Neighbourhood Connect

Neighbour Day in Sunshine draws a Crowd

We had a great event for Neighbour Day on Sunday 18th March. The Brimbank City Council helped fund our BBQ with a Neighbour Day grant and we had about 50 neighbours through who were mightily impressed with what everyone contributed including great company, the famous pulled lamb of our new neighbour Luke and all the amazing healthy salads, muffins and cookies that we feasted on!

It was a great day with a lovely team helping out including our resident Couch Street Fairy Lulu, Lucia Bourke who came incognito to wow us with her face painting for the kids and a wonderful party pack from the Albion and Friends Toy Library including a roller coaster ride for the toddlers. In addition to a Facebook post our generous neighbours printed and delivered 300 invites to the local streets and we were rewarded by meeting some new and old friends on the day.

Extra fun with the weather turning nasty at the last minute! Fortunately we had some wonderful neighbours answering the early morning SOS to help with the last minute change of location to my place, plus the decoration, cooking, shopping and set up. The sun did come out between showers and gusty winds – it was nice to be under shelter and not have to cancel the event altogether. Note to self, a plan B location is always a good idea! It’s been nice to hear about the connections everyone made on the day and the difference it has made having these events when we walk down our streets.

It’s definitely helped to make our little part of Sunshine a much smaller place!

Jodie Williams, Street by Street Neighbour group, Sunshine, Victoria