Growing the Good Life Project 2024

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The Growing the Good Life project originated from the adaptation and customisation of Anglicare’s Sunshine Project, itself a spin-off from the 100 Families Project. This initiative was spearheaded by the Davis Park Community Facilitator to support a specific family in a disadvantaged community, helping them to improve their quality of life despite various challenges.

The Sunshine Project was adapted to provide one-on-one support to one family in Davis Park for a shorter, unspecified timeframe and named Growing The Good Life project. Unlike the Sunshine Project which had a dedicated support team, the existing Davis Park working group was used to identify and foster connections to services accessible to the pilot family. A report has been produced to share the project learnings and outcomes.

To view this report click here

Help us share Where is the door? key messages

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Imagined Futures Where is the door? project has developed a campaign to share key messages which address barriers for people who may be reaching out for support. We need your help to share the key messages of the campaign in Cockburn, Fremantle and Melville as the more people involved in sharing these messages, the more impactful the campaign will be.

A Community Toolkit has been developed with a step-by-step guide to download tiles and share the key messages of the campaign. You can choose from a range of tiles that can be shared through social media, e-newsletters and other online platforms to encourage people to reach out for support.

Click here to download the Community Toolkit

Where is the door? Project Introduction

Imagined Futures Where is the door? program helps people navigate local services to find the right support at the right time. The program is targeting people living in local government areas of Cockburn, Fremantle and Melville.

The Where is the door? is responding to an increased need from community due to higher costs of living, housing pressures and other demands creating increased stress for individuals and families. Many people find themselves looking for support for the first time and do not know where to start.

The Where is the door? website shows people where they can access mental health, family and domestic violence, financial wellbeing and other supports, connecting community members to a range of local free and low-cost services, including face-to-face, phone support, online resources and contacts for further support in navigating services.

Where is the door? Key Messages:

FREE and low cost supports available in Cockburn, Fremantle and Melville
The earlier you reach out, the more options are available
A range of options to suit you: face-to-face, phone support, online support and resources
You may be eligible for more than you think
There’s support available to help you navigate complex problems

Kambarang Cultural Connections 2024

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Two years, seven connection events, countless partners, and more children attending than ever before.

It’s hard to put into words the impact of the Connecting Aboriginal Children in Care project. Initiated by local Aboriginal Practice Leaders, Brenda van der Hor and Stephen Loo, this project creates invaluable opportunities for children in care to build and maintain relationships with their families, culture, and community.

While attending a single event offers benefits, it’s the repeated participation over time that truly deepens these connections and amplifies the positive outcomes. The latest event – Kambarang Connections Day – saw the highest attendance of children and family members/carers yet, as word of mouth continues to spread.

Uncle Gerrard welcomed the children and their families to country, Binar Futures painted faces and performed dances and had lots of the children on their feet being Yongkas (kangaroos) and Wetjs (emus), and Create Foundation had the kids rolling around the field playing bubble soccer. The City of Cockburn were once again generous hosts.

 

Davis Park Recipe Book Volume 2

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The Davis Park project is run by Imagined Futures who have been operating in Davis Park since 2014. Imagined Futures work with the community to create a community where residents feel safe and supported; where children and young people are engaged in educational, vocational, and recreational activities. We work together to create a good place to live, providing a place and time for residents to meet and connect. It is at these gatherings that local community matters are discussed, problems and joys are shared. Volume 2 of the Davis Park Recipe Book is to share the healthy, affordable, and yummy meals we have been serving up each Friday for the Davis Park community.  The recipe book can be found here

Research published on Keeping Kids Engaged Program

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Research on the Imagined Futures Keeping Kids Engaged Program has been published! We’re thrilled that the valuable insights from this groundbreaking initiative are now reaching a wider audience. The article captures feedback from students, parents/carers, and key school informants, and it’s now available in the journal “Issues in Educational Research.” This publication provides a synopsis of the evaluation conducted by Associate Professors Anne Coffey and Shane Lavery from the The University of Notre Dame Australia in 2022.

Special recognition goes to Simone Ryan from Palmerston Association—the lead agency behind the program—for her instrumental role in co-designing and delivering it. Thanks also to Headspace: Fremantle for also providing facilitators during the in-school sessions over the years. And, to all the members of the youth initiative working group who have overseen and contributed to the delivery of the program.

A heartfelt thank you to Lotterywest for providing the funding that allowed us to document the model and facilitate the research.

To download the article, click here

Imagined Futures Funding Announcement

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We’re thrilled to share that Imagined Futures has been awarded funding from the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation. Their generous funding is a contribution toward the resourcing that we need for us to continue the momentum that we have built over the last 10 years delivering on a range of projects that promote the health and wellbeing of children and young people in our community.

One of the greatest challenges in place-based collective impact work is the lack of dedicated funding pathways to support it. Despite widespread recognition of the urgent need, bridging this gap remains a critical task. In this context, the Stan Perron Foundations’ funding is especially significant. We are grateful for Stan Perron’s forward thinking in contributing to this work while more sustainable funding streams are established. Together, we’ll continue to make a positive impact.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to St Pat’s for facilitating this incredible opportunity. Imagined Futures operates under St Pat’s auspices, and their CEO, Michael Piu, serves as the Chair of our partnership. Michael’s unwavering support for Imagined Futures and his remarkable ability to identify opportunities for the benefit of our community’s most vulnerable members is truly exceptional.

Investing in the business of relationships

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Imagined Futures Executive Officer, Leigh Sinclair, presented to the WACOSS conference on the importance of investing in the business of relationships as a way of tackling some of the toughest social challenges impacting our community.

In her presentation Leigh argued that creating conditions that allow relationships to flourish is a purposeful endeavour in and of itself. In recent times we have seen this knowledge begin to translate into practice. Funders are realising that if we are to move from an outdated transactional approach to a contemporary relational one then they must invest in mechanisms that drive this change. We have seen such an investment in relationships deliver dividends in the South West Metropolitan Region of Perth. In this community three of these mechanisms come together to focus their collective efforts on same geographic community. The Fremantle Rockingham Family Support Network (FRFSN), the Suicide Prevention Coordinator program (SPC) and the Imagined Futures District Leadership Group all have different but intersecting remits, yet they all have the business of relationships at their heart. Over the turbulent pandemic years, they have leveraged their relationships to unlock the strength that exists in the community. They have worked together to deliver several collaborative projects including: improving support for people experiencing depression, enhancing connections for Aboriginal children in care to their family, culture, and community, and testing innovative ways of connecting people new to seeking support to the right support at the right time. Their experiences are a heart-warming testament to the collective power of community to rally together to tackle the most complex of challenges.

Davis Park Recipe Book Volume 1

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The Davis Park project is run by Imagined Futures who have been operating in Davis Park since 2014. Imagined Futures work with the community to create a community where residents feel safe and supported; where children and young people are engaged in educational, vocational, and recreational activities. We work together to create a good place to live.
A sausage sizzle has been held at Davis Park for several years, providing a place and time for residents to meet and connect. It is at these gatherings that local community matters are discussed, problems and joys are shared. In 2022, we came up with the One Pot Wonder idea – where we would cook up a healthy, affordable, and yummy meal once a week that could be cooked in one pot. Each week, we come together to prepare and cook a one pot wonder to share. We love our Fridays in the park and we hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we have! Our recipe book can be found here!

Snapshot of Homelessness and Housing in the South Metropolitan region

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The Imagined Futures Housing and Homelessness working group was formed to support the State Government’s 10 year Homelessness strategy with place-based interventions.  To be able to deliver on the high-level directions laid out, the working group identified the need for the development of a regional plan for the South Metropolitan region to foster alignment, generate clarity and guide key directions and actions.  Consultant, Pauline Logan, has been engaged to lead the process.

As part of the preparations for the development of the Plan, Pauline has gathered insights via consultations, information gathering and a desk top review to provide a Snapshot of the region. The Snapshot seeks to inform the differing levels of awareness about what is happening across the region and recognises that the regional context is impacted by the wider homelessness and housing system.  It also seeks to inform different roles and interests of stakeholders.  A copy of the Snapshot can be found here

Joining Forces to Tackle Depression

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A partnership of government, businesses, philanthropists and community service providers called the Imagined Futures Alliance Against Depression*, is spear-heading a local public awareness campaign designed to reduce stigma for people experiencing depression and encourage people to reach out for support.

With COVID-19 now at our doorstep many people are feeling anxious and uncertain about the future but are unsure where, or if, they should seek help.

“We’ve seen a spike in mental health issues in our communities. At the same time, we know the earlier people reach out for support, the easier it is for them to find relief,” Imagined Futures Executive Officer Leigh Sinclair said.

However, stigma and lack of awareness of mental health issues, and confusion about what supports are available, can stop people from reaching out for help and accessing treatments.

“If our campaign can help prompt people who are struggling to reach out for help and, if necessary, access treatment, the evidence tells us we will reduce suicide in our community” she said.

The focus is on raising awareness about depression because it is one of most common mental health conditions in Australia and is a contributing factor in almost half of all suicide deaths.

“We want to convey that depression can affect anyone, at any age, but can also be treated with the proper support”.

AFL Dockers player Alex Pearce, an ambassador for the Alliance, knows this all too well.

“From my own experience of depression, after reaching out for help, I now have the tools in place to maintain my mental health.”

The Alliance has developed a Mental Health Support Resource of free or low-cost services for people of all ages living in the local government areas of Cockburn, Fremantle and Melville to accompany the campaign.  The services, which range from crisis help to online, phone and face-to-face providers, can be used alone, or complement advice from GPs, and assist people who also might be on a waitlist to see a psychologist or psychiatrist.

The Alliance encourages everyone to get behind the campaign and is offering free campaign packs to businesses, services, clubs, workplaces, and community groups in the Cockburn, Fremantle, and Melville areas.

 

To receive your free campaign pack, email ifaad@stpats.com.au call 08 6372 4873.

 

For more information about Imagined Futures AAD go to https://imaginedfutures.org.au/mental-health/alliance/

 

* The group’s work is informed by the grassroots Alliance Against Depression (AAD) framework to help combat suicide and depression in our community. Developed and tested in Europe, the AAD has been shown to reduce suicides and suicide-attempts by 24% over a two-year period.
Founded in 2014, Imagined Futures is a collective impact partnership auspiced by St Pat’s Community Support Centre. The partnership brings together human service agencies, businesses, philanthropists and community members to tackle complex social issues across the local government areas of Cockburn, Fremantle and Melville. www.imaginedfutures.org.au