Manningham Uniting Church reaches and connects through various opportunities throughout the local Manningham Community. Some of these are partnership initiatives with community organisations, others are run by Manningham Uniting Church leaders as a result of identifying a need within the wider community.
Playgroup
- Playgroup offers local families an opportunity to regularly gather together and share life with each other in a fun and creative space. Parents are encouraged to interact and share life together as pre-school children explore, learn and develop social skills. MUC volunteers provide craft activities and story time as well as a listening ear. This supportive and encouraging environment helps build social connection and develop positive relationships between young families in the neighbourhood.
English Classes
- English classes provide migrants with an opportunity to improve their spoken and written English. This in turn provides an opportunity for social interaction between each other and the tutors. It also allows for two-way relationships to be built, encouraging learning about other cultures and experiences while migrants learn skills that will support an easier transition into the community.
LinC
- LinCManningham Inc. is a network of churches working together in cooperation with service agencies to support people in our community. LinC helps meet short term crisis needs of people in our local community through services such as visitation/friendship, home help, transport to medical appointments or shops, shopping assistance, emergency food and family support and general assistance.
- Manningham Uniting Church offers practical support, financial support and outreach to those in need in the Manningham area.
Doncaster Secondary College
- Manningham Uniting Church has identified Children, Young people and Families as an important area of focus. The focus on this area is aiming to support a thriving and resilient community of young people.
- The relationship developed with Doncaster Secondary College is one that creates space to allow for leadership development, responses to wellbeing needs (e.g. financial support), supporting social justice groups and mentoring young people alongside other local Christian churches.
Shared Garden
- An initiative of the keen gardeners within Manningham Uniting Church. These leaders with their keen interest in gardening saw a need and an opportunity to engage community members in communal gardening and learning, which provides fresh produce to those in need in Manningham through LinC.
Stitch and Chat Patchworkers
- An initiative that began prior to the amalgamation of Manningham Uniting Church. This is a group where people’s expertise, skills and interest in quilting serves the local community and beyond.
- The finished results of handmade quilts are offered to those in need in our community (nursing homes etc.) and to service men and women to show love, care and value to the receiver. This connection point to the wider community creates a unique opportunity of support.
Connections
- MUC Connections is a group of people whose members encourage one another to connect with, support and advocate for refugees and people seeking asylum. Activities include speakers, petitions, organising food and toy drives; making up toiletry packs to give to newly arrived refugees, activities to raise awareness, and fundraising for organisations that support people seeking asylum. It provides an opportunity to connect with, advocate for and support people seeking asylum and those from a refugee background.
- Manningham Uniting Church feels that this initiative expresses our faith in action in recognition that as a Uniting Church, social justice is at our core.
EACH Social and Community Health Asylum Seeker Emergency Medication Fund
- EACH provides an integrated range of health, disability, counselling and community mental health services across Australia. (from http://www.each.com.au)
- The Manningham Uniting Church community supports people seeking asylum in the eastern region with their access to medication which they otherwise would have difficulty affording.
Manningham Interchurch Council
- Works in collaboration with other Christian churches in Manningham. It works collectively with Manningham Rotary and the City of Manningham to share information and engage with the local community at events such as the Kids Zone at Manningham City Councils Carols by Candlelight.
Knitting Group
- An initiative of Manningham Uniting Church, the knitting group brings people together in fellowship to utilise knitting skills to knit clothes and toys for newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers in the eastern region.
Aumann Education Grant
- Manningham Uniting Church is caretaker of the Aumann Education Grant.
- Each year there are opportunities for individuals to apply for funding to support their education through this grant.