Saad - Belonging, On Air and Off

I moved to Australia from Pakistan in 2016 as a young teenager. The transition was bigger than I expected. I could speak English, but I often hesitated before joining conversations. I worried about mispronouncing words. I felt the difference in humour, in tone, in the way friendships formed. I was present, but not fully at ease.

Belonging felt like something other people had already figured out.

Everything began to shift the day I walked into a small community radio station. I had no experience and no clear plan. I was curious. A volunteer showed me how the mixing desk worked and handed me a script to read. When the red “on air” light turned on, I felt nervous. But I also felt included.

That studio became a place where I could grow. I began producing and hosting programs focused on migrant stories, youth identity, and the everyday realities of starting again in a new country. Listeners would call in to talk about missing home, navigating job searches, raising children between cultures, or simply trying to understand where they fit.

One evening, after a segment about feeling isolated during settlement, a caller thanked us for saying out loud what she had been carrying quietly for years. That moment stayed with me. It reminded me that belonging is built through connection, not perfection.

Community broadcasting brought neighbours together in ways that were often invisible but deeply meaningful. It connected new arrivals with long settled families. It connected young people with elders. It created space for honest conversation across difference.

Over time, I stepped into leadership roles in multicultural media and later contributed to boards and advisory groups in health and community services. In each role, I carried the same lesson from that studio: institutions must create spaces where people feel heard, respected, and included.

Being named a Young Australian of the Year finalist was an honour, but the real reward has always been the everyday impact. A listener feeling less alone. A young migrant finding confidence. A community seeing itself reflected in public life.

For me, Neighbours Every Day means showing up consistently and creating connection in small, practical ways. I arrived uncertain of my place. Through community broadcasting, I found belonging. Now I work to help others find it too.

Mic

There is a maxim in literature circles that there are really only two plots to every story: “Someone leaves home to go on an adventure” or “a stranger comes to town”. Having dispensed with a fixed address to call “home” many years ago, I have become that ‘stranger’ and set off on a rusty old single-speed French postman’s bicycle named “Captain Tom” on what I hope will be a very long adventure. So it’s not just the scenery that changes every day, but my hard-to-define yet always present sense of community and appreciation of a revolving group of kind-hearted people who are, if only for the briefest of time, effectively become my neighbours - people who keep an eye out for me as I’m travelling along and offer assistance, as one would hope a more traditional neighbour would.

Last week I had just set up my hammock halfway between two neighbouring towns on the Flinders Highway when another cyclist, much leaner than me, rode up. Dan was from Yorkshire and was on a quest to do a ‘lap’ around Australia in as quick a time as possible. He had set off from Charters Towers and was keen to get to Richmond that night, so we only chatted for about ten minutes.

I am used to people saying, “you’re mad!!” as I describe my multi-decadal bicycling plan, so I was a bit taken aback when I found out Dan left his home in England a fortnight ago and started his ride in SYDNEY on the same day I started my latest leg west from Townsville. From what I could see, he only had two small water bottles, and in an instant I had a flashback to the tens, possibly more than a hundred,  folks who had offered me water, food, and beers, so I was delighted to be able to offer Dan some much-needed water from my ample supply. It’s only after he rode off that I started to feel a bit bad that I hadn’t emphasised to him that, although this day was probably the hottest he’s encountered in his brief time in Australia, it certainly wouldn’t be the last potentially deadly day on the road. Luckily, we’d exchanged Social Media details, and I was able to belatedly message my concerns, to which I received a reply, and I continue to follow his progress.

Sarah

My story is two mosaic panels I have created and installed outside Pasadena Community Centre. I wanted others to feel as connected to my community as I do. I wanted to depict friendliness, connection, come rain or shine (shown by an umbrella on the mosaic). The panels show pets (Dougal the Scottie dog, Matilda the guinea fowl), nature, and all people connected with ❤ hearts in their hands. The mosaic is titled "Community Friends"

I also put in a little ukulele as I am involved in music at the centre. I also support mosaic projects at the centre.

I feel connected ,

because I am valued....

Each person is valued,

for who they are and the

assets they bring.

I wanted to show a sense of belonging.

Marta

The Wishing Tree began as a simple idea ... to bring our community together through small acts of kindness.

With the support of a council grant, organised by a dedicated local supporter, we chose a central tree in our precinct to become something special. Local businesses generously hosted small tag carousels, inviting people to take a tag, write a wish, and add it to the tree. What followed was truly beautiful.

In the lead-up to Christmas 2025, the Wishing Tree became a colourful expression of hope, kindness, and connection. People of all ages stopped to write messages. Some simple, some heartfelt, some anonymous, but all carrying goodwill for neighbours, friends, and even strangers. The tree stood not just as a festive feature, but as a reminder that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.

It sparked smiles, conversations, and made people feel welcome and heard.

Building on that spirit, we now hope to create a Thank You Tree for Mother’s Day.

Dylan

My name is Dylan. I’m 24 years old, and I live with Cerebral Palsy.

To me, belonging means many things. It’s about feeling included, supported, and free to move through the world just like anyone else. Being able to drive my wheelchair down the street, visit shops, or spend time at the beach, anywhere an able-bodied person can go makes me feel connected and part of my community.

But belonging is also about following my dreams. My biggest passion in life is being a DJ. I want to work my way up in the music world, become well-known, and be recognised for my hard work and determination. I’m not afraid of challenges, setbacks, or people who might try to pull me down. I choose to follow my heart and chase my dreams, and I won’t let my disability stand in the way of the life I want to build.

To me, that is what true belonging feels like, having the freedom, the opportunity, and the confidence to live life to the fullest.

Emma

I am submitting a poem overlaid onto a photo of my dog in the forest, this is where I feel my community lies - a place of solitude and belonging for me.

Hafsa

My son has described the event that we host every year with my family. Neighbour Day.

We prepare food and activities for the day. All the neighbours gather to know everyone and enjoy the yummy food. My kids play around.

As Ramadan is here, we distributed dates to every house in the neighbourhood to build a sense of love and care for everyone and that teaches my kids to share the blessings.

Ingerlise - Seb’s Rainbow

Belonging comes in many forms — including making room for grief in everyday life, and allowing it to be shared rather than carried alone.

That’s why we dedicated a section of our garden fence to Seb’s Rainbow: an imperfectly perfect rainbow, painted in happy colours, with starry stars representing community members’ loved ones who are no longer with us. It was inspired by our friend’s beautiful little boy, Sebastian, who died before his first birthday, yet left this world a hero by gifting his organs to save another life.

We first painted the rainbow with our children as a way to explain where Sebastian had gone — to surf the rainbow — and to keep his memory present in the rhythms of family life. Over time, it has grown to include the stars of others who left too soon.

Grief can be the loneliest of emotions. It often lives quietly alongside the ordinary moments of our days, unspoken and unseen. For me, this rainbow is a way of letting grief belong — of inviting it into relationship, rather than isolating it. I see it while the kids play on the monkey bars, and I smile, thinking about how much love there is in the universe, even when life feels deeply unfair.

The rain has almost washed the colours away now, so we’re inviting friends and neighbours to repaint it with us. Not as a big gesture, but as a relational one — a moment to stand side by side, share stories, and celebrate what and those who matters.

Seb’s Rainbow is our everyday practice of belonging: a reminder that connection softens grief, that love continues through relationships, and that we all belong — here with one another, and in this big, beautiful, wondrous universe, even if some are now surfing the rainbow and waving down from the stars.

Wardell Neighbourhood Centre is a small, community-led hub in the riverside village of Wardell, NSW.

After the 2022 floods, our community experienced profound loss to homes, livelihoods and stability. What emerged from the mud was not just the need to rebuild houses, but the need for connection as people processed and healed, shared their experiences, sought support and found their own pathways to recovery.

People came together, and they have stayed together. The Wardell Neighbourhood Centre formed through a shared commitment to show up for one another and create a place of belonging.

We opened the doors of Wardell’s old bank building to bring people together — to establish a centre of support and a hub for wellbeing and resilience. What began as a crisis response has grown into something special. Today, the Centre delivers fresh food access to over 100 local households, hosts social eating events that bring neighbours to the same table, provides programs and support for seniors, offers digital connection assistance, coordinates community meetings and delivers wellbeing initiatives.

Strengthening our village and creating belonging has taken consistency, shared effort, practical care and lots of cups of tea. The Wardell Neighbourhood Centre was created by community members who believed that connection is protective, and it continues to enrich people’s lives through their generosity and kindness.

The coffee machine at the Pasadena Community Centre is the hardest working piece of equipment I know of. It brews lattes, cappuccino, flat whites, espressos, hot chocolates and chai. The nearby kettle offers a variety of teas and the sandwich press makes the best toasties. The Community Centre servery window opens cheerfully each day, welcoming conversation from the outside and beckons everyone indoors.

But everyone likes a hot drink and a toastie right and even better when it's free? What if your neighbour is the barista, what if someone you never met before offers you their home-made cake and then you both get to chill out in the ‘lounge’. What if the flowers on the table grew in a garden in a nearby street. What if the music is your mates favourite vinyl record they just put on and is playing quietly in the background. What if sometimes, the music isn’t so quiet and you find yourself singing Love Is In The Air and a Conga Line is winding past you.

It’s not just a coffee, it’s the time to find a new friend, catch up with your neighbour, dream big and small ideas and make them happen. It’s what you want when you’ve had a hard day or have happy news to share.

In 2021, neighbours asked the City of Mitcham for a Community Centre and we got it! A former Sea Scout Hall embedded already with generations of memories but ready to become something new. The thing is, we were really asking for ways to stay connected, to be “hey we met at the Community Centre” and now neighbours are friends.

It’s been a new experience for many of us as we’ve learnt how to host every event, workshop or regular programming like Choir or Messy Play for neighbourly connection and learn about each other. And we nurtured the community in the original besser block hall, sans heating and cooling, we moved into a nearby cottage and we moved back into the renovated site. We discovered that the site we meet at is helpful but we realised the culture of inclusion, belonging and support can be anywhere and it’s not about the where but the who.

Jody Moate - On behalf of the Pasadena Community Centre Community Advisory Group. A wonderful team of people who know all sorts of amazing things through their professional careers and life experiences.

Little BIG house published our annual survey and have a number of great stories which were anonymously submitted to us and too important not to share.

“When I was pregnant, using public transport, several of my neighbours would pick me up at the train station. Once one of my neighbours could not make it and asked a friend of his to step in. We met for the first time at the train station and he carried my bags for me! I’d never met him before.”

“Many neighbours offered to drive me to hospital visits or do any shopping I needed when my husband was sick last year. Recently a neighbour knocked on our door with take away coffees because he hadn't seen us for a few days”

“Some of the community gave us donations in exchange for a bunch of herbs while we were tender the community garden on the weekend. We will use that money to buy more plants for the garden.”

“I had surgery and many of the people from the x-fit training community stayed in touch with me during my recovery and offered assistance where possible. I was even convinced to come down and just watch so that I could still feel a part of the community during my recovery. Once I did that, just the interaction with that fabulous community boosted my mood and helped with the positive trajectory of my recovery. To be a part of something as special as that community is truly life changing. I feel blessed to be a part of it”