A space for community

Walking into Djila-tjarriu in the heart of Alfredton, you are greeted with an open, light-filled community lounge space with scattered seating and tucked- away corners.

Following the hallway through the building, you’ll find two large community rooms, a meeting room, a fully equipped kitchen, toilet facilities, and an outdoor garden terrace.

These state-of-the-art spaces are now available for the Alfredton community to use for education, training, events and to foster social connections.

Welcoming people in, City of Ballarat Team Leader Community Hubs and Outreach Eleanor Wight says the Djila-tjarriu Community Hub is designed to be an accessible facility for the local Alfredton community.

“We’re in the beginning stages, but we want to activate the facilities as community spaces and open them up to community-based programs and events,” Eleanor says.

"Anything from learning and recreation programs to tech help sessions, we’re open to ideas and community groups approaching us with programs they’d like to run in the space.”

Since the opening of the facility in February this year, the City of Ballarat Community Hubs team have already hosted several community groups in the space, along with a Community Welcome weekend.

“The Community Welcome event provided local community members with an opportunity to wander through the doors, meet the Community Hubs team, and participate in some fun recreation and learning activities,” Eleanor says.

“It was essentially an opportunity to welcome people into the space, which we’ll do again in spring.”

Given the rapid growth of Ballarat’s western suburbs, Eleanor says there is a thriving intercultural community in Alfredton and surrounds, along with many young and multi-generational families.

The Community Hubs team want to design and host programs at Djila-tjarriu that would address the specific needs of the local community.

“It could include resume writing workshops for mothers who are looking to return to work after having children, or financial literacy programs for young families,” Eleanor says.

“We are also aware of lots of families where the parents are working, and the grandparents are doing the bulk of the childcare.

“Some of these grandparents, or aunties and uncles, may potentially feel quite isolated, so we’re looking at running programs that might help support them specifically.”

To figure out exactly what kind of programs would support the local community, the Community Hubs team will be engaging with residents of Alfredton and surrounds.

Visit the Djila-tjarriu Community Hub page  for more information

• Address: 18 Donegal Drive, Alfredton
• Room booking: Community Hub Booking Request Form
• Enquiries: communityhubs@ballarat.vic.gov.au or call 5329 1620
• Kindergarten: Register with City of Ballarat's Central Kindergarten Registration or call 5320 5720
• Newsletter: Sign up to receive updates on activities at the Community Hubs