Northside Connect offers a range of community engagement activities, including ESL classes, a thriving community garden, and food relief services. Volunteers assist with language learning, maintain the garden, and distribute weekly food hampers supported by OzHarvest. The centre also provides a welcoming space for a community lunch every Tuesday.

English as Second Language Classes

Our ESL run 10am - 12pm every Monday and Thursday during school term. Classes cater to all levels of English and are open to anyone who wants to improve their English. Although classroom style, ESL volunteers work with participants at their level with a focus on learning the basics, conversational English and social interaction.

Community Garden

Our community garden has been thriving recently boasting an incredible crop of pumpkins, chillis, limes, cherry tomatoes, zucchinis, lettuce, and spinach varieties. The garden is maintained by an enthusiastic group of volunteers and provides salads and vegetables for our weekly community lunch

Food Relief/ Community Lunch

Northside Connect offer a range of food relief support at our centre. During our office hours we have frozen meals prepared by Community Canteen that are available to community members in need, and pantry items available to people requiring one-off emergency relief.

On Tuesday mornings, from 10am our dedicated volunteers help us to distribute fruit and vegetable food hampers (supported by OzHarvest). Hampers are available to community members in need weekly.

While food hampers are distributed, we also provide a community morning tea and lunch from 10.30am.

The roles

ESL Classes

  • Assist the ESL volunteers in providing English Language tutoring in a group setting for non-English speaking clients
  • Create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all participants of ESL
  • Liaise with other volunteers and staff regarding content planning and delivery

Community Garden

  • Watering, harvesting, weeding, planting, garden care and general soil maintenance. This is a winter garden, and we plant and harvest from March/April to October. The summer heat does not allow us to plan and harvest in summer months

Food relief

  • Sort food and make up hampers to be distributed.
  • Assist with the distribution of food relief as per appt sheet
  • Clean up all boxes and leftovers
  • Wipe down all tables/chairs/floors where necessary after distribution of food
  • Provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for all participants

Community Lunch

  • Ensure participant numbers are recorded for data collection requirements
  • Coordinate weekly meal plan including purchasing ingredients
  • Liaise with Community Garden participants regarding using produce from the garden for lunch
  • Coordinate the preparation and cooking each week
  • Ensure all participants feel welcome and involved

How to apply

More information about requirements, dates, times, and locations for this opportunity can be found on InPlace. Students can also apply to any available opportunity directly through InPlace. For information and tools on how to use InPlace, please refer to 'Applying with InPlace' module in the Community Engagement Canvas Course.

Before applying for an opportunity please ensure:

  • You understand and will follow any COVID-safe practices as determined by ACU, the organisation offering this opportunity or the public health orders of your state.
  • You are willing to undertake further processing as required and acknowledge that your ACU email address and the information you provide in your application will be shared with the organisation that offers this opportunity. The organisation will keep your personal information confidential.
  • You have read the 'Safety and Wellbeing' module in the Community Engagement course.

Opportunities are available in line with the needs of our community partners. If this opportunity is not listed in InPlace it may not be open, it may be at capacity, or you may not be eligible.

Check InPlace

Contact

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please contact ACU Engagement.
acuengagement@acu.edu.au

Community engagement at ACU

Community engagement is a unique and crucial part of our undergraduate courses that connects classwork to community action for an invaluable learning experience in working for the common good.

Policy and procedure

ACU's policies and procedures aim to keep both you and the communities you interact with legally, physically and ethically safe. It is a requirement of all community engagement placements that you read these policies prior to commencement.

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What you need to know

What is community engagement? Why do we do it and how do you get started? ACU Engagement answer your frequently asked questions to help you get the most out of your community engagement experience.

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