Warrawong Residents Forum

30/10/2026

Neighbourhood Centres make a difference long before a crisis.

Sometimes it’s a safe place to sit. A familiar face. Help with a form, a meal or simply knowing there’s somewhere you can turn.

Across NSW, Neighbourhood Centres provide more than services. They build trust, strengthen connections and offer early support that can change the direction of someone’s life.

But this work cannot rely on goodwill and volunteers alone.

Our centres need sustainable core funding, properly resourced teams and the capacity to be there for their communities.

At Warrawong Residents Forum, we see the difference this makes every day.

Investing in Neighbourhood Centres is investing in stronger, healthier and more connected communities.

"Early intervention doesn't always look like an intervention." 💛

Sometimes it's a safe place to sit. A familiar face. Help with a form. A phone charger.

Ash Castro, Manager of Warrawong Residents Forum, spent years in child protection, crisis services and street outreach, meeting people after things had already fallen apart. At a neighbourhood centre, Ash meets those same stories much earlier.

Read how one young man went from arriving homeless at 22 to being housed and running his own business three years later, and why centres need core funding to keep being there for people like him 👇

Read the full piece: https://www.lcsansw.org.au/Public/News/Member-Stories/Ash_Castro_on_early_help_and_core_funding.aspx

20/10/2026

Every week, 72,000 people walk through the doors of NSW Neighbourhood and Community Centres. Yet these vital community services receive no dedicated ongoing core funding to keep their doors open.

With the NSW State Election approaching, it’s time for change.

Help us call on both major parties to commit to sustainable core funding for every community centre in NSW.

Sign the petition. Share it. Help make our voices heard!

https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/fund-neighbourhood-and-community-centres-as-essential-social-infrastructure

Because strong communities need strong foundations.

Every week, 72,000 people walk through the doors of a Neighbourhood or Community Centre somewhere in NSW.

These centres run food programs, connect isolated people, support families in crisis, and show up when disasters hit - all without dedicated core funding from the NSW Government.

With the NSW State Election just months away, we’re calling on all parties and candidates to commit to sustainable core funding for every NCC in the state.

Sign the petition. Share this post. Help us make this impossible to ignore.

https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/fund-neighbourhood-and-community-centres-as-essential-social-infrastructure

12/10/2026

Dear students: All the best for your HSC Journey 📚

11/10/2026

A huge Warrawong thank you to Royston Noell for bringing the sounds, soul and shine to our 50 Years of Deadly NAIDOC Family Fun Day! ❤️💛🖤

Your vocals, energy and spirit added something special to our celebration. Thanks for helping us make it deadly, the Warrawong Way!

06/10/2026

Warrawong NAIDOC Family Fun Day 2026 celebrated 50 Years of Deadly - the Warrawong way!

More than 90 stallholders. Performers. Elders. Families. Children. Community organisations. Businesses. Volunteers. Services. Artists. Food providers. Sponsors. Our organising committee. And so many people who simply turned up, joined in and made the day their own.

The 2026 NAIDOC theme, 50 Years of Deadly, honours the Elders, organisers, artists and communities who have carried NAIDOC forward - celebrating culture, strength, leadership and the generations still to come.

A day of culture and connection.
A day of learning, legends and listening.
A day of laughter, music, food and yarns.
A day where people from across our community came together, side by side.

This is the Warrawong Way.

We do community together - through relationships, generosity, participation and showing up for one another.

To every person who contributed to Warrawong NAIDOC Family Fun Day: thank you.

To our Elders and First Nations community who continue to share culture, knowledge and leadership: thank you.

To our stallholders, partners, funders, sponsors, performers and community groups: thank you.

To our volunteers and organising committee who gave months of their time, energy and heart: thank you.

And to everyone who walked through the gates, had a yarn, tried something new, cheered, danced, laughed, listened and connected: this day was yours too.

50 Years of Deadly.

Celebrated in community.
Celebrated through connection.
Celebrated the Warrawong Way.

Thank you, Warrawong.

Community Culture Connection

09/09/2026

Warrawong went worldwide today!

Today we welcomed community champions from the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF), the IFS – International Federation of Settlements and Neighbourhood Centres, and Local Community Services Association into WRF — sharing knowledge, stories, laughs and memories that sit at the heart of community.

We shared stories of Warrawong: lessons from our past, reflections on our now, and our community’s incredible resilience and hope for what comes next.

While our communities may look different, the stories of connection, belonging, resilience and possibility are remarkably similar.

A beautiful continuation of the LCSA Connecting Communities Conference — and a reminder that when communities share what they know, Warrawong doesn’t just connect locally. It connects globally.

08/09/2026

The LCSA Connecting Communities Conference has been a great reminder of the power of people doing good things in their own communities.

Loved meeting people from across NSW and around the world who are building connection, responding to local need and finding new ways to create change — in their own versions of Warrawong.

Different places, different challenges, but so many shared ideas, values and possibilities.

And with LCSA setting a clear strategic direction to address the sector’s core funding deficit, there’s plenty to be excited about.

Good people. Big ideas. A sector ready to do more.

01/09/2026

A message from A&Y 👩‍🎓

28/07/2026

Message from our students