By Gabriella Payne
Last year’s lockdown gave many people time to relax at home, catching up on their favourite TV shows and getting comfy on the couch – but for two teenage sisters, lockdown sparked another, more physical idea.
Instead of taking some time out, the two students from Springvale’s Killester College, Jade and Eden Gundry, decided to challenge themselves to race their way through lockdown by entering as many virtual races as they could and covered a staggering distance in the process.
Between the two of them, the girls entered and completed a mammoth 49 races during lockdown last year, which saw them run and walk a total of 1,883 kilometres across 13 ‘virtual’ countries.
By Gabriella Payne
Dandenong not-for-profit Wellsprings for Women has been recognised with not one, but two awards at the annual learn local awards ceremony, held virtually by Neighbourhood House Victoria at the end of last year.
Winning both the publicly voted ‘people’s choice award’ and the ‘innovation in a time of Covid acknowledgement award’, the team at Wellsprings were commended for their dedication and outstanding work throughout the year, despite all the challenges they faced.
The chief executive officer of Neighbourhood Houses Victoria, Nicole Battle, said that despite celebrating virtually, it was fantastic to take a moment to reflect on the incredible community work that many had done throughout the state.
By Gabriella Payne and Danielle Kutchel
Residents from five aged care facilities throughout Dandenong are proving that it’s never too late to learn a new skill as they channel their inner artist for a new exhibition.
The residents’ artwork is now on display as part of the ‘9 by 5’ art exhibition at Dandenong’s Walker St Gallery and Arts Centre.
During Melbourne’s tough lockdown, the Greater Dandenong City Council delivered a number of art packages to Dandenong’s aged care facilities, encouraging one and all to pick up some paintbrushes and let their artistic side shine.
These gifted art packs included videos of art workshops and many nine by five inch blank boards, ready for residents to paint, draw, sketch or collage and ultimately enter in the annual ‘9 by 5’ community art exhibition.
By Gabriella Payne
As Melbournians celebrated the end of a less-than-perfect 2020 at New Year’s Eve festivities across the city, the year brought more bad news for one law-breaking P-plater, who was caught breaching multiple road rules as the clock struck midnight.
Police officers from the Dandenong frontline tactical unit were patrolling Hallam Road in Hampton Park on Thursday 31 December 2020, close to midnight, when they witnessed a vehicle driving erratically.
After intercepting the vehicle on Bethune drive in Hampton Park, the officers discovered the male driver, who provided police with his P1 drivers licence, was breaking multiple road rules and probationary driver regulations.
By Gabriella Payne
Areas of suburban Melbourne are set to face economic woes – with Dandenong being the worst hit of all – as tens of thousands of JobSeeker recipients face drastic cuts to their coronavirus supplement before it is ultimately phased out in 2021.
Almost 10,600 people or 3 percent of Victoria’s JobSeeker recipients live in the Dandenong region, according to information from the Department of Social Services released in November 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic pushed many out of work and reliant on government support.
The figures revealed that in mid-November 2020 across Victoria, 365,276 people were receiving JobSeeker, with an extra 98,422 people receiving Youth Allowance – meaning the post-Christmas cut will see hundreds of thousands of Victorians struggle to get by.