The West Kempsey community and the team at CHL came together yesterday to celebrate the anniversary of the West Kempsey Community Hub after a year of working together to create connections and make impact. The event began with a Welcome to Country and traditional smoking ceremony, with attendees painting a handprint mural and enjoying a community meal provided by the young women of the hub’s Tidda Time program.
CHL’s NSW Community Development Manager, Steve Neale, said, “The idea behind the hub was simple. We asked locals what they needed. The community shared with us they wanted a space to come together and be part of a range of programs to support health, economic participation, empowerment, education, liveability and social connection. Everything has been built around those conversations.”
NSW Land and Housing Corporation donated a home to transform into the Community Hub. In 2024, with the home and a grant from the NSW Government Community Development Fund, CHL walked alongside the West Kempsey Elders and community to create the centre.
Currently, West Kempsey Community Hub activities include CHL’s Test and Fix employment program, the Tidda Time resilience program for young women, a program for boys and after-school support, community meals and food relief, community gardening and mural projects, and health support and education programs.
“Our programs start with community consultation. Our customers share their thoughts about what programs they need and what challenges they’d like support with. Based on our community’s feedback we are hoping to develop more health-based initiatives, a men’s group and youth mentoring in future,” Neale said.
Megan Davidson, CHL’s NSW State Manager, said, “The Community Hub is part of CHL’s commitment to creating a stronger, more connected community in West Kempsey. It’s a place where people come together and access vital resources.”
Between September 2024 and February 2025, CHL partnered with Think Impact to conduct a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis. The results showed a total of $8.67 million in social and economic value was generated through CHL’s West Kempsey community development work over 12 months.
Aunty Mim and Aunty Melva, Elders in the community, said: “When we come here we just talk about everything and anything. Because it’s like a meeting place, it’s what we call it in our culture, it’s a meeting place. We meet a lot of people from the community. They come out and talk to us from the hospital and from the medical centre, they come and talk to us about breast screening and bowel screening and we talk and enjoy ourselves when it’s just us women. I feel like it’s my place.”
