One of our highlights of 2023 was the activations at Miners Promise Park, or what we fondly call it, Train Park!
For the past three years we’ve worked closely with more than 50 local organisations and stakeholders to deliver fun, educational and healthy activities and events in East Newman for the whole community.
We can’t even count the amount of footies we’ve all kicked, games we’ve played, chalk drawings we’ve created or sausages we’ve cooked!
But what we do know is that we:
In that time we’ve seen Train Park become a central location for the local community, where kids know as soon as the Newman Futures banners go up, they have a welcoming space to hang out, play some games and engage with local service providers.
Puntukurnu Aboriginal Medical Service project officer Beck Johnson said the East Newman Activation Program created a safe space for the community.
“If we want to make spaces more comfortable and safe for people to be in then we need to bring people here,” she said.
“We need to do that in a proactive, prosocial type of way and I think bringing people and organisations together to talk with people and meet community is the best way to do that.”
The East Newman Activation Program has been integral to providing a regular hub for service providers to connect with local community members, fostering trusting relationships in the heart of East Newman.
Newman Neighbourhood Centre centre manager Peta Baer said Newman Futures has helped them connect with more people.
“Being able to go out with Newman Futures and getting involved in the East Newman Activation Program means we can bring our services and joy of what we do to the community.”
We’d like to extend a big thanks to Compass Group ESS for the contributions of food through their kitchens at Whaleback Village and Kalgan’s Rest Village! This year we transitioned the Activation Program to the Shire of East Pilbara, to ensure a locally led approach to activating East Newman. We can’t wait to see how you all continue to collaborate together and deliver the program.
