An inner-city suburb where generations mix, play and care for each other as part of daily life.

“We just started doing fun things together.” 

– Shani Graham

What’s the idea?

In a special pocket of Fremantle, Western Australia, 170 households form a close-knit community where neighbours know each other, have fun together, and look out for each other. Kids play in the streets. Neighbours share food. And a resident pair of goats can regularly be seen taking their evening stroll around the block. 

The ways in which individuals and households come together in this community are varied and delightful. There are shared dinners, afternoon teas, and games nights. Street parties and festivals. Movie nights in the park. Yoga classes. Christmas carolling. Neighbours swapping produce, sharing cars, bikes and tools, and running skill-sharing sessions or workshops on topics that matter – from building climate resilience to end-of-life planning and advance care directives. And when someone’s going through a tough time – like an older neighbour living alone – the community organically coordinates support to make sure they’re looked out for.

It’s a place where people grow old, safe in the knowledge that the community around them has their back. And where people of all ages feel seen, known, and that they belong.

What made it all possible? In the words of Shani Graham – a central instigator – ‘we just started doing fun things together’. 

It started when she and a local friend decided to hold a community picnic. They knocked on doors and invited members of the 350 surrounding houses to come along. 100 came. At the picnic, they put out a whiteboard and invited people to suggest things that they’d like to do together as a community. Shani and her friend hosted a few of the ideas. Then others started to volunteer.

They collected contact details from attendees, and started a WhatsApp group and an email list. They invited neighbours to self-nominate to arrange one activity each for the year, and got people to set a date for their offering. Anything they liked – a drop in cuppa, a felt-making workshop, a street dinner – whatever they felt energised to host. They told people to set a date, pop it in the calendar, and ask for help if they needed it. That was it.

With 27 activities soon lined up across the year, the backbone for regular connection was in place. No committees. No meetings. No money. Just neighbours, doing what they could, when they could. And from there, things continued to flow.

You can hear Shani tell the story of how it all came to be here:

What does it help us imagine?

The West Beacy Bunch is a vibrant example of what it looks like when care is prioritised and shared by communities. Here, older people who need support don’t have to rely solely on a caregiving son or daughter. And those sons or daughters – often juggling work, care and parenting themselves – can breathe easier, knowing others are nearby, paying attention, and ready to help if needed. It shows how neighbours and communities, when activated, can ease the pressure on primary carers and our formal care systems – many hands making lighter work.

It also models what great connection across the generations can look like. Here, that doesn’t have to happen through a formal program, run by an organisation. It’s part of the oxygen people breathe. In fact, it’s so normal here that nobody thinks to remark on it. Which is exactly the point. Lastly, we think this example challenges the notion that cities are necessarily disconnected, or that community is hard work to build. The West Beacy Bunch shows that with a spirit of fun, a willingness to take initiative, and simple invitations to participate, so much is possible.

Keen to hear more? Watch our interview with Shani here.

What can you do with this?

The best thing about this example is that it reminds us of the power we all have to build connection and community, wherever we are.

Start where you are 

• Not already connected to your neighbours? Take a leaf out of Shani’s book, and knock on some doors. Put a flyer in mailboxes, inviting people to a street picnic. Drop over a batch of muffins and introduce yourself. Whatever feels natural to you – simply reach out and start connecting. 
• Already know your neighbours, but don’t have much to do with each other? Experiment with a few ‘deepeners’. Perhaps a monthly pot luck dinner?  Or watch Shani’s other TED Talk for more inspiration! 

Take it a step further 

If you’re dreaming a bit bigger, there are some wonderful tools and resources out there that can help you. 

• Get inspired by Town Team’s 50 Quick Wins and Book of Doing – amazing resources filled with easy, accessible ways to build connection and participation in your local community. 

Join the Neighbourhood Village Project – a 6-month program designed to help you turn your neighbourhood into a thriving community, with guidance, mentorship and peer support to get – and keep – you going!