selbyfest a hit

Congratulations to organisers of Selbyfest. It was a great community festival with something for everyone. From the fantastic rocket launches, through to the fabulous fashion parade, everyone was catered for. The organising committee have put in many hours of hard work, and it showed.

Many groups were represented on the day including the Dandenong Ranges Renewable Energy Association, Sea Shepherd, No Room for Racism, TVAG and the Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group. Supported by the Shire of Yarra Ranges and the Belgrave Community Bank (Bendigo Bank) Selbyfest was a wonderfully organised event, featuring a plethora of local musicians, it was wonderful to share that great sense of community and see Selby Community House feature as a central point of the festival.

Well done to Julian, Leanne and everyone involved, you did a great job and I hope there are many more Selbyfests to come.

launching some links

I had the great pleasure of being able to officially launch the Community Link Project at Selby Community House on behalf of the Yarra Ranges Neighbourhood House Network.

The wonderful community house staff from houses across the shire and representatives of many local Bendigo Banks joined with me in celebrating the launch of the Community Link Project.

The project, jointly funded between the Shire of Yarra Ranges and local Bendigo Community Banks, sees community houses across the shire equipped with the InfoCom System. The system will allow Community Houses to have access to better referral and service information and provide a greater level of service to residents who visit the links.

Community Houses now have the capacity to also build their own local databases to share with each other in supporting better community enquiries as well as having access to online data about services and organisations state wide.

This initiative directly supports the shire's Vision 2020 Community Plan - Strong Healthy and Connected Communities. One of the aspirations in Vision 2020 is a the creation of a place "where local citizens go to find out about and access services, get information, offer themselves as volunteers, find out what those who offer."

The Community Links have been installed in Belgrave South, Chirnside Park, Japara, Olinda, Selby, Healesville, Woori Yallock, Warburton Community Bank and Upper Yarra.

Mount Evelyn Community Bank supported Japara House
Mooroolbark Community Bank supported Chirnside Park Community House
Upwey & Belgrave Community Bank supported Belgrave South, Selby and Olinda Community Houses
Warburton Community Bank supported having a link in their branch
Woori Community Bank supported Healesville and Woori Community Houses
Yarra Junction Community Bank supported Upper Yarra Community House