New life injected into community centre

Have you noticed the changes that have taken place at the Holdfast Bay Community Centre over the past few months?

The facelift includes new street signage and landscaping, but there’s also been a change to the way the centre operates, with a renewed focus on community connection in the form of a Wellbeing Hub.

Council took over management of the community centre just over a year ago, and Alwyndor has partnered with us and now offers many of its therapy and wellness classes from the Hove location, including Alwyndor Active Thursdays, Reformer Pilates and Active Minds.

Council staff are on-site daily, between 9am – 4pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 9am – 1pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays to take questions about community services or to refer people to another service or program.

Staff have the support of many volunteers who also help the centre run with tasks such as gardening, general maintenance, and assisting people with filling in forms and important paperwork.

More volunteers are needed, especially those who have a skill they can share with groups of community members or want to lead a walking group. A volunteer Justice of the Peace service and a community computer are among future plans.

Staff also set up a refreshment station – with free tea and coffee – which has helped foster more connections and friendships between people who use the centre.

Another change is the introduction of an online booking system for the three rooms that are available to hire, which can be used for all sorts of events including corporate meetings, workshops or kids’ birthday parties.

One thing that remains the same is the diverse program of events and activities offered at the community centre, from art classes to yoga, a women’s percussion group and karate classes.

Volunteers from Minda tend to the vegetable garden, with support from a cultural cooking group, and there are playgroups who use the children’s space which includes a sandpit.

Council’s newest community offering is a Wellbeing Hub which is a series of programs, initiatives and events run at the community centres and other locations across Holdfast Bay.

The hub, which will be launched officially in November, aims to help connect people with existing services, plug the gaps in our wellbeing offerings and provide opportunities for community lifestyle education.

It has been supported by funding from Preventive Health SA.