Our history
Today, Living & Learning Nillumbik is responsible for three Living & Learning Hubs (Diamond Creek, Eltham and Panton Hill) as well as a Carers Hub and Skills Hub.
Our three Living & Learning Hubs have been delivering neighbourhood house programs for their communities for many years. Each Hub is different, with low-cost learning opportunities and social connection activities reflecting the identity, needs, desires and interests of the different communities they represent.
We acknowledge the significant support of Nillumbik Shire Council in the growth and success of Living & Learning Nillumbik.
The Eltham Living & Learning Hub was established with support from Eltham Shire Council in 1974.
Council supplied:
- two houses--the historic homestead at 739 Main Road, Eltham, and associated farm buildings as well as a house in Eltham Lower Park used as a Playhouse childcare cooperative
- funding for a coordinator and secretary
- an annual budget allocation.
An Advisory Committee was established and a program of voluntary skill sharing was developed, using the farm outbuildings as classrooms and workspaces:
- The Stables – woodwork, lead lighting, photography, weaving – destroyed by fire in 1990
- Box and tack room – used by the Adult Literacy Group (an ancillary group until 1989)
- The Poultry Shed – used as the first pottery studio
- The Goat Shed – used for animal husbandry courses, then storage – damaged by fires in 1989
- In 1980 a Friends of the Centre group was established as a fund-raising arm of the Committee. This group ran the Eltham Art & Craft Market until 1984.
The Eltham Living & Learning Hub has a rich history of providing learning opportunities for locals, and continues to have a strong emphasis on the arts.
Now known as the Panton Hill Living & Learning Hub, the 'North Riding Living and Learning Centre at Panton Hill' was established in 1978 to cater for people in the rural north of the Shire. At first, activities were conducted in private homes until a house was provided by the Shire.
In 1982 the North Riding Centre and Eltham committees were combined as one Committee of Management. Occasional Committees were established for each location.
The current attractive building in Bishops Road was built in 1987, and continues to provide a setting conducive to learning and community gathering.
Diamond Creek Living & Learning Hub was established in 1989 as a neighbourhood house by a group of volunteers from the local community. The centre shared the original primary school principal’s residence with the local School Community Development Officer, the Diamond Creek Progress Association and a local Diamond Valley Shire youth program.
Diamond Creek was granted sole occupancy by the Education Department in 1994. In 2004, Diamond Creek Living and Learning Centre sought to develop a partnership with Nillumbik Shire Council’s Eltham/Panton Hill centres. The two committees combined to form Living & Learning Nillumbik.
Living & Learning Nillumbik now oversees the three Living & Learning Hubs.