Our Community Project and Verb Syndicate secured Port Kembla Community Investment Fund (PKCIF) funding to bring Wonderwalls to Port Kembla.  The community was able to see artists doing what they do best as the Murals were created all around Port Kembla.  Other events over the course of the weekend of the opening at the Servo, artist talks, and an exhibition at Red Point Artists Association and the opening.

OCP worked with Endeavour Energy to audit the murals in Port Kembla and determined which murals were suitably located to increase their ambient lighting. Endeavour has been lighting up a number of the murals. Look at some of the community’s favourites.

Wollongong City Council chose our community centre as the site of a demonstration vergegarden. Wollongong City Council undertook the design and construction of the garden. The purpose is to encourage residents to plant their own verge gardens.

Our joyful winter lantern parade was held for the second time this year. With a welcome to country, magical lanterns, music, stories, minestrone, hot chocolate, community, and friends. It was so much more, it was such a success.

This year we continued to work with the Kind Art Ed and the Port Kembla Primary school so the students could make lanterns to bring on the day. We also invited our friends at Coomaditchie to become involved in this year’s event and we held several workshops at the Coomaditchie Hall.

We took a chance and changed up the lantern parade route and the way we run the event. We started at the beautiful Coomaditchie Lagoon where we had a Welcome to Country, performers, food, and storytelling. Then the lantern parade made its way from Coomaditchie Lagoon along the Ngaraba-aan walking track to King George Oval where we had stilt walkers, performers hot chocolate, biscuits, and heaters.

Aunty Lorraine and Aunty Narelle from Coomaditchie United Aboriginal Corporation were engaged last year by Wollongong City Council to upgrade the artwork on the Welcome Totems at the entrance to the Community Centre.

  We organized a design workshop with Aunty Lorraine and some of the Stage 3 kids from the Port Kembla Primary School. Over the course of the workshop and some yummy morning tea, the kids came up with some design ideas that were incorporated by Aunty Lorraine into the overall final design for the totems.

Council organized for the old mosaic to be stripped back and for the poles to be primed for the addition of the new artwork designs.  Aunty Lorraine and Aunty Narelle applied the new designs and we have to say they look fantastic!

Early this year the Southern Suburbs Taskforce decided to make their focus on domestic violence as it is an issue that affects everybody and everything. As a starting point, we sought to gain a better understanding of the picture of domestic violence and the way it presents in the southern suburbs. We hosted Michelle Glasgow and Catherine Limon from the Illawarra Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service [IWDVCAS]. They shared information about their service and data, as well as highlighting some of the bigger issues that play out in addressing and preventing violence against women. Next, we hosted Sergeant Paul Brody from the Lake Illawarra Local Area Command who gave us a comprehensive overview of the updates and changes that have been made to the police response to domestic violence. Although we hadn’t got to the point of developing any of our own specific actions regarding domestic violence (prior to current Covid restrictions) the importance of having these conversations and gaining an awareness of what services are doing something about domestic violence became apparent. The Southern Suburbs Taskforce will reconvene and refocus once the current Covid restrictions are lifted.

Every year our community development section hosts student placements. Our Community Project works closely with the UOW to ensure the right fit between the placements and our organization. We like to ensure that our students have the capacity to take on tasks and projects so, they get as much out of the experience as we do.

What is community development?

The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems."

At Our Community Project (OCP) we work with community members and other agencies to identify and act on issues of importance.  The main ways we do this are through projects and events, building relationships, securing funding to make tangible things happen.

The result of community development is an empowered community and a stronger and more connected community.  At OCP our areas of focus for community development are mainly projects and events.  Relationships underpin everything we do, and we work with the community in everything we do.  Projects arise out of the community through previous work we have done or because someone has a great idea, and it fits with our values and purpose.  We make tangible things happen and we are always working to make a difference.

True community development works on an assets-based approach and works with the strengths that exist in the community.  In Port Kembla, there is a huge interest in the local environment and amenities and a lot of our project’s focus reflects this.  For example, we worked with residents, the council, and the Port Kembla Primary School on Urban Greening which encompassed several initiatives and strategies.  Then other things we do like our winter event, which is a community celebration, have an environmental focus underpinning the development of the event.

Our community development work is flexible and responsive and sometimes we have ideas that don’t come to fruition.  Community development can’t be forced and if it’s not the right thing at the right time and there isn’t enough interest or support then maybe it’s something that shouldn’t happen.

For community development to be successful, trust is critical and the way trust is developed is through doing what you say you will. People need to know that you aren’t just talking about things but that real efforts will lead to tangible results. One of the most exciting aspects of community development is building on things.  For example, this year was our second annual lantern parade.  So many people loved the first event so people stayed involved and built on their involvement at the second event.

 A big part of community development is administrative, like securing and acquitting funding, collecting, and reporting our activities and data to our funders, and ensuring we did what we said we would.

Another important aspect of community development is ensuring you can undertake the detailed day-to-day stuff while holding on to the bigger picture of what you are trying to achieve.  OCP does a great job of this through the numerous community development activities, initiatives and events.  We provide opportunities for people to engage in a range of involvement that suits their goals and interest.  We do things that affect the overall culture of the community as well as things that provide direct tangible results.