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North East Regional Extra, Wednesday, February 12, 2025 - Page 1
February January 22 12 -- 28, 18, 2025
Wangaratta Newcomers build community and connect over cuppas
◆ COMMUNITY CONNECTION: Organiser Susan Cuthbert and the Wangaratta Newcomers group at Intermezzo Café. PHOTOS: Kurt Hickling
MOVING to a new town can be daunting. From creating friendships, building support systems to navigating the area and finding the right tradesperson or GP, it can be a tough gig to settle into a new town. One local group, the Wangaratta Newcomers, is helping the area’s newest residents settle into the community and find their way. The Wangaratta Newcomers group gathers monthly (except December and January) at Intermezzo Café at 2pm to enable those who have recently moved to the Wangaratta area to enjoy a cuppa and chat, and to meet some new people. The group started eight years ago, in late
By JORDAN DUURSMA April, 2016 by Susan Cuthbert and Barbara Kane to network with newcomers to the area. One of the group organisers, Susan, said when she relocated to Wangaratta from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne “We started the group because we shifted here as adults and didn’t know anyone,” she said. “We are retried, so it was very difficult to make new connections.
“If you are in a church or sporting group you can make friends more easily but when you don’t have a club, it’s hard.” Susan said she has met many people over the years who have come along to the group and some who keep coming. “One lady I met on the tarmac of Albury Airport who had just moved to the area, invited her to come along and she has continued to come,” she said. “Another lady I met in Aldi over the sale aisle and another I met on election day when she didn’t know who to vote for because she had just moved to the area.” Susan said the group is great for building
connections and sharing local knowledge. “We come along and chat and we are able to recommend a good plumber or dentist,” she said. Susan said she encourages people to come along and make that first step. “Just come along and meet us, we’re a friendly group,” she said. “Everyone is welcome to come along, we are mainly newcomers but we have some people who have lived here for quite sometime.” The group has become a support system and social gathering for many people who are now part of the community. ■ Continued Page 6
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