VISION:

Risdon Vale will be a progressive, safe and open community where people are proud to live.

MISSION STATEMENT:

To create and support
Community networks,
Promote individual Health and Well Being and,
Provide training and employment opportunities.

Five-Year Objectives:

Provide and Improve recreational facilities.
Address Social issues in the community.
Strengthen and expand community activities and networks.
Provide greater personal and professional skills level in the community and increase employment opportunities.
Identify and implement programs that enhance the well being of the community.

Values:

Identify issues to address.
Not for Profit.
Secular.
Co-operate and share.
Maintain ethical and moral standards.
No conflict of interest.
Facilitate creative solutions.
Conduct ourselves with integrity.
Be resilient and willing to preserve.
Delegate.
Sound accountability.
Maintain appropriate level of confidentiality.
Be non-judgmental or bias.
We are open in our discussion and in the information we provide.
Respect the rights, culture and dignity of the people we serve.

Risks / Challenges:

Reduction in funding.
Lack of community support.
Changing priorities of your community.
Alternate support coming into the community.
Insufficient volunteers.
Difficulties in acquiring appropriate qualified professionals.
Inadequate infrastructure support.

Business Planning Key Result Areas:

Build the community.
Support the people.
Enhance the choices.

 

This Website:

Risdon Vale is a suburb of Hobart with a largely low socio-economic population. The Housing Department built a substantial area of public housing here in the 50’s and we have issues that exist with public housing today - unemployment, youth issues and a large elderly population. The suburb is geographically isolated, situated in a small valley surrounded by hills. Transport costs and return services on buses to the CBD create further problems. Many of the people, who grew up here move away for a short time and return to raise their children, which they tend to have at a young age.

The people who access our centre range in age from 19 to 70 and women outnumber men 75% to 25%. We do draw from a number of groups in our community because of both our geographical situation and the fact that the programmes appeal to a diverse range of participants.

The Neighbourhood Centre views the people who access the services as ‘the whole community’, “a family”. About 2000 families use one or more the services each year. There are 20 volunteers who run community development programmes and they increase their skills by taking part in the planning, organisation and decisions involved on a variety of local issues. This is education, training and employment at a grass roots level. The volunteers tend to be involved for periods of 12 months to 5 years and some much longer.

It is impossible to separate community learning from community development as they are integral to each other. The Neighbourhood Centre is funded to work with all community groups and assist the community to be sustainable in its life and activity. People come together to work towards achieving common goals for the community. There is a Community Newsletter which is distributed 4 times per year and this promotes the Centre as serving the whole community and prides itself in addressing community needs.

There is one community forum each year where all interested parties comes together and look at community needs and concerns. There are two Community Roundtable discussions where 15 community groups in Risdon Vale confirm future activities and allocate volunteers.

We know the community is benefiting from the work as people ring to volunteer ideas to assist with solutions to local issues. We also have a Healthy Homes Project where local people help those in the community who are disadvantaged in one way or another. Our community benefits because we don’t promise anything we can’t deliver.