Helping Hoops has recently completed a successful move to Melbourne’s outer west. Helping Hoops Werribee replaces our Sunshine program in 2017 in response to the multicultural community’s increasing relocation from the inner-west and Sunshine area to Werribee and surrounding suburbs.
The decision to move Helping Hoops Sunshine was not taken lightly. The program has run since 2011 and been a flagship for Helping Hoops, with hundreds of children and young people from a culturally and linguistically diverse background engaged throughout the years. Over the past 12 months, we have seen numbers and overall attendance dwindle. This correlated with many families in the area taking the opportunity to move to outer-western suburbs to access affordable housing. The move to Werribee was in direct response to this fact. Helping Hoops must put the needs of our communities first, and being an organisation that can be nimble and make changes to be relevant to those we service is something we are extremely proud of.
Helping Hoops Werribee has quickly grown to over 20 participants with almost 25% female participation. This is particular pleasing as engaging young women in our program was difficult at Helping Hoops Sunshine. We see Werribee as an area of huge growth and opportunity, and we look forward to sharing our progress over the coming months.
