encourage our not so new, isolated and multi-cultural to become more engaged in our diverse and growing local community with Welcome Packs available with information such as local health professionals to garden supplies, etc.
Spring Creek Community House website
became a reality in March 2006 and continues to grow and develop. This technology was new to the House but is now an integral part of our daily activities providing our audience the opportunity to find out what we do, what's happening and benefits such as course enrolment and payment ‘on line’
www.springcreekcommunityhouse.org.au
Our Mural
Late in 2006, our Thursday painting class began a special project for Spring Creek Community House creating a beautiful mural in our building about 'the people in the Community' led by Juan, our artist in residence at the time.
Many hours went into creating this mural which resulted in a show-piece for our "home" and was officially unveiled in February 2007. Liz, Jayne, Kerry, Loretta and Juan did us proud.
Torquay Community Website (auspiced by Spring Creek Community House) http://www.torquay.vic.au/
launched in January 2009 with funding support from Torquay Community Enterprise enabling not for profit community groups a presence on line and the community and visitors a one-stop shop to find out what's happening in the district.
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