After a hiatus of a number of years, representatives of DNC and the Hepburn Shire Council have had a series of meetings recently to enact the new Service Agreement to manage the out-of-school-hours community use of the Daylesford Arts, Recreation and Cultural Centre (ARC).  (See The Wombat Post of 5 May 2023).  There is a new energy and enthusiasm to increase the community’s access to and use of The ARC.

The ARC is the premium indoor recreation facility in the Hepburn Shire that offers a range of sporting, health, wellness, cultural and arts programs to the community and hosts a variety of community events.  It is a joint-use facility developed by the Daylesford Community with the support of Daylesford Secondary College (DSC) and Hepburn Shire Council (HSC). The ARC has been operating since 2007 and has been managed by Daylesford Neighbourhood Centre since 2013.

Volleyball at the ARC.

At its inauguration it was recognised that “The Arts, Recreation and Culture precinct on Smith Street, Daylesford – The ARC – will be a community-managed shared-use facility whereby Daylesford Secondary College, Hepburn Shire Council and the community provide a diverse, balanced and appealing mix of physical, cultural and social activities with maximum participation by the whole Hepburn Shire community”.

Bookings.  Regular bookings include volleyball, squash, basketball shoot-the-hoops, and Martial Arts.  Occasional users now include Roller Derby and birthday parties.  DNC receives, processes and supports these bookings at the ARC.

Sporting organisations are required to ensure the relevant committee of management have policies in place to ensure all volunteers and supervisors are equally vetted for Working with Children and Criminal check, and provide a Certificate of Currency for insurance purposes.  New users are greeted prior to booking and shown how to access The ARC, including security and key code operation.  DNC provides an out-of-hours contact number and a support resource in case of difficulties with access to the facility outside of business hours

Governance.  The DNC Committee of Management (COM) oversees the management of The ARC as well as regular liaison with the Council as the licensee.  The COM receives monthly updates from the DNC Manager who liaises with the Daylesford Secondary College Principal and Business Manager regularly.  DNC is currently updating our policy and process manual to embed the 11 new Child Safety Standards.  We ensure all volunteers working on behalf of DNC at The ARC have Working with Children and police checks, and have completed mandatory tier 1 online Child Safety training.

Maintenance.  Local trades people are used for maintenance of The ARC wherever possible such as local electricians and plumbers.  DNC staff make site visits several times a week to ensure The ARC is clean and tidy, and maintained appropriately.

Roller Derby.  Experience with hosting Ballarat and Bendigo Roller Derby Association’s away games has highlighted the popularity of this growing sport.  It is particularly attractive to mid-teen and younger female participants.  The 2019 Australian Youth and Confidence Research report highlighted that one in three girls aged 11 to 17 stopped playing sport because they thought they were not really good at it. This ABC article highlights the challenges and success of the Skate Like a Girl program, and bringing this age group back to sport.  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-07/skate-like-a-girl-program-sees-girlsconfidence-build/12024676 .  Hopefully, raising the profile of Roller Derby at The ARC will help the young women of our shire in this regard.

Daylesford Volleyball Association (DVA).  DVA is growing at The ARC, and has replaced basketball as the premier local indoor sport.  Colin Priest is the organiser of the Daylesford Volleyball Association and a state level coach.

If you (or your children) wish to be involved with any of the activities at The ARC, if you have any ideas for other utilisation of this unique (and under-utilised) community facility, or if you’d like to know more, call our Manager on 5348 3569.

 

DNC Joke(s) of the Week   (In homage to the recent Quatorze Juillet event in the Town Hall)

  • Did you hear about the small chicken that lived in a Parisian opera house? It was called the “Bantam of the Opera”.
  • A wealthy Frenchman was showing off his yachts. “This is un. This is deux. This is trois. This is quatre. This is six…”
    “What happened to five?” his wife asked.
    “Cinq” he answered.
  • When I was a kid, my parents would always say “Excuse my French” after a swear word. I’ll never forget that first day at school when the teacher asked did we know any French.
  • Did you hear about the crazy person that that fell into the French river? He was in Seine.
  • What did the baguette say when it was being sliced? “Ouch! Le pain!”

 

[If you’ve got a better joke, (and doesn’t everyone??) send it to  admin@dncentre.org.au and we’ll publish it. (Remember, this is a family publication! ?).  We’ll even include your name if you wish – or you can protect your anonymity!]