Building bridges to neighbourhood

So thank you very much.

What I really like to talk about today is the first little bit is around why neighborhood connection is a really important safeguard.

A little bit around what gets us in the way, what stops people from connecting to their neighborhood.

And then most time I'm going to try to spend on how we can be bridges to neighborhood connection.

So some practical steps or strategies around that.

The big thing that I want you to think about in your head while we talk today is it's people knowing him that helps to keep him safe.

This was a quote I heard from a parent many years ago.

I think it was a Belonging Matters video and it really resonated.

It's this idea around informal networks being our safeguard.

So I'm not talking about paid supports.

I'm talking about informal, freely given relationships being around people.

This project started back in 2020 with the story of Anne-Marie Smith in Adelaide and also during COVID time when people found themselves increasingly isolated.

and finding out that actually paid supports weren't the answer to life's problems.

But at the same time, people in neighbourhoods started banding together and supporting each other.

And so this really interesting thing that happened where people started looking to neighbours and doing acts of kindness to one another, more so than they had done many years before.

So we started this project looking at why are more people not connected to the neighbourhoods, particularly people who live with a disability.

We also looked at people who identify as living with a mental illness as well, because they were increasingly isolated during COVID.

And what we found was there's lots of reasons why, but this shouldn't stop us from connecting.

When I talk about neighborhoods, I want to define it.

Neighborhoods are spaces and places that you can easily get to by walking, riding your bike, taking a bus or driving a short distance.

So neighborhoods include your immediate neighbors, but also places that are close and easy to get to.

A neighborhood can include your local suburb, city council or community.

So everyone's neighborhood looks really different.

I live in the bottom of a gully.

My neighbors, I can walk to kind of the first two neighbors' homes, but then in order to kind of go up, it's the second steepest road.