Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre centre celebrated its 50th anniversary on Friday, October 7 with a family fun day in Smith Park, next to the community centre building.
The day was a celebration of the community with an array of entertainment and performances by many cultural groups from the Middle East to China representing the diversity of cultures in Kingsgrove.
The Diramu Aboriginal Dance and Didgeridoo trio headed by the renowned Aboriginal elder, teacher and artist Walangari enthralled the many children with their Aboriginal dreamtime storytelling and didgeridoo playing.
The celebration attracted almost a thousand people attending from the local community and included food, children’s amusement rides and lots of cheer.
Official guests included Federal Member for Banks, David Coleman, Federal Member for Barton Linda Burney, and State Member for Oatley Mark Coure.
They were welcomed by Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre chief executive officer Anne Farah Hill.
“We wanted to celebrate the Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre’s 50th anniversary with the community,” Ms Farah Hill said
“What a milestone event for an organisation that has been serving the community all this time.
“The Centre has had its share of challenges over the years to keep its doors opened to serve the community.
“It has faced these head on and continues today to be an integral organisation in the Kingsgrove and St George area.”
The Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre was born when local members of the the Church and Life Movement Study Groups met on July 24, 1966 to investigate the establishment of a community aid service as an expression of Christian concern for the community.
They decided to open a centre that offered services on as wide a basis as possible and that was non denominational in form.
The centre was launched at a public meeting on April 16, 1967 and the first year was spent training volunteers and visiting other community aid centres.
Permission was granted by the Health Department for Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre to set up in one room at the Baby Health Centre in Smith Park.
The centre office opened for business Monday, February 19 1968 staffed totally by volunteers.
It was not until 1970 that the centre employed our first paid director. The centre provided information, community transport and shopping trips.
More than 40 elderly people were visited on a regular basis.
During the first few years, the Kingsgrove centre helped establish several new community aid centres in Sydney, while at the same time working to expand its services.
In 1970 the centre established an occupational therapy group with a paid Occupational Therapist in charge with clients brought to the centre every fortnight.
This group was the forerunner of its current respite groups. For a short period the centre acted as a distribution centre for emergency food parcels supplied by Lifeline.
In 1971 the Kingsgrove centre joined with other Community Aid Centres in the area to lobby Hurstville Municipal Council to appoint a Social Worker to the Municipality.
In 1972 the centre established its first playgroup.
After extensive lobbying by Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre, the then-Hurstville Council built a new $3 million centre in Smith Park which was opened in 2010.
“The centre plays an integral role to the community,” Ms Farah Hill said. “It is in a location that is local, accessible and relevant. This is our motto, that we are local, accessible and relevant. It is important for organisations to still be local.”
The staff of Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre now provides a variety of services ranging from child care programs, family programs, aged care and allied health care programmes. The organisation is a not for profit incorporated body managed by an independent managing board.
It’s mission statement reads, “We are community based, and committed to identifying and responding to a range of needs in the local community with special consideration for the socially, economically and linguistically disadvantaged. As a not for profit organisation funded by a range of government agencies we hold no affiliations with political parties or religious organisations and we provide our service in a non discriminatory manner.”
To find out more about the services please contact the Centre’s Staff on 91507823 or go on to the Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre website at www.kcac.org.au.
