Stories of lived experiences

To celebrate International Day of People with Disability 2023 a group of participants from Waverley Community Living Program held an event at Bondi Pav called ‘Stories of Lived Experiences’ on Sat 2 Dec. The event was co-designed over 5 months by WCLP participants with support from WCLP’s Social Educator Natalie Davis and offered a platform to hear personal stories from people with disability and learn from these connections. The event had free coffee from Coffee Hire and joined by musical guest Mick On Wheels which were both big draw cards for this event.

The High Tide room was set up with 4 tables with 2 participants for community members to grab a seat and have a chat with WCLP participants. There were ‘conversations cards’ placed on the tables listing every day topics to get the conversations flowing along with  ‘how to’ poster instructions on the walls. From the moment the doors opened till it closed people kept coming in for chats enjoying the inclusive atmosphere and broadening their perceptions of people with lived experiences through their personal stories.

The event was a huge hit with community members and people were left wanting more events like this in the future:

Community feedback:

“Absolutely loved this event. So different to what I expected. One on one interaction is perfect. And what a small world knowing some of the guys and girls. Bring on more events like this for community participation”.

“Many thanks for Natalie to organise this event that I have opportunity to catch up with different groups of people. Talked to them and found out their lives and Waverley council is doing a great job and work to help those in need”.

Stories of lived experiences