Neighbourhood houses from across the shire recently handed their postcards to state Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
Over the past two months, communities around the region have rallied behind their local neighbourhood houses to call for more support from the Victorian Government.
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Community members lent their voices to the ‘Keep Our Doors Open’ campaign, filling out postcards with personal stories that highlighted the organisation’s importance to the wider community.
The campaign officially ended on Friday, December 5 as regional co-ordinators gathered at the Echuca Neighbourhood House to hand the postcards to state Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh.
Lockington Neighbourhood House co-ordinator Tanya McDermott said she was grateful for the Lockington community’s support.
“The community in Lockington are always incredibly supportive of everything that we do at the community house,” she said.
“Our people utilise the community house, and they want to make sure that everything remains available to them.”
The campaign urged the Victorian Government to boost funding for the Neighbourhood House Co-ordination Program by $11.7 million.
As the primary source of funding for neighbourhood houses across the state, the NHCP has not received an increase despite rising operational costs.
With communities relying on neighbourhood houses more than ever amid the cost-of-living crisis, additional funding is essential to sustain programs, services and support for residents.
Neighbourhood Houses Victoria warns that without a 25 per cent funding increase, half of the state’s 401 neighbourhood houses could face closure.
Peter Walsh receiving postcards from Echuca Neighbourhood House co-ordinator Sarah Peake, Crossenvale Community House co-ordinator Rob Foran and Lockington Neighbourhood House co-ordinator Tanya McDermott.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
Ms McDermott said the funding would help the houses deliver the services that the community needed, when they needed it.
“Across the board, neighbourhood houses have been batting well above their average in terms of the services they deliver for the income that's made available to them,” she said.
“None of us are looking for massive pay rises ... it's just about having ample resources available so that when we see a need, instead of having to firstly source the funding to address it, we can address it straight away.
“It's really important that the state government recognises, firstly, the work that’s being done and secondly, that the cost involved far exceeds the funding that's made available.”
Ms McDermott was joined by co-ordinators from Rochester, Echuca, Tongala, Girgarre, Kyabram and Rushworth to pass the postcards on to Mr Walsh.
Mr Walsh has now taken the postcards to parliament to deliver the messages to Victorian Carers and Volunteers Minister Ros Spence.
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