Tonight in Parliament I spoke about the remarkable spirit of service and perseverance alive in Ravenswood.
I recently attended a fantastic community event hosted by Starting Point Neighbourhood House, centred around the theme: “Who are people in your neighbourhood?” The answer became obvious the moment I arrived — hundreds of people gathering together, community organisations working side by side, and local volunteers quietly serving others.
Starting Point Neighbourhood House continues to play a vital role in Ravenswood through practical support, education, childcare links, literacy assistance and community connection.
I also wanted to acknowledge some of the humble local champions who have dedicated decades of service to the community, including Julie Moy, Sharon Leonard, Peter Richards, Cynthia Clements and Carmen Gunley. Their leadership reflects the very best of Ravenswood.
It was especially encouraging to see university medical students providing free health checks to volunteers from the Ravenswood Fire Brigade — a simple but powerful example of practical mateship and local pride.
Communities grow stronger because of people who turn up, care about others and quietly get on with the job of serving.
(Bass) – Deputy Speaker, tonight I rise to speak to the spirit of service and perseverance which is well and truly alive in Ravenswood in my community of Bass. Recently, I attended a fantastic community event hosted by Starting Point Neighbourhood House, previously known as Ravenswood Neighbourhood House, built around a simple but very powerful and relevant theme: Who are people in your neighbourhood? I believe that these events have been held around the state. I really enjoyed this one for the reasons I would like to outline.
First of all, the answer to the question was self-evident. The moment I’d walked through the car park into the reserve behind the house, the answer was right there in front of me. We saw hundreds of people, many stalls and displays and different organisations that work in or serve the community of Ravenswood. They were brought together.
What we saw was the actual Neighbourhood House itself, starting point, which itself is an anchor in the Ravenswood community. It’s been there for a long time, and they’ve provided practical support, community development, education, links to childcare, links to literacy, a genuine local hub in the true sense of the word.
It was a great pleasure to spend time with wonderful people that I’ve known and worked with for many years. I’d like to name some of those people. I find that to me they’re such special people, quite humble, unassuming champions for the local community. People like Julie Moy, Sharon Leonard, Peter Richards, Cynthia Clements and Carmen Gumley. Those people and many others represent decades of service and leadership in the community of Ravenswood.
Their commitment proves that they believe in people, and I believe that their personas reflect the very best of Ravenswood. I’d also like to mention that Cynthia was recently recognised by the Launceston City Council as Volunteer of the Year for Community Service. I know that she would say quickly that the real reward for her was seeing her community continue to grow stronger.
On the day, we saw university medical students providing free health checks, to volunteers from the Ravenswood Fire Brigade. This day was a very powerful show of practical mateship and local pride. It’s a great community. We need more people like those that we saw that day, who turn up, who care and who get on with the job of serving others. I think that is a great answer to the question: who are the people in your neighbourhood? To everybody involved in those initiatives, thank you so very much.
