Community Corner invites you to check out current events in your local community across Perth.

From work opportunities in mental health, to english conversation clubs, markets and gaming for all, there really is a wide array of events happening to cater all interests.

Inclusion WA has been supporting people who are socially isolated to obtain meaningful employment for many years. Recently we decided to give our unique approach to employment services a name. Inclusion WA’s Employment Discovery Service assists people of all ages living with a disability or mental illness to explore and develop their skills, talents and interests and helps them discover their employment potential.

As you may recall from the past edition, from 1 July 2017, Inclusion WA’s Sport & Community Development Team transitioned over to a new business entity; Inclusion Solutions. Since 1 July, the team has been busy with an array of tasks and projects which amongst other things, includes the delivery of numerous community training sessions, club mentoring and the promotion of a membership model to support State Sporting Associations in assisting their clubs and affiliates.

Inclusion Solutions are involved in two high-profile events. The first event, Inclusion Solutions recently partnered with the University of WA (UWA) on August 26, to bring together over a hundred of UWA’s best and brightest minds (past and present) to discuss inclusion and some specific challenges being faced by communities across WA. The group was tasked with implementing strategies to address specific community issues, while also discussing innovative ideas to assist in developing a more cohesive and better-connected WA. 

The second event will see Inclusion Solutions involved in the upcoming ‘Voices of Inclusion’ forum hosted by WA Local Government Association (WALGA), Local Government Professionals Australia WA and National Disability Services (NDS).’Voices of Inclusion’ is aimed at local government staff and community sector organisations across WA. A variety of speakers will address the importance of building inclusive communities and the need to work collaboratively to achieve community-wide outcomes.

Inclusion Solutions has been working alongside RGC since May 2017 through the City of Armadale’s ‘Club Abilities Project’. In this short time, Inclusion Solutions has mentored the club and together, we have achieved some great success for the club. This success includes:

Considerably increasing RGC’s community profile
Improving strategic connections
State-wide promotional opportunities for the club
Increase revenue streams
Improve parental engagement
Revamp of pathway models to engage many new members
Improve volunteer engagement
“Inclusion Solutions took the time to listen and really understand what we wanted to achieve. Our ideas and visions were challenged, but this has resulted in our eyes being opened to the bigger picture, and what being inclusive really means. Now, thanks to Inclusion Solutions, we have the confidence and tools required to assist us in reaching our goals” Carly Smith – Club Manager, RGC

“Our vision of increasing membership numbers from other low participation groups is also becoming a reality through the assistance of Inclusion Solutions” - Carly Smith

In January 2017, Inclusion WA announced it would be opening an Eastern hub to complement the existing Northern and Southern hubs. This was a particularly exciting opportunity for Inclusion WA as it allowed us to provide more local resources for staff and the people we work alongside...

Earlier this week, a colleague popped into my office with an interesting fact. He told me that when I started working with Inclusion WA, he was in preschool.
I was employed by Recreation Network in July 2000 as the Administration Officer. Coming from a background of teaching, then banking, then real estate, then parenthood, I was ready for a new challenge...