2024 Tidy Towns & Cities Finalists:

Wellbeing

Beechworth – Indigo Shire

The Junior Ride Program empowers children with essential mountain biking skills in a supportive, inclusive environment, promoting confidence, resilience, and community while fostering gender equity and engaging parents to create a holistic and enduring impact on participants’ mental and physical well-being.

St Arnaud – Shire of Northern Grampians

The Buloke and Northern Grampians Landcare Network hosted the Galngga Nature Festival in Spring 2023 to boost community health through nature. Over four weeks, 1,150+ people participated in 50+ outdoor events, including yoga, Tai Chi, African drumming, cycling, painting, poetry readings, and music performances, all fostering a deeper connection with nature.

City of Merri-bek

NMCWP partners with community organisations to provide opportunities for participants to complete Community Work hours and give back. This year, we expanded our partnership with RSNH, where participants prepare meals for 40-60 community members weekly, saving 25 kg of produce. Since 2017, we’ve also supported a community garden at RSNH, offering participants hands-on gardening and horticulture experience.

City of Port Phillip, Stonnington, Wyndham and Melbourne

The EcoCentre partners with English learners, Friends groups, and Multicultural Ambassadors to create inclusive environmental volunteering and career pathways for 1,700 multicultural Melburnians. Through nature-based excursions and citizen science at iconic parks and beaches, they enhance cultural inclusion and remove barriers, integrating with the Adult Migrant English Program to support settlement and language skills.

City of Hume and Melbourne.

“Dress to Express” is an empowering initiative by STEM Sisters, utilizing the SWOP SIS platform to provide migrant women with sustainable professional attire through community donations, swapping, and lending. This project aims to enhance job readiness and boost self-confidence among culturally and linguistically diverse migrant women facing significant cultural and economic challenges. The platform fosters a community that embraces diverse cultural identities, helping women to express themselves confidently in their new professional environments.