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General News

24 July, 2023

Celebrating three decades of Mill House

Whole of community focused charity Mill House marked its 30th birthday last week, with the organisation’s continued support of the community celebrated. Almost 100 people including representatives from Asteria, the Bendigo Bank, Rotary, council...

By Riley Upton

Storyboards showed the many iterations of Mill House over the years and the organisation’s achievements.
Storyboards showed the many iterations of Mill House over the years and the organisation’s achievements.

Whole of community focused charity Mill House marked its 30th birthday last week, with the organisation’s continued support of the community celebrated.

Almost 100 people including representatives from Asteria, the Bendigo Bank, Rotary, council and the community were at Mill House on Friday to mark the occasion.

Over the years the organisation has had a handful of names, including SkillShare, Maryborough Learning Centre, Goldfields Employment and Learning Centre and now Mill House Neighbourhood House.

Despite its various iterations over the years, Mill House chair Adrian Masterman-Smith said the organisation’s goal of supporting residents and the community has never changed.

“I don’t think it would be unreasonable to say 50,000 people have been impacted in one way or another by the work we’ve done here over the last 30 years,” he said.

“This organisation started initially out of a desire to upskill our community and that focus has grown over the years to themes around isolation, connection and networking and a lot of that comes back to how much you can enjoy life.

“I think at its heart that’s what Mill House is about, supporting people to get the most out of life.”

Mill House supports and facilitates a host of events, workshops and activities to support social inclusion and interaction, with organisations like U3A, Rotary, five different employment services and an osteopath utilising the space on a weekly basis.

“A celebration like this makes you think back on the amazing work of previous chairs, coordinators, facilitators and staff in the past to get Mill House to this point,” Mr Masterman-Smith said.

“We’ve realised that in an age of increasing specialisation, education needs to stay with dedicated educational organisations and instead, we’ve looked to specialise in life skills and supporting people to be a part of the community.

“We’ve come out of a difficult place with COVID, it took us a couple of years to stabilise but now that foundational work is complete, we can dream more about the future.

“Wherever the cutting edge of community development is, I think Mill House is.”

Mill House is funded by the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal, Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and has been supported by the Community Bank Avoca, Maryborough and St Arnaud.

Mill House coordinator Michelle Baker said it’s support that’s essential as community members come to rely on the services Mill House provides.

“We are working to address social isolation that’s been caused by the pandemic and it’s working really well, people have come to rely on us,” she said.

“We hold events like weekly markets and Friday feasts to not only bring the community together, but also celebrate our community.”

Around 100 people came together to celebrate the 30th birthday of Mill House last week.
Around 100 people came together to celebrate the 30th birthday of Mill House last week.
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