{"id":111418,"date":"2025-04-03T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=111418"},"modified":"2025-04-02T16:16:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T05:16:36","slug":"open-day-builds-community-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/open-day-builds-community-connections\/","title":{"rendered":"Open day builds community connections"},"content":{"rendered":"

TENANTS of Barkly Square opened their doors last Saturday to showcase what their organisations have to offer.<\/p>\n

Led by \u200bBGT Jobs and Training, Barkly Square is a hub that’s home to community groups including the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council, the Ballarat Toy Library, the Ballarat Community Men’s Shed, and more.<\/p>\n

At the open day, attendees met tenants, asked questions and learnt about opportunities and services.<\/p>\n

Volunteer announcer at Voice FM, Sean Cossor, said the open day was an exciting chance to meet potential new volunteers.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s a wonderful initiative, especially having all the tenants open like this,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been at Voice FM for two years and I’m amazed at this hub and what it does.<\/p>\n

“Having met a lot of the people now from the different sections and interviewing and chatting with them on the radio, it’s amazing what they are doing for the community.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
Nadia Farrell, Donato Pentassuglia, Josh Bedson and Mel Bedson from the Ballarat Italian Association.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another tenant of Barkly Square is Styled for Success, an initiative which provides professional clothes to vulnerable community members so they can attend events like job interviews.<\/p>\n

The organisation recently moved to the ground floor of the building, and it also operates as an op shop where all money raised goes back into the program.<\/p>\n

“We’ve been operating now for three years, and the program exists to support vulnerable people in the community who need an outfit that’s a bit more formal,” coordinator Sue Jakob said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a free service and trained volunteers will help people actually style an outfit where they can take up to 10 items.<\/p>\n

“[The open day] gives us an opportunity to talk to the community about the program so we can get it out there.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
Merrilyn Harlock and George Alexopoulos visit BGT Jobs and Training\u2019s Industry Skills Centre led by manager Bill Burgess.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anita Murphy, who has previously volunteered with Voice FM, attended the open day and said it was great to see what the hub has to offer.<\/p>\n

“I’m very interested in the multicultural aspects of our community and how to be inclusive,” she said.<\/p>\n

To find out more about Barkly Square, visit barklysquare.org.au<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TENANTS of Barkly Square opened their doors last Saturday to showcase what their organisations have to offer. Led by \u200bBGT Jobs and Training, Barkly Square is a hub that’s home to community groups including the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council, the Ballarat Toy Library, the Ballarat Community Men’s Shed, and more. At the open day, attendees […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":111423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-111418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOpen day builds community connections - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Barkly Square's open day strengthens community connections, showcasing local services and opportunities from tenants like BGT Jobs and Ballarat Men's Shed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/open-day-builds-community-connections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Open day builds community connections - 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