Listening to the Mooroopna Community
Supporting the ‘Activities in the Park’ event provided another opportunity for Our Place Mooroopna to connect with and hear from the local community.
Implementing the Our Place Approach involves building relationships with local service providers and the community. The ‘Activities in the Park’ event, supported by Greater Shepparton City Council and ‘Get Mooving Greater Shepparton’, provided the Our Place Mooroopna team with a great opportunity to connect with the community and introduce those who had not yet heard of Our Place, to the Our Place approach.
Insights from a recent community consultation undertaken by Our Place Mooroopna also revealed that families were seeking opportunities to re-engage with their local community while participating in family orientated activities.
Coming together as a community
This family friendly community event featured a twilight walk that encouraged the community to get outside, get active and enjoy the picturesque bushland. Participants met up at the Chinaman’s Garden, Mooroopna, and made their way to KidsTown Adventure Playground, located halfway between Mooroopna and Shepparton.
During the walk, families participated in a scavenger hunt developed by RiverConnect. When participants arrived at KidsTown, they were greeted with various activities, including mini train rides, inflatable soccer darts, a family games area, and a barbecue dinner.
By attending the event, families enjoyed the physical benefits of exploring one of the many walking paths in the area and were able to reconnect as community post the COVID lockdowns that have occurred over the past two years. Families were also able to participate in accessible and affordable family activities, which has been identified as being needed and important to local families.
Our Place’s Involvement
Our Place and the Mooroopna Children & Families Centre (MCFC) held a station at KidsTown so that when families arrived, they were able to engage in some activities and get to know the Our Place and MCFC teams. The station consisted of free apples kindly donated by Finer Fruits, and activities including bathing dolls and drawing boards provided by Greater Shepparton City Council. The team also handed out free books to families and informed them about the exciting street library that is coming soon to the Our Place Mooroopna site.
Books are an essential resource for families, and having spare money to buy books or having the availability to visit the library to borrow books is not always possible. The upcoming installation of the street library will allow families to help themselves to free books on a regular basis. The books, donated by community members, will come and go, with no one needing to check them in or out. Families will be able to take what interests them, and when they are done, they can return them or pass them on to friends.
Aligning with the Our Place Approach
The Our Place Approach values community collaboration and appreciates that good decisions are informed by evidence and the voices of the community. Therefore, we get to know our communities and implement quality, high-impact interventions that make a lasting difference.
Evidence indicates that education is the key to lifting the aspirations and improving the lives of children and their families. Therefore, Our Place’s holistic approach includes five core Elements that describe the evidence-based strategies that contribute to achieving outcomes for children, families, and communities. Read more about the Our Place core Elements HERE