Toukley Neighbourhood Centre celebrated its new home on June 28 with a community open day to share the space with children, families, young and old to feel safe and supported, and to learn about the multitude of services and programs available.
Board of Management Chair of Toukley Neighbourhood Centre (TNC) Bronwyn Evans said it was the heartbeat of a connected, supported, empowered, inclusive and thriving community.
“The new centre is fresh and welcoming and provides a home for our staff, volunteers and the local community,” she said.
There are eight part-time employees and more than 60 active volunteers who help deliver services to the local community from the new premises at 7-9 Summerside St, Toukley.
“We’re feeding people, bringing practical help to people and providing a little bit of relief to those whose worlds are falling in, often just due to the circumstances that have happened around them,” Evans said.
“So, what do we do here?
“Our staff write about 60 no-interest loans a month (government-funded) – helping people get the appliances they need, the bonds to help them rent accommodation, get their car fixed or registered and more.
“We support five aged care facilities with visits from our volunteers.
“There’s help for people fleeing from domestic violence, providing a way to navigate the system, access appropriate resources and be safe.
“We help ever-increasing numbers of people who are struggling in the current economic situation – people who can’t afford a roof over their head, can’t afford to feed their family, can’t afford to pay their power bills, don’t have baby formula or nappies and people who don’t know how to navigate the system to access the government services they need and are entitled to.
“(Our programs) engage with local kids and youth, bringing them into safe, inclusive activities and we visit local schools and preschools with information for parents about our services.
“TNC runs and participates in local events such as Tinsel Time in Toukley, Australia Day celebrations, Starr Cup, Taste of Toukley and for these events and others we partner with Central Coast Council, Lions Club and Together for Toukley.”
Evans said the 60-plus volunteers kept the wheels turning and without them TNC simply could not deliver the services they did.
“Our reception staff are the face of TNC, welcoming people and providing relief from their distress,” she said.
“Our drivers collect Second Bite from three local Coles stores every weekday for our free community pantry, our Oz Harvest team provides more than 30 food hampers each week, we cook and host a community meal each week, and we also provide frozen meals for those who need them.”
The centre also has volunteers who visit more than 20 aged care facility residents, an Op Shop team raising much-needed funds, and a maintenance team.
Each week Orange Sky Laundry provides mobile washing facilities and once a month Hair Aid provides free haircuts.
“We have a range of local community groups who fundraise or gather donations that we can distribute to our community such as Coast Hands and Bikers Hands and We Care Connect,” Evans said.
People can help with money donations to help buy non-perishables, blankets, warm coats, food for the community meals, help people with pharmacy costs, pay for supermarket vouchers and so on.
Donations can be made at www.givenow.com.au/tnc-programs
Donations of those items are also welcome, or goods to sell in the Op Shop, and some trades assistance to have on standby would be appreciated.
Sue Murray
A fantastic community service delivered by kind hearted staff and volunteers. Well done to everyone involved, this is such an important initiative to help those in need. Thank you!