News

With Neighbour Day fast approaching on Sunday 27 March, one Diggers Rest resident has reflected on the power of community connection.

Neighbour Day is a Relationships Australia initiative dedicated to addressing loneliness by supporting neighbourhood friendships and close communities.

Stephen Wong, a resident in AVID Property Group’s Bloomdale community, said being a part of a broader community has helped greatly over the last couple of years of pandemic-driven restrictions.

“I moved into my new home in 2020, just prior to the first Covid lockdown,” Mr Wong said.

“While social distancing restrictions and multiple lockdowns certainly made life difficult, my wife and I have found that meeting and getting to know our neighbors has been a really positive experience and now count many neighbours as good friends.

“We have regularly been on walks around the community with our neighbours, have had ‘socially- distanced’ chats outside the front of our home or theirs, and enjoyed coffees together at the local Fifteen Bar Café.

“I get the feeling that people in the community truly value the people around them and the connections they have made with others, and I think that is certainly worth celebrating.”

AVID Victoria General Manager Peter Vlitas said Bloomdale was a thriving part of the wider Diggers Rest community, with significant planning towards fostering community connection.

“We often hear from residents that being part of a close-knit neighbourhood is one of Bloomdale’s major drawcards, especially given Diggers Rest has retained its small country town feel and locals are highly engaged in community sport, activities and supporting one another,” Mr Vlitas said.

“AVID is committed to further building our community through Bloomdale’s long-term support of local school, sporting and community groups and events, as well as our participation in collaboration-based initiatives like the Diggers Rest Think Tank.

“Within Bloomdale, the establishment of our onsite Fifteen Bar Café has also provided a vital meeting place for potential and current residents to get to know each other in a family-friendly environment.

“Getting together for some fun or exercise is always popular, and supported by Bloomdale’s seven hectares of green space, 40kms of shared walking paths and bike tracks and multiple parks and playgrounds.”

For more information about Bloomdale, please visit www.bloomdale.com.au or phone 1300 656 011.