Early Connections Program - Our Valley Communities

Early Connections Project

Funded by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation

Laidley Community Centre are passionate about empowering people in our community and do so by focussing our efforts on areas where we can make the greatest impact.

The Early Connections Project (ECP) is one such example of that. The purpose of the project is to work with our local partners to give parents access to the resources and support they need to give their child the best start in life, from pregnancy up to a smooth transition to school.

Since it's inception in 2018, the capacity building activities that have been undertaken include:

Over 90 Supported Playgroup sessions
Over 90 New Parent/Baby Group sessions
Delivery of 313 activity packs during Covid19 lockdowns
Over 16 parent workshops on topics including positive parenting, sleep, health, early development and child first aid
Delivery of over 16 child-focused events
Attendance and delivery of children's activity at over 20 local markets
Individual referrals and support of over 320 parents
Organising training workshops for local early years workers on over 8 occasions
Establishing child-friendly facilities and initiatives at the community centre including community garden, nature playspace, parent resource cupboard, free nappy program and more
Establishing literacy project that has distributed over 900 books to local children
Coordinating local parents pages on social media
Creation and distribution of over 100 new parent packs

In addition to the vast amount of activites, our partnership with local schools and services reveals some of the impact we are having on families.

Additionally, we receive high unsolicited praise for the service. For more information about getting involved in our ECP activites, please call the centre on: 07 5465 1889 or email: info@laidleycc.org.au

Janella - Early Connections Coordinator

Some of the positive feedback we have received from participants in the program include:

"The children's resources and activities are second to none - the playgroups and the craft boxes delivered during covid restrictions saved our sanity in this house"

"Great staff, great organisation supporting and assisting families"

"The play group is awesome; my boys love it. Janella is doing fantastic job with it"

"Always feels welcoming, remembers the kids names and shows a real interest in them and the community"

"My 5 kids all love the events that get put on during the holidays"