We are proud to have Mayor of Bankstown, Mr Khal Asfour, as a Men’s Health Week Ambassador! The Mayor leads an enormously proactive team of council staff and during Men’s Health Week the Council is running a series of men’s health events at locations throughout the region.
What are the greatest requests to Council in terms of different health and wellbeing issues from the constituency? How do you address these issues?
Council takes a holistic approach to health and wellbeing, which is reflected in community feedback and our partnerships and resource allocations.
Art, sport and recreational opportunities, social and educational support and community harmony initiatives all fall under this broad umbrella of requests.
Having worked hard over many years to build strong and effective working relationships with numerous community organisations, any funds council allocate are put to best use. Every dollar invested goes directly into a specific project that has been carefully vetted by council.
Also, unlike many not-for-profit organisations, our local groups have very low operating costs, which council often reduces further through ‘in kind’ support. They also have very active volunteer networks.
Council also operates independently, investing tens of millions of dollars into community health and well being facilities such as our award winning Birrong and Revesby Leisure Centres, Women and Children’s Centre, Arts Centre and soon to be constructed $22 million Library and Knowledge Centre, which will serve as a cultural and educational hub.
At the grass roots level, council works hard year round to create and implement innovative solutions to meeting the needs of residents. A recent example is the Youth Physical Activity Survey we conducted in our local schools, resulting in gym equipment being put in 13 park locations for free use.