Participants of Seymour’s SEED Project came together to celebrate the pilot initiative’s end.
Photo by
Billie Davern
The end of an era for a beloved Seymour project has come with happy tears, tight hugs and celebration.
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From Seymour and beyond, those involved with the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s SEED Project gathered on Wednesday, September 17 to look back on the significant impact the initiative has had.
Since opening the doors of its financial wellbeing hub on Anglesey St, SEED staff have used the pilot project’s three years with a physical base in town well.
The Brotherhood of St Laurence team behind SEED looked back on the project together.
Photo by
Billie Davern
Facilitating the Change Makers program, which supports women in finding their voices through self-empowerment, opening up the Women’s Wardrobe to provide women with free work-appropriate dress attire, and resulting in a 15-strong partnership between a number of valuable local services in town are among SEED’s biggest achievements.
The SEED model, developed by BSL through purposeful research, focuses on five core domains, including:
Inclusive work;
Economic security;
Social infrastructure;
Social equity; and
Health and wellbeing.
Sam Hugill, Penny Bohm and Lee Day are among the familiar faces who kept SEED up and running in Seymour.
Photo by
Billie Davern
Aiming high, the project hoped to act as a demonstration of how key factors, such as policy and community connection, can improve women’s economic security and financial wellbeing.
Speaking at the celebration of the pilot project’s end, SEED’s adored Sam Hugill, who, like many in the room, was brought to (happy) tears, lauded the work of the women who had taken part over the years.
Roxanne Tipping of CVGT Employment and the SEED Project’s Sam Hugill celebrated together.
Photo by
Billie Davern
“The SEED Project has allowed us to meet women where they are, quite literally, face-to-face, and in real-time,” she said.
“And, we’ve met them more than just halfway, we moved in. We rented a house, stuck up some signs, and unlocked the door. Metaphorically speaking, the women of Seymour and surrounds then began noticing our curtains.
“Facebook posts and flyers kept popping up, and if that went unnoticed, there we were at every event, literally.
The room was full of the many people who were involved in the project over the years.
Photo by
Billie Davern
“We persisted, we scratched away some of the murky surface of Seymour, built trust and welcomed the women in for cups of tea and bickies. It took time, slowly but surely, SEED took on a life of its own: a life that is now guided by, nurtured by and kept alive by the women.”
While the pilot project has reached its end, the Community Investment Committee that sprouted from it still lives on, as does the lasting impact it had on its participants.
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