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Reliving the Huddle Holidays as we head into school term! < Back A Summer Holiday to Remember Previous Next

< Back Changing the game with Game Changers! Helping young people in their career development and teaching them transferable skills. Previous Next

Celebrating 10 years of the African Music and Cultural Festival < Back African Music & Cultural Festival 2023 Claudie Groves 24 Nov 2023 Celebrating 10 years of the African Music and Cultural Festival This past weekend, The Huddle and North Melbourne Football Club were honoured to sponsor a 10th straight African Music and Cultural Festival. As in previous years, we enthusiastically brought the sport, and over 35 African countries and communities generously contributed music, food, fashion, film, dance, and art to the spring event. It was lively, full of feel-good moments, and particularly memorable in 2023. Many of our friendly staff were on-hand at Federation Square over these three days, facilitating an AFL skills-themed inflatable for young and old as well as a ‘Roo Squad Spin to Win,’ where participants had the chance to win a slew of great Kangaroos prizes. While all were enjoying the sun and fun, it was Kanga, the much-loved club mascot, who put the biggest smiles on faces in our area. The African Music and Cultural Festival also presented an opportunity for us to further cement and build on several of The Huddle’s key tenets – proudly learning, growing, and belonging in a city that privileges understanding, unity, respect, education, and cross-cultural awareness. Locals and visitors alike were treated to live performances on the main stage, in addition to African street food and market stalls along the Yarra, all with these values in mind. “If diversity is the heartbeat of Melbourne, then the African Music and Cultural Festival makes the heart beat with rhythm.” Cam McLeod – The Huddle CEO Both The Huddle and North Melbourne Football Club were equally humbled to receive a Service Award at the weekend, acknowledging our ongoing support of this inclusive and spirited annual event. We would like to extend a big thank you to Fred Alale AM, Gary Lee OAM, and the whole team at the African Music and Cultural Festival for having us along for the ride for the past 10 years. It continues to be both a joy and huge privilege. Previous Next

< Back Riding the Waves with Huddle Holidays Summer holidays just got cooler! Jasper Menor Previous Next

< Back A Game for Everyone: Nima’s Journey Through AFL How lived experience, storytelling, and resilience are shaping more inclusive pathways into the game we love. Fraser Moorfield Previous Next

Two of our participants tell us about the Art Experience this Summer Huddle Holidays. < Back Summer Huddle Holidays: Art experience Previous Next

Kicking goals inside and outside the classroom < Back A Snapshot of Community Camp 2025 Previous Next

< Back Community supporting community Duad’s experiences with careers support from The Huddle Maddy Ware and John King Previous Next

Getting out and active before summers gone! < Back Ending the Summer with a Sports Clinic Jasper Menor 23 Jan 2025 Getting out and active before summers gone! As the school holidays come to a close and we wrap up Huddle Holidays, we close it out with a super Sports Clinic featuring Aussie Rules Football, juggling skills, basketball and soccer. Our facilitators did such a wonderful job keeping everyone engaged and giving each participant the support they needed to get involved. Juggling is a lot trickier than it looks. We had fun for the whole family. Thanks to Walking Football 4 Health Victoria, parents joined in the action with a battle for the ages; young participants versus the parents. It was the perfect way to get everyone involved and keep the energy all day long. What a great way to conclude Huddle Holidays this summer with an activity that got everyone in the family moving. This definitely won't be the last! Thank you to our partners: Department of Education and Training (DET), Community Bank Seddon, City of Melbourne, Wyndham City Council and The Y for making the Huddle Holidays possible. Previous Next

How The Huddle’s free tutoring program in Werribee is flourishing in 2022 < Back Strength to strength Josh Raymer 11 Nov 2022 How The Huddle’s free tutoring program in Werribee is flourishing in 2022 Study Squad Wyndham has seen strong growth as we return to an uninterrupted year of tutoring and study support. Attendance has grown steadily each term due to strong relationships with community groups such as the Oromo Women’s Networking Group, and an initiative with St Andrews Primary School in which The Huddle allowed Year 6’s to attend from Term 3. This led to a strong uptake in the program, which has generally only been available to Year 7’s and up. Post COVID, a challenge for Study Squad was building attendance after interruptions for most of 2020 & 2021. The transition from the online component of Study Squad and schooling to face-to-face delivery in 2022 proved to be a challenge for program organisers and volunteers alike. In 2022, we set out to reinvigorate relationships with schools in Wyndham, meet with community groups to provide more information on the program, and leverage The Huddle’s expertise in assisting families and young people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. The Huddle met with Rahima Ahmed from Oromo Women’s Networking Group to establish ways we could work together to support young people from the group with their study. Through this relationship, young people from Oromo backgrounds began to attend the program in a face-to-face capacity. The Huddle also worked with families from Somali backgrounds, including mothers involved in Iskufilan and Women’s Workout. Families and young people from these communities were encouraged to attend the program and Huddle staff assisted with the registration process. Further steps were also taken to make the space more inclusive for young people of Muslim faith, such as the addition of a prayer space for students and parents. The Huddle’s long standing and strong relationship with St. Andrews PS saw Year 6’s able to attend the program throughout Term 3 & Term 4. The Huddle has long delivered True North & Voice Your Voice programs at St. Andrews PS, and at the conclusion of these activities, The Huddle opened the program to students so that they can prepare for secondary schooling and to assist with the transition from Year 6 to Year 7, establishing excellent study habits in advance. With a large amount of support from St. Andrews PS teaching staff, the initiative has proven to be extremely successful. St. Andrews students have also started attending other Huddle programs such as Huddle Holidays, further highlighting the strong relationship between The Huddle and St. Andrews PS community. The Huddle’s relationships with schools in Wyndham allowed promotion of the Study Squad program through other programs, such as Huddle Holidays, Huddle Up!, True North, Voice Your Voice, Game Changers and more. With an increase in visibility of the program in the Wyndham community, there was also an increased demand for Study Support as young people returned to face-to-face learning. The past few years have been extremely difficult for many students, as they tried to navigate COVID interruptions and a lack of connection with others during this time. Parents and young people attend Study Squad to connect with Huddle staff, volunteer tutors and fellow students, all while receiving study support. Throughout 2022, we have seen several success stories and study achievements, including the story of Dasy Osman, who is a Study Squad participant currently undertaking Year 11 VCE study. Dasy first started attending Study Squad online during the peak of the COVID lockdowns in 2021, and consistently attended the program while we were unable to run face to face. Young people were often fatigued with online learning, but Dasy made the effort to attend the program on a regular basis regardless. Dasy displayed great resilience during this time, engaged with our tutors and continued to study well. Dasy was finally able to attend Study Squad face-to-face at the start of Term 1, 2022. Throughout 2022, Dasy hardly missed a session and even attended Study Squad when she had ‘pupil-free’ days. Importantly, Dasy lives in Tarneit and travels around 20-30 minutes to attend the program. Dasy has two younger sisters that also attend Study Squad, and she sets a great example for them in the way that she engages with her education. Dasy has been a role model for not only her sisters, but also other students at Study Squad, particularly the young women in attendance. Dasy demonstrates great discipline and leadership amongst the cohort, and this resulted in her being nominated for the ‘Most Outstanding Secondary Student’ award at the MY Education Awards Ceremony. Dasy was crowned ‘Most Outstanding Secondary Student – Runner Up’ due to her fantastic work at Study Squad. We’ve also seen former participants become casual program support officers, now delivering the program that they once attended as a participant. Betty Tegegne & Ekram Hassan-Ali have been supporting the delivery of the program throughout Term 4. It’s been incredible to watch the program grow throughout the year, with young people attending from so many different schools and backgrounds. I’ve been so impressed by students’ commitment to learning and study. - Josh Raymer, Education Coordinator at The Huddle As Study Squad – Wyndham continues to go from strength to strength, there is an increased demand for tutors. Without volunteer tutors, the program simply could not run. As we look ahead to 2023, we plan to have more volunteer tutors to support students as the program grows. Previous Next

Ayden takes part in the Guard of Honour during AFL Indigenous Round < Back Participant profile: Ayden Bartlett Riley Goodwin 15 June 2022 Ayden takes part in the Guard of Honour during AFL Indigenous Round If you keep in the loop with The Huddle, you may have seen one of our participants take part in the Guard of Honour during AFL Indigenous Round this year. That participant is Ayden Bartlett Keppler, and that is only part of his journey at The Huddle. Ayden, age 13, first became involved with The Huddle in March this year, signing up to our Huddle Up! Seniors sessions at Manor Lakes P-12 College. His older sister had been attending the program, so he wanted to join in and check it out himself. Since then, Ayden has been coming to Huddle Up! consistently each week for the whole year. His favourite sport is AFL, and he also enjoys cooking and all things technology. An enthusiastic participant, Ayden is always creating new activities and games for The Huddle participants and even gets the staff to join in, since taking part in the program he has developed a love for indoor soccer, bocce (similar to lawn bowls) and badminton. "Ayden is constantly teaching me something each week at programs, whether it's how to complete a Rubix cube in 48 seconds, or anything sporty! He is always a joy in our programs delivering the vibes and the DJ tunes each week!" Community Sprot and Recreation Coordinator Candela Ferreyra Bas stated. Due to being a stand-out in the Huddle Up! Seniors cohort and a proud First Nations boy, Ayden was invited to the Guard of Honour for this North Melbourne Kangaroos Indigenous Round. Ayden attended the amazing experience with his younger brother Riley, who from that day, became a member of Roo Squad. Since his awesome experiences with The Huddle and at North Melbourne Kangaroos games, Ayden is a convert to the football club. Recently Ayden, his brother Riley, and his father Scott attended the Round 13 game versing the Giants to show their support for the club. Staff and volunteers at The Huddle admire Ayden’s commitment to the Huddle Up! Program. The energy he brings to each session with a big smile on his face makes The Huddle staff excited to see him each week! Previous Next

We hear from Bianca about her class' experience at Game Day during Term 2. < Back Ascot Vale West Primary School at Game Day Previous Next