Grievance Debate

Pathway Community Centre

Ms SAVVAS (Newland) (15:12): Today, I would like to speak to the house about the Pathway Community Centre at Clovercrest Baptist Church. I had the great privilege last week of volunteering for the day at Pathway, the second time I have had the opportunity to do so. I really want to take a moment in the house to acknowledge the volunteers who make Pathway the incredible community service it is

The Pathway Community Centre is the community outreach arm at Clovercrest Baptist Church, right on the boundary of my electorate at Modbury North. Pathway offers support to the local community in a number of ways, but predominantly it provides food to those in need, packing fortnightly hampers of fresh food, bread, meat and non-perishables for those in need both within our community and outside it. It also partners with a number of groups, churches and schools to distribute food more broadly, as well as a number of NGOs in order to provide more emergency-style packages for those in crisis.

There are a number of components to Pathway, but all are equal in what they do: connect with and serve community members in need. There is a large food preparation area out the back where volunteers pack and process the fresh fruit and veg that come in. There is a goods room, where non-perishable items are stored and sorted. There is a packing area for hampers, a bread room for storing and distributing bread for hampers, and the front area where individuals can line up and access those hampers.

They also have a pergola outside, which is probably getting past its use-by date, and we were very happy to provide some funding as part of an election commitment to Pathway Community Centre for a more permanent structure where individuals can access those hampers, meet with each other and form community relationships whilst at the service. Next door to Pathway is a treasured op shop, which also serves as community outreach and is a fundamental part of the Pathway and Clovercrest community family.

Last week, I joined Pathway to help with food service after hearing about a significant increase in need and access to those hampers over the past 12 months. I would like to acknowledge the work of Noelle Wallis, the most wonderful woman, who has come in to direct Pathway's mission work this year. She did previously hold a very special role in outreach at The Heights School and has done an incredible job in taking on the increased need.

She has also facilitated a change of hands. There have been big shoes to fill after the retirement of John and Kaye Flack, who have provided so much service to our community over many years but made the decision to retire in December. Together we celebrated in November John and Kaye and 15 years of the wonderful work of Pathway. I would like to acknowledge them again for the hours that they put in over a 15-year period and the tireless work that they have committed to the community, the church and Pathway over a period of years.

John and Kaye were fundamental in the work that happened at Pathway, and not a day goes by in my community when someone does not stop and say, 'What are John and Kaye up to post retirement?' and checking on their health and wellbeing post their moving on from Pathway. I think it is really important to acknowledge the work they have done and also to wish them all the best in their retirement and their health as they move forward and also to acknowledge the wonderful direction that Pathway is taking with a new director. There are a large number of volunteers in the centre, who also are playing a really important role in the provision of services at Pathway.

I would also like to acknowledge the volunteers more broadly—those who help in the kitchen, those who help with food prep, those at the front desk, those who drive trucks. They are now driving all the way out to Gawler, I believe, to pick up fruit and veg to come and pack hampers. There are those who are in the bread room. I met a lovely family, three young girls and their mum, who drove all the way from Murray Bridge to pack bread for the day at the centre. There are those as well who volunteer to pay it back after receiving their own hampers. There are a number of people at Pathway who volunteer as a means of thanking Pathway for the support that has been provided to them over a number of years. I think that says a lot about the heart of the organisation and what it means to people to be part of a group like Pathway.

Pathway is a service that does not just provide food or supplies but connects with people more deeply. For many, it provides a really dignified way to give back and serve. I consider it a real privilege to occasionally volunteer there, and I would like to commend Pathway and thank them for all their work.