By Mikayla van Loon
Supporting people in Lilydale and the surrounding areas who are neurodiverse has been recognised once again by the Lilydale Suburban Revitalisation Board with a cash injection for local events.
Different Journeys will receive $95,000 from the Board to establish and continue existing events in the suburb to make Lilydale more inclusive and accessible.
“Our whole thing is about creating pathways for the neurodivergent community, creating pathways for carers, creating pathways for businesses to be able to independently access and find support and connect in,” Different Journeys executive officer Mel Spencer said.
“The revitalisation or strategic objective is making Lilydale a safe, vibrant, connected and inclusive community with a growing local economy and enhanced livability. So everything we’ve been funded for is going towards that strategic objective.”
The funding will allow Different Journeys to employ a part-time worker who will be the liaison between existing and new partnerships to network, collaborate and coordinate events in Lilydale.
The remaining funding will be used to host five carer peer support events; expand Carers Cuppa for another 12 months; eight LGBTQIA+ neurodivergent peer support and celebration events; three autism family swim events; and three neurodivergent snooker events at Rack-em-Up.
Not only does the funding help the neurodivergent community directly with these events, it also supports volunteer opportunities and training or education for the community.
“Everything’s about empowerment and action and connection,” Ms Spencer said.
“Most importantly, neurodiverse people and carers can more inclusively participate in the life of the Lilydale community, the aim being to create a more diverse, connected, healthier, informed and prosperous community and increased awareness and inspiration.”
Having received a smaller grant from the Board last year to establish the Carers Cuppa sessions, Ms Spencer said a need was identified when advocating for more funding.
“What we noticed was a dedicated stakeholder engagement person was really needed to actually work within the community and when we applied we obviously asked for more funding, so that we could actually get this done,” she said.
With a relationship already established between Box Hill Institute and Different Journeys from the regular Thursday Cuppa’s, Ms Spencer said this funding will help partnerships with organisations like Eastern Health and Inspiro grow in the future.
“Everything we do is about empowerment and walking alongside someone who’s been part of, not the same, but a similar journey, and not doing it for them but doing it with them and creating opportunities in understanding what services are available, how to access them, and what we can do for them.”
Ms Spencer said for her what is really exciting is knowing the Suburban Revitalisation board members have recognised the importance of the work Different Journeys is doing and being able to create new relationships.
“They’ve seen what we’ve been through and they have been really supportive. We’ve created partnerships that might not have previously been there,” she said.
“For me, the most important thing is they’re believing in our community, not just Different Journeys but they’re believing that this community is important and needs support and anything’s possible when these people are able to connect in. We can help change lives.”
Yarra Ranges Council’s Planning, Design and Development Acting Director Damian Closs said each of the projects already funded by the Board and those in the most recent announcement have all been working towards accessible public spaces and more inclusivity for Lilydale.
“The programmes delivered by Different Journeys are well aligned with Council’s values and vision for Lilydale’s community,” he said.
The first events using this funding are expected to happen before the end of the year, with a swim night and carers session scheduled for December. The bulk of the events will get underway in early 2023.
“It’s about our community and what we can do to support them to lead an ordinary life and having the same access as everybody else to the supports and services out there,” Ms Spencer said.
