Hilton Street By Street Group (WA)
I love the feeling of being connected to my neighbours and local community and wanted to build stronger links with more of the people around where I live. For the last 11 years my neighbour and I have held a street Christmas party and invited neighbours to come along and share food and a few drinks. We have it on the lawn under a tree at the factory grounds across the road(with permission!) and it’s always been fun, a great sense of community and people leave saying … we should do more of this!
Finally, the Street by Street Project has provided an opportunity to do just that by providing a framework and ideas to build our group on.
Around July 2014 I started by asking a few people I knew to join a street litter cleanup and they invited others they knew. We had about four families come long, did a 45 minute cleanup and had a shared morning tea afterwards and we all enjoyed the morning. I canvassed the group about starting a SxS group and with good feedback and encouragement arranged another letter drop to the 160 houses around where we live (there is a distinct area bound by a few main roads).
People responded, someone offered their home, we bought food to share and I led the discussion about how we wanted to connect more with each other. We made a list, decided we wanted to share skills and talents too and arranged our first event-a progressive dinner! I used Doodle Poll to canvass the group for best dates, people offered their homes and courses and the event was a great success. Good food, a lovely Perth night to walk the streets, we checked out gardens, had drinks on balconies and had a great time.
We have another cleanup planned next week and have decided to meet monthly to chat over a cuppa and action the plans we made originally and think of new ideas too. We have communicated by email and I think once we start meeting regularly, then organising activities and events will be shared amongst the group.
If you are considering starting a group or want to chat, you can email me at mmaher@iinet.net.au
Happy connecting!
Maureen