Loneliness
What Is It All About?
Community Centres SA’s The Loneliness Cure Award is back for another year!
This award was created by us in conjunction with the Community Achievement Awards on behalf of Awards Australia, to tackle the growing epidemic of social isolation and to celebrate the power of community connectedness.
We recognise that part of the cure to social isolation lies in the power of meaningful connections. Connections that value, support and nurture a person’s values, their voice and experiences.
In the words of Lauren Bonnet who accepted the 2019 award on behalf of MarionLIFE for their program Marion Mugs – “Loneliness really is an epidemic and something all of our group have experienced but we know that building connections is the answer.”
The Loneliness Cure Award is an opportunity to celebrate, reward and recognise the part that real life, grass roots initiatives led by Community Centres, local community groups or not for profits play in connecting people up.
We want to help you to raise your profile and celebrate the work you do – The Loneliness Cure Award is an opportunity to reach a wider audience, have your voice heard and boost your awesome community programs that bring joy and connection every day to so many.
Hear more about what this rewarding experience could mean for your Community Centre or organisation in the special interview with our CEO Kylie Fergusen, Josh Griffin, Partnership Manager with Awards Australia and Leighton Boyd, Manager at MarionLIFE whose program, Marion Mugs, took out the $2000 prize money for The Loneliness Cure Award category last year.
How Does It Work?
- Get nominated/nominate someone
- Judging then takes place
- You may become a finalist
- You would then have the opportunity to frock or suit up and attend the Awards Night Gala Dinner when the winner will be announced and receive $2000! – TBC
Important Dates
| Nominations Open: | 1 June 2020 |
| Nominations Close: | 21 August 2020 |
| Judging: | 27 October 2020 |
| Awards Presentation: | 11 December 2020 |
There Are 4 Ways To Nominate
- Nominate your own Community Centre/group/organisation.
- Nominate a Community Centre/House, community group or organisation that you know fits the criteria.
- Refer someone and let Awards Australia help them with the rest (this takes about 2 minutes)
- Get help from Community Centres SA to write the nomination by contacting info@communitycentressa.asn.au
or phone 8371 4622
What Will The Nomination Form Ask Me?
Provide a brief description of your community initiative – how did it come about, who did it target and what did it deliver?
One of the outcomes that Community Centres SA strives to achieve in our community is that communities are connected and that people know and care for each other. Describe what community connections resulted from your community initiative?
How do you know your community initiative has made a difference in people’s lives? We want to know what makes your initiative special, so be creative in your answer – you could use a short video, media clippings, testimonials, photos, quotes as well as commentary to respond to this question.
Upon reflection, what learnings have there been for those involved in the initiative? What (if anything) might be done differently?
25 word summary of achievements for media, judging and promotional material including for use on the Awards night.
To all of our Community Centres, and to the many other organisations in SA who we know operate daily as champions of community connectedness, this is your time to shine – what are you waiting for?
Commemorative Booklet October 2019: Celebrating the Power of Community Connectedness
Community Centres SA chose the month of October 2019 for our sector to shine brightly. The month to tell our stories of nurturing meaningful connections loudly and proudly, and to showcase the great work that our sector, and our partners and collaborators, achieve in this space.
This Commemorative Booklet is a record of a month of celebrations of the great work of 104 Community Centres and Neighbourhood Houses and the 35,000 community members that connect up in these engaging, trusted and non-stigmatised spaces every week. It was the month to tell our stories of nurturing meaningful connections loudly and proudly, and to showcase the great work that our sector, and our partners and collaborators, achieve in this space.
The Booklet includes reflections on our Being Connected Conference in partnership with Volunteering SA & NT – where social isolation and the evidence around the wrap around support provided by centres and volunteers was a central feature of conversation and our ambitious, new The Loneliness Cure Award with the South Australian Community Achievement Awards.
