Community Kitchens
Community Kitchens provide an opportunity to address the barriers which may prevent community members from accessing a healthy diet and engages those who may be socially isolated. Participants meet on a weekly or fortnightly basis and prepare a nutritious meal, then come together as a group and eat the meal that has been cooked. A key objective of the program is to increase knowledge, skills and access to nutritious food for those living in small and rural communities, particularly those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. In short, a Community Kitchen is a group of people who come together on a regular basis to socialise and cook affordable, healthy and delicious meals. To learn more about the criteria for Community Kitchens, visit here.
Wellington Best Start (Uniting Gippsland)
Best Start is a Victorian Government Early Years Initiative. It supports families, caregivers and communities to provide the best possible environment, experiences and care for young children in the important years from pregnancy to school. Best Start aims to improve the health, development, learning and wellbeing of all Victorian children (0-8 years). It supports communities, parents and service providers to improve universal early years services so they are responsive to local needs. Best Start has a strong emphasis on prevention and early intervention.
The health and wellbeing of children during early developmental years can play a critical role in establishing good health and the skills necessary to achieve optimum health throughout life. Some of the factors that may influence a child’s physical health, emotional and mental wellbeing are the socioeconomic environment of the child’s family, community, physical environment, and access to services.
Best Start is focused on achieving significant improvements in outcomes for all children. Positive impacts will be felt throughout a child’s life into adulthood and across generations as today’s children become parents in the future.
The Best Start Indicators are grouped under the domains of health and wellbeing, learning and development, and safety. The report below presents data on the 15 Best Start indicators.
GippSport
GippSport aims to improve people’s health and well-being through their participation in sport and active recreation. Following this link to GippSport website.