Back from the brink: How a community-run service on the verge of closure came back stronger than ever

Receiving notice that your service is marked for closure is heartbreaking. It can be surprising, confusing, stressful and frustrating all at once. And for services that have experienced such news, it can feel deeply disempowering.

 

Only a few short years ago, Elwood Children’s Centre (Elwood CC) along with two other early childhood services were hit with this devastating news. However, with enormous credit to the staff, committee and broader community, Elwood CC fought through and received $18 million in grants from the City of Port Phillip Council and up to $12.6 million from the Victorian Government to revamp the three services, plus three more in the area.

 

We sat down with committee member Claire Byrne and Chairperson, Rachael Scotland, to hear about this incredible journey, and to find out what things look like for the service three years down the track.

 

The beginning

 

Unfortunately, significant news doesn’t always come with significant warning. For Claire, this news came during a normal workday, when she was suddenly told she would be meeting with the then-mayor that same day. ‘I had no idea what the meeting was about… there was no agenda’, says Claire. ‘They told me with less than 24 hours’ notice that the council were going to move to an intention to sell our building and an intention to sell two other buildings in the municipality as well.’ 

 

Claire explains that from that point, they had to rally very quickly to catch up with the council’s proposals which appeared to already be very well progressed, with the service being told that the intention to sell process comprised consultation itself.

 

“I remember that feeling when we first got told, and you just feel so powerless,” explains Rachael. “So we were feeling quite despondent, but we did decide that we weren’t going down without a fight – we were going to start making some noise,” adds Claire.

 

Putting up a fight

 

Soon after receiving the news, Elwood CC committee members met with the presidents of the other two early childhood services and quickly formed an alliance. “I think that was really the start,” says Claire.

 

And the key to the success of this campaign was the sheer numbers. We are stronger together.

 

From that point, things kicked off quickly. And in a stroke of fortuitous timing, the three centres were able to build their campaign during a state and federal election, meaning they could lobby both sides of government to spark competitive support as they formed election promises and funding pledges for children’s centres.

 

“So we were talking to councillors and we had a petition running (which got over 3000 signatures), and when we presented the petition to the council, we did a big visual presentation on the front lawn in front of council offices. All the children from the three centres had spent a lot of time decorating cardboard hearts. We also had some big signs produced that said “Save our centres”, and we invited the councillors to come out and have a look,” says Claire.

 

The campaign also focused on drumming up community support by putting up ‘Not for sale’ signs around the municipality, organising a rally, letterbox drops encouraging people to write to the council and call council offices, and presenting at meetings.

 

“I think we had people at every single council meeting, asking questions, putting on pressure to make sure that this issue wasn’t being forgotten,” says Claire.

 

“And we had a state MP saying, “I need more families to call and email me if they care about this, because if I’m going to raise it, I’ll get asked how many people have contacted [me] about this, and I need to be able to say a big number”… And it was really interesting for me to hear that directly from [a] politician.”

 

Rolling out such a big campaign while still needing to run the service at the same time wasn’t easy. To keep both successfully in motion, the committee ended up forming a subgroup headed by Rachael, allocating certain responsibilities to different staff and community members.

 

“We had a fabulous person working on the team who was really great around PR, and she got us into a lot of spaces and meetings. We would have meetings about what our message was, what our key points were, and the importance of keeping the same script for this campaign and all of the interviews and things like that, to try to make sure we were consistent across the three centres. Without that coordination, we would have been picked off one by one,” says Claire.

 

The fact that there were three of us and the way we came together was so fundamental in the success of the campaign, and what we were able to achieve in the end because we’re all little centres, and the community around us is very strong but very small, says Rachael.

 

Closure turned success story

 

After years of pushing to keep the services open and thriving, not only did the campaign secure funding for the three centres that were originally identified for closure, but for three other centres in Port Phillip to be revamped too.

 

“Through this campaign, the City of Port Phillip have had to reinvest in children’s centres in this community. I think that’s a great outcome for children’s centres in the City of Port Phillip that we are now working with them on the redevelopment of our centre and we know that the other centres are doing the same,” says Rachael.

 

The power of community-run services

 

“I think a community-run centre is very different and very special in what it provides,” says Rachael. “There’s such a strong engagement and connection between all of the families, the staff and the centre itself. We do so much around building a sense of community where people come together and connect and support each other.”

 

And I feel like that is one of the most powerful elements of our campaign – that we were community-run centres, so we had committee members that were intimately involved in running this service.

 

“We knew the financial situation, we knew we were financially viable, and I think it is much harder for parents and families to fight for a centre that they are not running,” says Rachael. “These centres can provide so much more than just day care for your children, and they’re so much more accessible and often affordable for families. Protecting them is so important.”

 

“So it’s a huge shift, from ‘We’re going to sell three centres and close them’, to ‘We’re actually going to put a lot of money into redeveloping six centres in total’,” adds Claire.

 

What advice would they give to other community-run services in a similar position?

 

A few years down the track, Rachael and Claire have several tips they would share with services that may be struggling with a similar situation:

 

1. Engage your community and draw on their strengths
2. Stand strong and collaborate with services in a similar position
3. Appeal to political campaigns (apolitically) and pick your angle
4. Stay optimistic and keep chipping away
5. Source some public relations or communications talent

 

How was CCC involved?

 

Our Executive Director Julie Price sat on the Community Alliance of Port Phillip panel and with our Services Manager Daniela Kavoukas in parliament to support Dr Anne Aly MP, arguing for the critical need for the services to stay operating. Then-Mayor of the City of Port Phillip, Bernadene Voss, stated that CCC and the local community’s messages about the importance of accessible, high-quality services were heard ‘loud and clear’. 

 

We were proud to advocate with the council to prevent the closure of community-managed and council-run services in the City of Port Phillip. If you have concerns about your service’s financial viability or you are worried about potential closure, contact our friendly staff at (03) 9486 3455 or email us at [email protected]

 

This article originally appeared in Roundtable, a members magazine for educators, teachers, coordinators and directors. Roundtable magazine is published by the Community Child Care Association.