Connected Beginnings Lutruwita/Tasmania

On behalf of the Connected Beginnings Lutruwita team, we would like to express our deep gratitude for your unwavering support of Aboriginal children and families in Lutruwita/Tasmania. Your commitment plays a vital role in helping us achieve our goal of ensuring that Aboriginal children are healthy and school-ready, setting them up for a lifetime of learning and success. We truly appreciate your dedication and the positive impact you make within our community, and we are excited to continue our partnership as we create meaningful and lasting change within Lutruwita/Tasmania.

Keeping connections through community is apart of SNAICC's role as community partner of the Connected Beginnings program. We work with ACCOs to ensure that the young ones in their community are supported in their early years development. That's why SNAICC's Community Partners Team were down in Lutruwita/Tasmania a few weeks ago to catch up with the deadly people at the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. Here they attended Sprinterfest, and also got the opportunity to see how Connected Beginnings has made big changes to developmental outcomes of young ones and growth of the local workforce in the community.

As the year draws to a close, Connected Beginnings Lutruwita/Tasmania would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the families and children we have had the privilege of working alongside this year. It has been an incredible journey, and we are deeply grateful for your trust, engagement, and support. We look forward to continuing our work together in the coming year, fostering connections, growth, and learning within our communities. #connectedbeginnings #lutruwita #connectedbeginningslutruwita

‘It is about building community capacity, growing beautiful families, and about how you work together for a whole community’ – Raylene Foster Community-driven events are essential for building stronger, healthier, and more resilient communities. Events like Winterfest, which transformed into Sprinterfest 24 this year, are much more than celebrations. These events play a crucial role in fostering long-term positive outcomes for individuals and families within the community. By engaging with soft health messaging, promoting Aboriginal culture, connecting people to local wildlife, and highlighting the importance of caring for Country, these community events help nurture a deeper connection between people, the land, and each other. Community events are vital in challenging negative rhetoric and stereotypes about places like Bridgewater. They offer the community a platform to highlight their collective achievements, cultural richness, and resilience. These gatherings help shift the focus toward the positive aspects of the community, allowing residents to share their strengths and foster a more accurate and empowering narrative. Connected Beginnings Lutruwita is grateful for the opportunity to co-design and co-host these annual events with MATERIAL INSTITUTE LUTRUWITA / TASMANIA, local partners, and the community. Asthma Australia BRIGHTON COUNCIL Loreto Community Housing 54 reasons Under One Rainbow Playgroup Tasmania Inc Department for Education, Children and Young People Landcare Tasmania Djuker Hart + Pakana Dancers https://lnkd.in/gGRkb7jz #winterfest #bridgewater #kutalayna #communitydriven #events

The Connected Beginnings Lutruwita/Tasmania's Little Committee made the news!! Our young journalists from the Little Committee had the unique opportunity to showcase Sprinterfest, an annual community celebration, in the BRIGHTON COUNCIL News. Read the latest article here: https://bit.ly/4itgyNf The Little Committee is a Kutalayna/Jordan River-based group of children between 8 - 12 years old who come together fortnightly at Botanical, a beautiful space to play, make art, share their voices, bring ideas and visions about how to make their community a better place and share delicious healthy food. Thank you, Brighton Council, for sharing the Little Commitee voices! Thank you to MATERIAL INSTITUTE LUTRUWITA / TASMANIA for hosting us at Botanical! #childrensvoices #connectedbeginnings #lutruwita #bridgewater #brighton #tasmania

This year, we invited the community to share their voices, offering a unique opportunity to express their thoughts and experiences about Winterfest. Winterfest, our annual event, is a celebration of community spirit, culture, and connection. Through a series of facilitated voice collections and community engagement activities, we gathered invaluable insights from those who know this place best: its people. In the Kutalayna/Jordan River area, a strong sense of belonging is embedded in the community. Events like Winterfest are pivotal in celebrating these values, highlighting the importance of culture, community, and connection to country. Winterfest is proudly hosted in Bridgewater, Tasmania, by Connected Beginnings Lutruwita/Tasmania, and MATERIAL INSTITUTE LUTRUWITA / TASMANIA, local partners and the community. #connectedbeginnings #voicecollection #winterfest #community #bridgewater #kutalayna https://lnkd.in/gCdEcVYa

The Kutalayna Collective is deeply honoured to announce that we have been nominated and won the Community Health & Wellbeing Award at the 2024 Keep Australia Beautiful - Tasmania Awards in Kutalayna/Jordan River. We are equally proud to receive a Certificate of Excellence for Heritage and Culture for the Kutalayna Collective's Kipli & Kani's. The awards presented to the Kutalayna Collective symbolise the shared dedication and commitment of the collective, partners and community who work tirelessly to provide Aboriginal children with every opportunity to thrive in their early years, ensuring they are healthy and have a lifelong learning journey. We would also like to congratulate all other nominees and winners and thank the BRIGHTON COUNCIL for hosting this wonderful event. #keepaustraliabeautiful #awards #connectedbeginnings #bridgewater #kutalaynacollective

This week, Connected Beginnings Lutruwita/Tasmania attended the National Gathering for Connected Beginnings in Adelaide, where we shared, learned, and reflected on how communities across Australia are working together to create a brighter future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Through the Connected Beginnings program, we support Aboriginal children to thrive, fostering strong community connections and culturally safe environments where each child can have the best start in life. Connected Beginnings Lutruwita would like to thank SNAICC - National Voice for our Children for hosting this important gathering and all the attending Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation's collective strength, which continues to pave the way for change. We were inspired by all who contributed to this important gathering on Kaurna Country. Your insights and dedication are shaping a better future for our Aboriginal children, and together, we can continue to strengthen and elevate Aboriginal children's voices, foster meaningful connections and activate lasting positive changes within our community. Thank you to MATERIAL INSTITUTE LUTRUWITA / TASMANIA for travelling with us to co-present at the gathering. We look forward to next year's CB National Gathering 25! #snaicc #connectedbeginnings #lutruwita #tasmania

Yesterday, Connected Beginnings Lutruwita/Tasmania proudly represented the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre at a Tasmanian Government parliamentary inquiry focused on reproductive, maternal, and paediatric health services for the Aboriginal community of Lutruwita/Tasmania. This was a significant opportunity to advocate for Tasmanian Aboriginal children, their mothers, and families, aiming to improve services for all. The inquiry is dedicated to addressing the adequacy, accessibility, and safety of these services across Tasmania. Recommendations were provided on how to enhance reproductive, maternal, and paediatric care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. A key focus of our discussion was the importance of continuity of care and place-based maternal and child health services, away from an institutional setting that caters primarily to sick individuals. By ensuring consistent, culturally appropriate support, the Tasmanian government and key health services can build a stronger foundation for families, leading to better health outcomes and a more connected community. It was a rich discussion, and collectively, we have a unique opportunity to co-design a healthier future for our Aboriginal children and families. Our shared agenda must be to ensure that every Aboriginal child is born healthy and strong, that every family has the support they need, and that our cultural safety is prioritised within our health systems. https://lnkd.in/gJbuKaxf Ella Haddad Hon Jacquie Petrusma MP Raylene Foster Chloe Woolnough Seven Network Kristy Johnston #connectedbeginnings #lutruwita #aboriginalchildren #tasmaniangovernment

The Connected Beginnings Lutruwita/Tasmania team had the pleasure of hosting SNAICC - National Voice for our Children to visit our three sites around Lutruwita/Tasmania. It was an opportunity to share the stories and experiences of the community and service providers about the program's impact and how it has improved health and educational access for Aboriginal families within place-based sites within Lutruwita. Thank you, SNAICC team, and to the Director of the Connected Beginnings program, for joining us at Sprinterfest and for a great road trip! #snaicc #connectedbeginnings #aboriginalchildren #community #lutruwita