Neighbourhood Matters was at the Northcott Community Centre launch and re-opening recently and it was great to see such a wonderful turnout. People from the Northcott and Surry Hills community were present as well as Councillor Emelda Davis and State member for Newtown Jenny Leong. Leong shared that more spaces such as these were needed for people to connect and that we should keep making sure that those spaces don’t get taken away from communities.
The Community centre re-opening was supported by other organisations such as Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre, Mission Australia and Counterpoint.
There was a feeling of celebration as some locals told of their history with Northcott and also the Surry Hills community. The centre is open for locals at Northcott to build relationships, engage in various activities and share a warm cup of tea and scones with neighbours.
We love seeing places like these thrive in our neighbourhood and also supporting those who do such hard work to make these places for building relationships possible. Some of the biggest threats to our urban contexts are loneliness, fragmentation and displacement so supporting local expressions of community such as this is crucial.
What sorts of space exist in your neighbourhood for building relationships and making community?