OUR WHAT, WHY & HOW

Winchelsea Community House

Reaching Into The Community

Firstly, it's important to note that Winchelsea Community House is an independent non-profit organisation.

Funding comes from a variety of sources, including the State, Federal and Shire government, donations, fees for service (eg. room hire), fundraisers... but we have to balance the books because there's nobody to pick up any losses.

Winch House encourages participation of all members of the community by offering a variety of programs, education opportunities, occasional child care and activities to meet the needs of the local community.

OUR VISION (what is our ultimate ambition?):

To be Winchelsea's community centre for inspiration, growth and enjoyment

OUR PURPOSE (why do we exist?):

To connect and engage the Winchelsea community with community activities, community development and lifelong learning

OUR VALUES (what do we expect from everyone?):

Positive Relationships - working together and embracing dignity, community and mutual respect.
Always Learning - creating an environment encouraging and supporting ongoing learning in all we do.
Diversity - acknowledging and celebrating the contributions of all community members
Advocacy - assisting our community to have a voice
Confidentiality - preserving privacy in all service delivery areas
Innovation - encouraging creativity, responsiveness and flexibility
Accountability - including transparency and accessibility in our processes
Good Communication - offering a range of communications methods to inform and to be informed by our community.

Structure

Winch House is governed by an Oversight Committee, who are volunteers from the community. This Committee is responsible for;

policy formulation and review
the annual budget and financial situation
the appointment and reviews of staff
medium and long term strategic planning
and general high-level oversight of the organisation

A paid Manager co-ordinates all the functions, services and activities that run out of the Neighbourhood House. The Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operational management, and for staff performance.

We rely on volunteers from the community to help support the Committee and Manager, so if you would like to donate some time, have a look at our VOLUNTEERS page. We'd love to have you help! 😀

Funding

We receive funding from the Surf Coast Shire, State Government ACFE and DPDC bodies, donations and sponsorship, and also through our own fund-raising activities.

Winchelsea Community House has Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status via a public fund. We can accept donations and you can receive a tax deduction for this. To find out more, contact us on 5267 2028.

We are a member of the Neighbourhood Houses Victoria, and its local sub-group of the Neighbourhood Houses Barwon.

Although uncounted in monetary terms, the contributions of our volunteers (both operationally within our House and strategically within the Committee) have a huge impact on what we get done with very limited funds. Their input is quite literally invaluable!