Port Melbourne to me has been the era my husband and I had children and really started to connect with the local community. With three children and a black Labrador, Bronte, life in Port is full of diverse connections. Pregnant with my first child, I suddenly noticed how many other women were pregnant and had prams. Connections were pushed upon me. l was like a cog in a system. Through our terrific maternal health system, I was allocated a mothers group —19 Port Melbourne mums and 21 new babies. They were to become my lifeline, my connection, the beginning of my zest for my community.
As I jump forward 10 years to today, those mums are still close.
Our kids go to primary school together, we help each other out with sporting and activity drop offs and picks ups, and try to catch up a couple of times a year for a good belly laugh at what life dishes up to us all.
Getting involved in the school Parent Friends Association, volunteering to be a class representative (for communications between parents and teacher) on the kinder or childcare committees, gets you into the thick of it. Simple conversations start. It allows you to meet your children's friends, set up play-dates in the park and before long, you realise there are things in common and friendships develop.
I find sitting around and waiting for children at dancing lessons, footy practice, gymnastics classes, netball sessions, ultimately leads me to chatting with someone I have not met before.
Now that I have been elected as a Councillor for Port Phillip, I have been exposed to other communities. There are so many community groups that work hard to make this place a better and more welcoming space to be such as the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society, TwoSchoolsNow and SHIP. Others who are just as passionate about areas within Port Melbourne include the traders association, BCNA (Beacon Cove), Port People and Garden City, to name a few.
I have always been an active community minded person, and telling my story of my life interactions through my children, is possibly very similar to many in the community and just goes to show how lucky we are to have such a great, welcoming and connected place.
By Bernadene Voss
As I jump forward 10 years to today, those mums are still close.
Our kids go to primary school together, we help each other out with sporting and activity drop offs and picks ups, and try to catch up a couple of times a year for a good belly laugh at what life dishes up to us all.
Getting involved in the school Parent Friends Association, volunteering to be a class representative (for communications between parents and teacher) on the kinder or childcare committees, gets you into the thick of it. Simple conversations start. It allows you to meet your children's friends, set up play-dates in the park and before long, you realise there are things in common and friendships develop.
I find sitting around and waiting for children at dancing lessons, footy practice, gymnastics classes, netball sessions, ultimately leads me to chatting with someone I have not met before.
Now that I have been elected as a Councillor for Port Phillip, I have been exposed to other communities. There are so many community groups that work hard to make this place a better and more welcoming space to be such as the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society, TwoSchoolsNow and SHIP. Others who are just as passionate about areas within Port Melbourne include the traders association, BCNA (Beacon Cove), Port People and Garden City, to name a few.
I have always been an active community minded person, and telling my story of my life interactions through my children, is possibly very similar to many in the community and just goes to show how lucky we are to have such a great, welcoming and connected place.
By Bernadene Voss
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