Recently, Playford Alive has seen not one but three of its favourite annual events celebrate the community that has grown alongside the project.

On Saturday, 3 November 2018 more than 4,500 people the fifteenth annual Playford Alive Community Fun Day. Every year the Playford Alive Community Fun Day is organised in partnership with Renewal SA, the SA Housing Authority, the City of Playford and the Playford Alive Community Reference Group.

This year saw the focus of the event back on the community for fantastic day of free family entertainment, music, community stalls and fun.

Former local resident, Cosi from Channel 9’s South Aussie with Cosi returned to host and in lieu of a single headline act, this year a diverse group of local performers had the opportunity to take to the stage. Performing on the concert stage was a huge thrill for recent Battle of the Bands’ winners Smith’s Chips from Craigmore High school. Other acts included Shades of Grey, rapper Ocean Eyes, the Agape Cornerstone Youth Choir, the Cheer Team from St Columba College and Jackie Ramsay – contestant from Boy George’s team on The Voice and her rock band Rock The Boss, plus many more.

Away from the main stage, there was non-stop action with over 50 community stalls, delicious food and drinks, free rides, face painting, temporary tattoos and Cosi’s Clown Game. There really was something for everyone.

Check out all the action at our Community Fun Day in the gallery below – select an image to enlarge.

In the weeks prior, the Playford Alive Initiatives Fund and the Playford Alive Local Heroes Awards recognised the community and business achievements in the Playford Alive area.

The grants and awards are about recognising those who have overcome adversity and changed their lives, those quiet achievers who have made a difference in their community and the groups and organisations that support the Playford area through community building, training and employment initiatives.

Since its establishment in 2009, The Playford Alive Initiatives Fund has awarded over $845,000 in grants to projects to benefit the Playford Alive community, as well as $1.25m for the upgrade of the John McVeity Centre and $2.25m towards the construction of the Stretton Centre.

Three organisations providing services for young people and the greater community in Playford Alive have shared more than $9,500 from the tenth round of grants.

The successful recipients for the tenth round of the Playford Alive Initiatives Fund grants are:

• Northern Communities of Hope Youth– $4,500 for a youth outreach program to continue their good work in making positive connections with young people.
• Playford Uniting Church– $5,000 to continue to provide more activities to engage with young people and their families.

Each of this year’s recipients of The Playford Alive Local Heroes Awards demonstrated community spirit and a strong commitment to the Playford Alive project area. This funding allows the successful recipients to come up with more creative ways in which Playford Alive can become an even better place to live, work and play.

The successful recipients for the five categories in the Local Heroes Awards were as follows.

Positive Playford Award, sponsored by the Eastern Building Group: Peter Jansen, for his dedicated volunteering at the Playford Food Co-op for more than 12 years.

Positive Playford Award – Youth, sponsored by Boral and jointly awarded to:

• Sashah Stuart, a young dedicated mother recognised for her hard work as a Community Support Worker
• the Elizabeth Riders Committee (ERC), who have been a positive role model for the community for the last 10 years by delivering competitions and workshops for young people.

Business Award, sponsored by Rivergum Homes: Pathways to Recovery, a not-for-profit National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider that delivers disability support services to people across the Playford and Salisbury regions.

Best Training Program Award, sponsored by T&J Constructions and jointly awarded to:

• Cycle of Change, which helps young people through offering opportunities and support to further education, training, volunteering and employment
• Blokes and Beauties on the Block, a Playford Alive Works Program initiative and is delivered by North East Vocational College with support from InterSkills. It provides a live training site program with work placement opportunities for successful participants to achieve a Certificate II in Construction.

Playford Alive Works Program Training-to-Employment – Best Individual Outcome sponsored by Alexander Symonds: Will Byrne, for his hard work through his training opportunities with the Northern Events Crew and successfully gaining employment with Adelaide Venue Management.

Renewal SA is proud to be able to support such an impassioned community through events, grants and programs.

Check out the funding and award recipients in the following gallery – select an image to enlarge.