Launceston Corps goes ‘back to school’ to make connections
- 10 hours ago
- 5 min read
BY LAUREN MARTIN
A practical support ‘snack pack’ program for primary and high schools in Launceston, Tasmania, has led to a number of partnerships between schools and The Salvation Army, which are impacting students’ lives.
Auxiliary-Lieutenant Roderick Brown has been Launceston Corps Officer for the past 10 years. With 110,000 people in the greater Launceston area, Roderick and Community Engagement Lead Kelly Brown have the biggest ‘parish’ in the whole of Tasmania, population-wise.
However, the corps’ congregation is ageing, like so many, with the majority of attendees over 60. Alongside this is a small children’s program.
So, as a result of prayer, Rod and Kelly felt led to reach out to the city’s schools to offer practical support and make connections.
“Over the past two years, we have put together more than 3000 ‘snack packs’ across 17 primary and high schools. We are supporting more than 50 per cent of state government primary schools [in Launceston],” he said. “And that has led to deeper connections with a few schools.”
Kelly and a volunteer began assisting with some school breakfast programs. Members of the corps began to volunteer at several schools’ reading programs.
“Through those community relationships and what people are involved in, it is building a Salvo relational presence,” said Roderick.
Last year, Kelly was invited to run The Salvation Army’s Positive Lifestyle Program at a local high school, and she has been running Kids in the Kitchen once a year in a number of schools.
“After establishing the connection by offering basic material support, now we are getting invited to participate in things like Harmony Day, and we get invited to school welcome barbeques,” said Roderick.
Community service week connects students to corps
One key connection that Launceston Corps has made with a local independent school has been in participating in a twice-annual community service week. The event, organised by Scotch Oakburn College, is now in its fifth year, and The Salvation Army Launceston has been involved from the start.
Students in Year 9 participate as part of the school’s curriculum, taking part in a Community Service Expo, where The Salvation Army and other organisations and services set up a stall with students visiting each.
“One of our main activities [at the Expo] is to play a grocery ‘Price is Right’ game, to help students become more aware of the challenges of food security for those on limited incomes or living below the poverty line, shopping with a budget, and the difficulty in securing a range of items for a balanced diet with the cost of living pressures currently being experienced,” said Roderick. The game is both popular and practical.
Later in the week, groups of students from the college volunteer with Launceston Salvos (and other community organisations), helping with tasks such as preparing the community meal, assisting at Salvos Stores Launceston, and shopping for (and packing) emergency relief food hampers.
Jamie Breden, Head of Faith and Community at Scotch Oakburn College, said Year 9 is a crucial age group to participate in the community service week.
“At the moment, young people are bombarded from pillar-to-post with social media,” he said. “They ‘doomscroll’ in the mornings and in the evenings. They need the opportunity to experience being grounded and present, and how they can make a difference.
“For some of them, it sparks thinking and passion. And creates awareness about ways they can get involved in their community.”
Jamie said partnering with The Salvation Army makes sense because of shared values and beliefs:
“There is a clear connection between faith and action. This is how, as Christians, we can support people in our community and [teaching the students to] understand there are those that are less fortunate than ourselves.”
It also provides very real assistance to the organisations involved, with Scotch Oakburn College last year calculating their students volunteered for a total of 2075 hours, “which is worth nearly $48,000 of value to the community and to the organisations we supported,” said Jamie.
Student feedback from the week, held in March, has been encouraging:
“It felt good to be helping community.”
“I really enjoyed making the toasties for the kids in schools because some people aren’t as fortunate as others, and it felt good to give back to people who don’t have the opportunities we have.”
“I realised that when people think about community service, they might think it’s hard, but it’s actually really easy – you can do lots of little things that help.”
More than a dozen students from Scotch Oakburn College who have participated in the community service week over the years have remained connected to the corps through regular volunteering, as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award commitments. The school also supports the corps’ Christmas Cheer ministry, and students often fundraise for the Red Shield Appeal.
Students from Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston Tasmania shopping for groceries for emergency relief hampers; packing the hampers; and taking part in Launceston Corps’ community lunch.
Schools engagement key to Salvos’ future
Ashleigh Cowell, Tasmanian Schools Engagement Program Leader, said partnerships with schools such as Scotch Oakburn College are a “wonderful example of what a schools’ relationship can look like”.
“There is never an expectation on a school to support us [with fundraising]. But we can’t do what we do without support, and we believe that there is an important part of building a culture where we receive and we give. Whatever that might look like,” Ashleigh said.
Ashleigh Cowell, Salvos Engagement Program Leader - Tasmania, gives a high five to a student. (Right) Ashleigh speaks with a group of students.
“A really huge thing that we are passionate about is helping students to realise what they can do to support with their own capacity. Young people don’t have heaps of money, and they don’t always have a lot of time, but we come alongside students to work out how they can support their local community.”
She said many people in the older generations know who The Salvation Army is because of brass band open-air meetings, or the Army’s work during wartime, but young people today don’t have those same associations.
“It’s super important that we find new ways to connect new generations to our mission. I believe fundamentally this stuff is important too, because we want to help raise generations of more compassionate, empathetic people.”
Ashleigh believes that planting seeds around authenticity, compassion and non-judgement with young people that The Salvation Army engages with through school partnerships opens doors to deeper conversations in the future.
“We are not shy about who we are. We are a Christian organisation, we are a faith-led movement, we never shy from that, it’s who we are.”
