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Game Changers helped Tigist develop skills, connections and community impact < Back Community Impact Through Game Changers Previous Next

Celebrating community in North Melbourne < Back North Melbourne Public Housing Residents Association Community Fair 11 July 2024 Celebrating community in North Melbourne On Saturday, June 29th, 2024, the vibrant community of North Melbourne gathered at 33 Alfred Street to celebrate the official launch of the North Melbourne Public Housing Residents Association (NMPHRA). The inaugural Community Fair was a testament to the rich diversity and spirited culture of our local community. Highlighting Diversity and Community Spirit The Community Fair was a joyous occasion aimed at celebrating the diversity and community spirit that define North Melbourne. From cultural performances to interactive exhibits, the event showcased the myriad of cultures and traditions that thrive within our neighbourhood. In addition to cultural festivities, the Fair also spotlighted the invaluable services provided by local organisations. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about and engage with initiatives that support education, health, and social well-being within our community. Join us in celebrating the spirit of North Melbourne’s public housing community and discover how together, we can continue to foster a vibrant and inclusive neighbourhood. Previous Next

That’s a wrap! Reliving and remembering the Summer Huddle Holidays! < Back Recapping Huddle Holidays Summer 2025 Patrick McPhee 3 Feb 2025 That’s a wrap! Reliving and remembering the Summer Huddle Holidays! That’s a wrap! Summer Huddle Holidays 2025 has come to an end, and what a massive two weeks it was! Huddle Holidays is a school holiday program offered at the end of each school term for primary and secondary school students aged 8-18. The program provides children and young people with opportunities to try new experiences, developing their skills and capacity across social inclusion, health and emotional wellbeing, leadership, education, and careers.  This year our summer programming was set between Tuesday, January 14th and Thursday, January 23rd. Over the two weeks, we fit in 4 junior activities and 2 senior ones. It was action packed! This Huddle Holidays saw our Juniors (aged 8- to 12-years-old), participate in an Arts and Craft Day, a trip to Anglesea Beach, a visit at the Australian Sports Museum and a Multi-Sport Clinic. As the first of our four sets of holiday activities in 2025, the focus was on building connections with their peers. Throughout all junior activities, our participants were placed in small groups built around their ages to promote safety and inclusion. Following the holidays, one participant acknowledged that a highlight was, “I like meeting other kids around my age and trying out new activities.” What an awesome reflection! Our first activity of the year was our Junior Summer Arts and Craft Day. Here, the participants started off by getting to know their small groups with fun icebreaker activities focused around learning names and setting up our holidays for success! Next, we broke into groups, half of the participants engaged their creative side in a choose- your-own-adventure craft space. Some young people folded paper aeroplanes, others choose to draw or colour in, but the biggest hit was beading! Young people created bracelets and necklaces, some for themselves, some for friends and some for family! One participant expressed that they “loved making friendship bracelets” and that The Huddle staff were “really lovely and helped him.” The other half of our participants embraced their active side, through playing drama games and circle activities aimed at providing the group opportunities to get active and mingle amongst the whole group. After a quick snack break, our participants switched spaces and got to try their hand at the other half! At the conclusion of the day, we launched our Huddle Hero awards. Huddle Hero prizes are a big hit here at The Huddle, and at all our events and programs we recognise participants who go above and beyond to demonstrate some amazing traits including teamwork, talking to new people and engaging fully in the activity. Our Huddle Hero awards continued throughout the Junior holiday activities. Next up for the Juniors was the annual Anglesea Beach trip. This was a massive highlight! Upon arriving at Anglesea, our participants were greeting by the amazing team at the Anglesea Surf Lifesaving Club who helped them all to squeeze into wetsuits before a session on Water Safety. From here, every participant was paired with a water safety team member to support them in the water – then it was into the waves! The Anglesea volunteers were amazing supporters for the young people on the water, encouraging them to build their confidence and helping them to surf! On reflection from this activity, The Huddle staff felt it was a record number of young people standing up on the boards and this is a credit to the amazing work by the Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club. After the water session, the participants enjoyed a BBQ lunch prepared by even more Anglesea volunteers. Many young people expressed their love for this activity, but a highlight was a participant sharing, “thank you for organising these activities, because of today I have spoken to my mum, she is going to bring me back here to hire a surfboard and continue practicing, because I had so much fun!” Returning to Anglesea each year is a special opportunity for The Huddle community to build its connection with the Surf Life Saving Club while participants develop lifelong skills in a controlled and safe environment. The Huddle wishes to thank the Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club for their ongoing support of our program! The second week of Huddle Holidays started with the Junior participants visiting the Australian Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The group started in the Game On exhibit. This fun space offered many little tasters of different sports including AFL, Netball, Soccer, Surfing, Cycling, and more! The exhibit also had other physical challenges including reflex tests and catching. Following the exhibit, the group headed into the museum which used engaging displays to share some insight into the history of many different Australian sports. Participants really enjoyed learning more about their favourite sports, and some new ones! The final junior activity was our Multi-Sport Clinic held at the North Melbourne Community Centre. Young people engaged in four sports lessons facilitated by some of our Huddle Up! Leaders. Huddle Up! is The Huddle’s sports and recreation program that runs out of multiple locations in Wyndham and Melbourne throughout school terms. Learn more about Huddle Up! Junior (5-12-years-old) and Senior (13+ years-old) here: Huddle Up! Junior - Huddle Up! Senior . In age-appropriate groups, our Juniors engaged in different hands-on activities aiming to further their interest and skills in sports such as AFL, Soccer, Basketball and even Juggling! It was clear throughout the day that this was all a lot of fun for people of all skill levels. One mother shared “My daughter is not naturally gifted with sports, but she was so motivated to win a prize for her group that it's really built up her confidence and enthusiasm for different sports.” The Multi-Sport Clinic was an exciting way to close out our Junior activities for Summer 2025 and we look forward to seeing everyone back in Autumn! Our Seniors (13- to 18-years-old) had the opportunity these holidays to enjoy a day at the Australian Open and to try their skills in a round of Bowling and Mini-Golf. One participant shared that a highlight for the holiday period was, “I get to meet new people and try out things I wouldn’t have otherwise tried”. Like the Junior program, a focus of the Senior activities was to provide opportunities to connect with new people and try new things. Our first Senior activity at the Australian Open was supported by the Australian Tennis Foundation’s Brighter Days program. Through this, the Foundation generously provided tickets for our participants to attend the tennis and hand-delivering some gift bags – talk about spoiled! The Seniors spent time watching the eventual Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner’s open training session and past winner Naomi Osaka’s round 1 match. Some participants shared that this was their first time watching the tennis and the group spent some of the day’s downtime getting to know each other while teaching each other the rules of the game. It was a hit! The other Senior activity was Bowling and Mini-Golf at Strike in Point Cook. Bowling and Mini-Golf set the scene for the competitions on the day, but the real winner was a day spent in teams, providing the opportunity to meet and connect with people they otherwise wouldn’t. One participant stated, “I liked how inclusive everyone was, it felt good to know that you will always have fun no matter who you are with.” We love to hear it! Thanks to our participants, their families, activity providers and partners – Victorian Department of Education and Bendigo Bank Seddon. We couldn’t have this much fun without you! Watch the highlight recap of the Summer Huddle Holidays HERE. Huddle Holidays will return in April 2025 with an all-new, exciting range of activities across both Junior and Senior age groups. If you would like any further information or to join our email list so you can be notified when we launch registrations, please email huddle@nmfc.com.au .  Previous Next

The River Nile School has partnered with The Huddle to empower students' leadership and sense of belonging. < Back Empowering Young Women to Learn, Grow and Belong with the River Nile School Josh Raymer 19 Sept 2024 The River Nile School has partnered with The Huddle to empower students' leadership and sense of belonging. For several years, the River Nile School in North Melbourne has partnered with The Huddle to participate in a range of different programs that empower their student’s leadership and sense of belonging through sports, education, and community engagement. The River Nile School offers full time senior secondary qualifications to support young women from a refugee background, who may have experienced disrupted schooling or find a flexible learning environment most suitable to their learning. We facilitated our True North program in River Nile School classrooms on multiple occasions to help develop students’ leadership, connections, teamwork, emotional intelligence, and resilience. By participating in various activities, the students find out more about themselves and others, including their identity and their values. River Nile School students also made the short trip down to the North Melbourne Recreation Centre to participate in our Huddle Up! program which brings young people together to participate in sports and recreational activities. Not only does Huddle Up! promote physical health, but it also continues to strengthen the social connections, teamwork, and a sense of belonging built through the True North sessions. River Nile School students have been actively participating in Huddle Up! and enjoyed the benefits of being physically active in a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment. Staff at River Nile School have observed a marked improvement in students’ engagement and wellbeing, as well as providing new opportunities and perspectives that engaged students and provided them with a stronger sense of belonging and greater community connections. Students have echoed this sentiment by sharing that they have become more confident, emotionally intelligent, physically active and socially connected. The long-standing relationship between The Huddle and the River Nile School has provided students with a more supportive educational environment to empower their students to learn, grow and belong, and this relationship will continue to be strengthened in years to come. Previous Next

< Back Female Sports Tournament Hosted by Carlton Baths, in partnership with Jump Ball Previous Next

Two first-time participants share their Huddle Holidays experience < Back The Best Holidays Ever Previous Next

< Back Game Changers Pitch Event Intake One, 2024 Previous Next

Summer holidays just got cooler! < Back Riding the Waves with Huddle Holidays Jasper Menor 16 Jan 2025 Summer holidays just got cooler! Huddle Holidays took to the coast for an unforgettable day at Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club! Our participants dived straight into it learning the basics of surfing and beach safety thanks to the guidance of the Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club. With expert guidance, many first-timers impressively caught their very first waves—an incredible sight to see! For some, it was not only their first time surfing but their first time at the beach, making the experience even more special. The weather couldn’t have been better, with the perfect mix of sun, wind, and warmth creating ideal conditions for a day on the water. A huge thank you to the amazing team at Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club for showing us the ropes and making it a day to remember! Previous Next

The efforts of midfielder Charlie Lazzaro have been recognised with the Peter Scanlon Community Award for 2022 < Back 'Laz' rises to claim Peter Scanlon Community Award Samantha Weston 2 Sept 2022 The efforts of midfielder Charlie Lazzaro have been recognised with the Peter Scanlon Community Award for 2022 Charlie Lazzaro experienced first-hand the impact that AFL players have on fostering a love of the sport in-person throughout his childhood in Geelong. He knew that if his dreams of playing professional football came to be, and if the opportunity ever presented itself, that he had a strong desire to return the favour to his new community in North Melbourne. Charlie was presented his jumper for Round 1 of 2021, and since then, has played 24 games for North Melbourne at a senior level. The now 20-year-old has been commended for his professionalism, resilience and maturity, the likes of which resemble someone who has been playing at a professional level for far longer than himself. He gives some of this credit to his senior teammates, who along with the younger cohort, have “…looked after us and really helped us transition into the AFL environment and really encouraged us not to go into our shells.” Charlie puts a lot of emphasis on team spirit at North Melbourne, and how the jump from playing Under 18s to AFL is underpinned by looking after your teammates, rather than individual performance. Since the middle of 2022, Charlie has been involved on a weekly basis with a program run by The Huddle that is very close to his heart. Huddle Up! Is a multisport program that provides young people with the opportunity to get involved and get active through social games of a variety of sports, as well as health and fitness classes delivered in a safe and inclusive environment. Growing up in Geelong, Charlie looks back fondly on the experience of AFL players coming to visit his school or trainings to share advice and get fellow aspiring players excited about what a future in footy might look like. These experiences helped shape as a player, and he is proud to be able to provide this experience to his new community at North Melbourne. Later into Charlie’s school years, he took part in the Duke of Edinburgh - an international youth development program that allows young people explore their full potential and find their purpose, passion, and place in the world. One focus of the Award is Voluntary Service, and Charlie spent his volunteer time throughout the program finding his passion for helping others and learning about the profound effect that volunteering his time can have on the wider community. [The Duke of Ed] was a pathway, and once I was lucky enough to get drafted to North, I was able to start working with The Huddle Program, and I’ve really enjoyed helping out since I started. - Charlie Lazzaro It is clear to Huddle Up! attendees and volunteers that Charlie has a special eye for inclusion. He can be seen always going out of his way to make sure every young person is getting the most out of the experience. If he spots someone falling a bit behind or catches them in their shell, he will always go out of his way to get them involved and getting the most out of the experience. He also makes the effort to hang around and shoot hoops or chat with the participants after the session is complete and shows a real joy for fostering these important relationships. On Thursday night, Charlie was named the winner of The Peter Scanlon Community Award, which exemplifies the spirit of giving, going the ‘extra mile’ on numerous occasions, often without recognition, and never expecting fanfare. During his acceptance speech, he talked about what an honour receiving the award was and how much it means to him. He has come full circle in giving back to his community what was so important to him in his youth, and has made a lasting impression on so many of young people at The Huddle in the process. Previous Next

The Huddle shows support for Shooters Shoot's end of year basketball event < Back Hoopin' For A Cause Previous Next

Huddle Up! Junior - The Hub @ Docklands < Back Energising Young Minds Mariam Taleb 19 July 2023 Huddle Up! Junior - The Hub @ Docklands Huddle Up! Junior, a multi-sport program designed for young people aged 5-12 in the City of Melbourne, offers a range of engaging activities at the Hub in Docklands. In collaboration with external sporting organizations, this program delivers one-hour sessions over four weeks, focusing on teaching fundamental sports skills, enhancing physical activity, promoting social connections, and fostering a sense of belonging within the community. One of the program's key objectives is to provide opportunities for young people to engage in safe and social activities after school. By offering a structured and supportive environment, Huddle Up! Junior provides participants with the chance to actively participate, learn new skills, and interact with their friends, fostering a positive after-school experience. This program attempts to remove barriers that can sometimes appear for young children trying to participate in sport. "We like learning and getting better at sports. I have so much fun on Tuesdays, I always smile when I’m at the program" - Participant. Beyond skill development, the program is a catalyst for building connections and forging relationships among young people of all ages. Inside and outside the program, lasting social interactions are formed. Many participants continue their engagement with The Huddle through our other programs, including the exciting Multi-Sport Super Clinics during Huddle Holidays. This year, one of the standout factors was our collaboration with the AFL Men's program. North Melbourne Kangaroos players joined our sessions throughout the year and helped take part in an incredible Huddle Day at Marvel Stadium. This event gave our participants a front-row seat to an AFL match and an opportunity to engage in thrilling pre-game activities like crafts, games, and footy skills practice with the players. The young people and their families received free tickets and took part of the Guard of Honour, lining up on the field to welcome the North Melbourne players. For some, it was their very first AFL match. "I felt like one of them." - Huddle Up! participant on participating in the Guard of Honour From the beginning of 2023, Huddle Up! Junior has had 45 registrations and 113 attendances, with an average of 10 young people per session. These young people also represent 12 different cultural backgrounds, fostering an inclusive environment that encourages cross-cultural connections, understanding, and acceptance. The programs are really well run! It’s such a fantastic weekly opportunity for them to experience a variety of different sports in an age-appropriate environment. We’re appreciative of North Melbourne footy club and The Huddle running these sessions.” - Parent of Participant Huddle Up! Junior Docklands runs every Tuesday from 4-5pm at The Hub, Docklands. To register click here . Previous Next

Using all the learnings from Game Changers and using them for the Pitch event. < Back Pitch night with Game Changers! 16 July 2024 Using all the learnings from Game Changers and using them for the Pitch event. Creating an inclusive community sports event 🗣️ During the school holidays, our Game Changers participants went through a myriad of workshops, mentoring sessions and coaching to help them develop transferable skills and create an inclusive sports program with a chance to turn it into a reality. Using the skills and learnings from the course, they pitched their inclusive community sports programs to three panelists where they also had the opportunity to receive employment as well as develop their programs into something tangible. Game Changers run every school holidays! Stay tuned for the next one and join us to develop your skills for the future! We would like to acknowledge our partners Ubuntu Project, Paving the Way Forward and the Victorian State Government Previous Next