Neighbourhood Centre Week 2025

Go green @ Milligan for Neighbourhood Centre Week!

We’re celebrating Neighbourhood Centre Week, 12–18 May, by getting our hands dirty and our ideas growing. Join us for Go green @ Milligan – a week of sustainability, creativity and community, with a healthy dose of good vibes and a little compost!

With hands-on workshops, recycled art, garden inspiration, coffee, snacks and plenty of laughs, we’ll explore how small actions can ripple out to create big change – for us, our community and our planet.

Throughout the week, celebrated local artist Merle Topsi Davis will lead recycled art workshops using rescued materials to create unique garden art. Together with local groups, we’ll create a shared art installation – a beautiful reminder that small acts ripple into big change.

We’ll wrap up the week with a Really Really Free Market celebration on Saturday 17 May. Alongside all the usual joy – free stuff, free cuppas and friendly faces – Bunbury Community Radio 103.7FM will broadcast live from Milligan, as we unveil our community art installation.

The City of Bunbury’s Waste Education team will also be joining the Really Really Free Market fun, with a pop-up info stall, waste sorting station, eco games and great prizes – all designed to help us live more sustainably, one small step at a time.

New to the market? Just bring yourself or something to share – clothes, books, plants, muffins, anything! Pop your items on the table, then browse for something new-to-you. The Really Really Free Market is created by community, for community. Come be part of it.

Meet the Artist: From Bunbury’s beaches to some of Australia’s biggest art exhibitions, Merle Topsi Davis has been turning trash into treasure for decades.

A much-loved local artist, Merle transforms salvaged beach debris into stunning sculptures, using weaving, stitching and coiling to share powerful stories about caring for Country and the planet. Her work has featured in Sculpture by the Sea, Sculpture at Bathers, Sculpture by the Bay, Bunbury’s Tree Street Art Safari and more.

Living on Wardandi Country, Merle’s art is deeply rooted in the South West, honouring the coastline and community she loves. After facing health challenges, she found healing through beachcombing, weaving and creating with rescued materials. For Merle, recycled art is a way of nurturing both the Earth and the human spirit.

At Go green @ Milligan, Merle will guide hands-on art workshops to help you create beauty from what was once waste – and remind us all that small acts of care can ripple out into big waves of change.

Neighbourhood Centre Week celebrates the role community centres play in creating welcoming, supportive spaces across Australia.

This year’s theme, Ripples of Change, reminds us that every action – no matter how small – can spark kindness, new ideas and stronger communities. We’re celebrating the little things that make the biggest difference. At Milligan, we see this magic every day. Smiles, stories shared over a cuppa, moments of connection – small acts with big impacts.

Big thanks to Linkwest and Lotterywest for backing these ripples of change across WA. Neighbourhood Centre Week is proudly supported by Linkwest, the peak body for Neighbourhood and Community Resource Centres in WA. With the support of Lotterywest, Linkwest helps centres like Milligan strengthen community connection and participation during Neighbourhood Centre Week and beyond.