Our learnings
It Takes a Town is supported by Liz Reimer, Senior Lecturer at Southern Cross University. With Liz’s support, ITAT has conducted research and evaluation to help us learn and grow. You may be interested in the following reports and findings.
2484 Pulse Check
In October 2021, ITAT conducted the 2484 Pulse Check survey, with 222 local residents. This survey was conducted to gain insight in to how locals were feeling and thinking following the crises of the 2019/20 bushfires and on-set of COVID-19.
Some insights from the survey include:
70% of respondents said that their mental health, or the mental health of someone they lived with, had been negatively affected by the impacts of COVID-19. Not surprisingly, nearly 1 in 3 reported feeling unhappy over the past year.
81% of respondents were very or fairly concerned about climate change, down from 92% in September 2020.
88% of respondents said that they ‘have a sense of belonging in the 2484 postcode area’.
96% were likely or very likely to ‘help an unknown neighbour in a crisis or disaster.’ Yet only 43% were likely to reach out for support if faced with a vulnerable time in life.
91% said that locals were fairly or very generous, and 87% were fairly or very trusting of fellow community members.
12% of respondents expected their life to be worse in three of four years, than it is now. 61% expected improvements in their lives.
86% of respondents said that they were feeling optimistic about the future of the local area. 52% said they were feeling optimistic about the future of Australia, and 42% said they felt optimistic about the future of our world.
Portrayal evaluation
A portrayal evaluation of It Takes a Town (ITAT) was completed in late May 2020. This evaluation examined project operations up to the end of December 2019, primarily using data portraying the experiences of individuals closely connected with ITAT.
The portrayal evaluation deals primarily with qualitative data drawn from a variety of sources including face-to-face interviews and phone interviews. The evaluation sought to give voice to the “givers” and “seekers” of help, team members, external researchers and supporters from the project’s Impact Group. The evaluation also drew upon descriptive and statistical data from reports provided by the Project Activator (Carmen Stewart).
In the analysis of the evaluation findings, it was possible to highlight the project’s primary focus on thriving families and a spirit of generosity and responsiveness engendered throughout the community. The collected data highlighted the feeling of participants that they were involved in a bottom-up social movement.
2484 Reset Workshop
After a series of crises – the 2017 flood, 2019/20 bushfires, and more recently COVID-19 – there is acknowledgement that we are at a point of shared vulnerability that is calling us to shared action. The 2484 Reset Workshop was an initial response to this call.
In September 2020, the 2484 Reset Workshop brought together 80 residents and representatives of businesses, services, clubs, churches, local government and groups. The focus of the workshop was to articulate a vision of a thriving, resilient and adaptive future and the priority areas of action to take us there.
Find out more about the workshop and/or the seven priority actions identified by participants for the future of the 2484 postcode.