\If you’ve lived in Wyndham long enough, chances are you’ve visited ‘The Cottage’.
Perhaps you took a pottery class, gained a qualification, learned a new skill or once attended one of its many playgroups.
Since it opened in January, 1975, at 4 Synnot Street, the Werribee Community Centre (now Wyndham Community and Education Centre) has been connecting people with their community.
Although it has undergone many changes in its 40 years, it continues to transform lives.
Reflecting on the centre’s history in the lead-up to its birthday celebrations next week, chief executive Jennie Barrera said it had come a long way from the painting, pottery, spinning and macrame classes of the mid-1970s.
“It was initially formed after a group of people got together to run playgroups,” she said. “After that came the art and craft groups … in the 1980s we were registered as a TAFE provider and by the late ’80s and early ’90s we were teaching VCE English.
“The centre has never been afraid to change depending on the community’s needs.”
Kay Burton started at the centre in 1985 as a playgroup leader.
“Back then, I was a primary school teacher and we were running three playgroups a day, five days a week,” she said.
Ms Barrera said that by the mid-2000s, play- group attendances had fallen by the wayside as more parents opted for full-time childcare.
“One of the biggest changes at the centre was the introduction of VCAL (Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning) in 2005,” she said.
“By the late ’90s, more and more young people who hadn’t finished their schooling were coming in wanting to do adult literacy and numeracy programs, so we became registered as a non-school provider and we’ve now had more than 600 people go through and complete year 12.
“Another measure of the centre’s growth is that we’re now delivering programs from 15 venues across Wyndham and Hobsons Bay. We used to heavily rely on volunteers, but now we have 80 full-time employees.”
In 1997, the centre became a registered training organisation. Now operating as the not-for-profit Wyndham Community and Education Centre, it delivers training courses and community programs as well as settlement services for migrant arrivals.
Ms Barrera said she was constantly amazed by some of the centre’s success stories.
“A young lad did VCAL with us a few years ago,” she said. “He had left mainstream schooling, but he completed his year 11 and year 12 studies and went to TAFE and is now studying law at university.
“One of our adult literacy and numeracy students is now running an Afghan restaurant in Hoppers Crossing.”
Despite the centre’s changes, Ms Burton said its purpose remained the same.
“We do a survey every year and we ask what people got out of their course or program, and one of the most common answers is that they made friends,” she said.
The centre’s 40th birthday celebrations will be held on October 17 from 1.30-4pm at Wayaperri House, 106 Duncans Road, Werribee. For more details call 9742 4013.
