By Casey Neill
West Footscray Neighbourhood House is so much more than just a building.
The hive of activity fosters community connection and helps local families give their kids a leg up.
The house offers enriching children’s programs, from the Maribyrnong Toy Library to community childcare, Saturday playgroup, a coding club, and more, all under the same roof as the West Footscray Library and other services.
Community engagement manager Shannon Snowdon’s passion for the house is palpable.
“We work with small funding and budgets and we do incredible things,” she said.
The West Footscray Sensory Library is one of the most recent additions to the Barkly Street hub.
Membership lets parents borrow sensory toys and resources from 11am to 1pm on Wednesdays.
It’s geared for children aged 3 months to 6 years with sensory processing issues, autism, and developmental delays and includes fidget toys, weighted blankets, textured objects, light-up toys, and sound-producing items.
“They can figure out what works before they make a purchase,” Shannon said.
The Maribyrnong Toy Library has more than 520 members and is open 10am to noon Tuesdays and Saturdays, and 2pm to 4pm Thursdays.
“We’re always looking for donations,” Shannon said.
“They need to be good quality and they can’t be soft toys – we need to be able to clean them.”
West Footscray mum Kayla Robertson has been bringing one-year-old daughter Aubrey to the library since she was about three months old.
“I’m trying to take a low-waste approach to parenthood,” she said.
“We can get new toys every two weeks without buying them.”
And they’ve discovered toys they wouldn’t have otherwise come across.
Educator Belinda Khalifeh runs the playgroups, including the fortnightly Saturday session that brings dads together.
“The parents get to know each other,” she said.
“It’s all about the community.”
Shannon said many of the dads worked during the week and their wives took shifts on weekends.
They appreciate having a safe space to take their kids with toilets, baby change facilities and an experienced facilitator, all for a gold coin donation.
The weekday playgroup is helping “lonely” mums make connections.
Shannon said many second-time mums had moved since having their first baby but weren’t given a second mum’s group, so they turned to playgroup.
Children who attend the occasional childcare service also pop into the playgroup to form friendships, and even test out the toy library wares.
Lily runs the childcare and has 39 years of experience in the industry.
“She’s the childcare queen of West Footscray,” Shannon said.
“She’s been in the industry forever.”
She said the service filled a gap, helping parents to juggle work and sessional kinder.
“And everyone says that it’s so nice to have something close to home,” Shannon said.
Lily said long daycare was “hard yakka for the kids and the staff”.
“This is more like a family daycare,” she said.
Visit www.wfnh.org.au, call 9687 3345, email enquiries@wfnh.org.au, or follow www.facebook.com/westfootscrayneighbourhoodhouse for more information.
