Waminda house is officially back in its home at 19 Ballintine St.
Photo by
Simon Ruppert
A special celebration took place in Ballintine St, Benalla on April 29.
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After nine months in a temporary location, Waminda House, Benalla’s community house, reopened to the joy of the community.
House manager Leeane Bullard said it was a relief to be back home.
“We've been closed for nine long months,” Ms Bullard said.
“This building (19 Ballintine St) was affected by termites, so we weren’t allowed on-site until that was dealt with.
“We were around the corner at 41 Ballintine St, which wasn't very good at all because it was just a little house.
“So we're just super excited to come back to Waminda.”
The Lions Club of Benalla hosted a sausage sizzle at the re-opening of Waminda House on Tuesday, April 22.
Photo by
Contributed
Community members flooded the re-opening and were treated to a sausage sizzle, put on by the Lions Club of Benalla.
“We had about 50 kids, and about 50 adults come through, which was a really good mix,” Ms Bullard said.
“We had a visit from a group from Yooralla, and we had Tomorrow Today here.
“But it got really busy around 3pm, after school; that’s when all the kids turned up.
“We had face painting and rock painting. We did a wall of hands where the kids traced, and cut out hands, and put their names on them to decorate a wall.”
Ms Bullard said that now the termite issue is fixed, and the dust has settled on the re-opening, the focus can be back on providing community services and programs which are desperately needed in Benalla.
Sandra Rogash, Doris Billingsley and Waminda House manager Leeane Bullard showing an art project produced at link-up.
Photo by
Simon Ruppert
One of those is the Anganya program, led by Gambina and Tomorrow Today, which supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children within the Benalla region who are attending full-time education in mainstream schools.
“Tonight they’re doing some maths,” Ms Bullard said.
Another program run in collaboration with Tomorrow Today is Reading Buddies, where trained volunteers help improve the literacy levels of students they’re matched with.
“We also had our link-up group here for the re-opening; they were doing some art in the back, which went really well,” Ms Bullard said.
The link-up group is all about social inclusion. It meets at Benalla’s CWA Hall, on Bridge St East, every Wednesday during school term from 10am.
That will include two new elements as of Term 2, 2025:
The Be Connected Tech Hub, which is an opportunity for seniors to learn and ask questions on technology, and
Room at the Table - the popular Benalla board gaming group is also all about social inclusion and a great fit with link-up.
And there’s much more going on at Waminda in the coming months, including its annual blanket drive, supported playgroups, its food relief program, its sing and dance sessions, yoga classes and much more.
Ms Bullard said she wanted to remind the community that on Thursday, May 22, Homes Victoria would be in Benalla West conducting community consultations on the Benalla West redevelopment.
Waminda House is currently on the lookout for volunteers and will host a volunteer information evening on Monday, May 26 at 6.30pm.
In the meantime, if you would like to volunteer, you can call Waminda House on 0491 630 213.
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