Meet Kendenup’s Local Doers: Dave and Deris Williams from the Kendenup Progress Association

We like to bang on about how great (or rather, OK!) Perth is – but our greatness doesn’t just happen out of nowhere!

With a mission to create thriving, connected and empowered communities, Town Team Movement is all about “doers”.

We’re partnering up with Town Team Movement so we can shine a light on some of the people who help make our communities so unique, and just a few of the excellent initiatives they’re working on.

This week, we’re featuring Dave and Deris Williams, two of the brains behind the Kendenup Progress Association, one of the Great Southern’s local Town Teams.

Please introduce yourselves, your Town Team and tell us about where we are today.

Dave: We are on the main street of Kendenup. Our town team is called Kendenup Progress Association. It’s an aging population, and things had been done previously, but they were falling into disrepair. There’s a lot of new people coming to town, and there wasn’t a lot of connection between the old people and the new people.

A lot of the older ones had died or moved on, and their projects that they’d done previously were falling into disrepair. We were looking for some guidance and we came across the Town Team Movement. So we joined up with that for a set of rules, maybe, to work from – because we had no idea.

There’s still that country community spirit that we’ve got here, but a lot of people weren’t connecting with new people. It’s a small town: there’s no hotel, there’s only a post office. So people have to make an effort to meet. Otherwise, you don’t because you haven’t got that social connection.

I think we started this because somebody had to do it. So it was well, why not give it a go?

And how did you get the community involved with the Town Team?

Deris: So two years ago, a couple of us decided we’d have a meet and greet at the town hall, and everyone just bought a plate and cup of tea or beverage, whatever they wanted.

And since then, so many friendships have got stronger. And then we started the produce exchange, and that’s been fantastic. We get around 40, 50 people, do workshops afterwards. It’s just been wonderful. You can just tell people feel happy.

Why do you think it is important for towns like this to have community groups?

Dave: There’s a lot of new people in town who don’t have that connection with anybody – so trying to find them and make them feel welcome as well.

Deris: One of the reasons I feel is mental health, as well. It’s amazing how when you just see a group of people volunteering their time, they chat, they talk about other things, and it’s just so good seeing themselves feeling worthwhile.

Dave: And being newcomers, we have to be mindful that there’s people here for a long time and we don’t want to disrupt their lifestyle, and the reason why they do things. And that’s part of the reason we’re here – we love the lifestyle.

So tell me a little about your projects so far.

Dave: You might have noticed the big chess pieces: those chess pieces are a celebration of the primary school children who managed to make it to the Australian Championships in chess. So the community got together and carved the trees that were white-ant eaten, with a chainsaw, and carved them into chess pieces.

They started to rot, so we’ve managed to treat all those rotten chess pieces, so they’re restored. And as you go and have a look at them later, you’ll see how wonderful they look. So they’re all these community things.

And there’s a nature walk along the railway line there that goes to the skate park, and that was all overgrown.

Now, since we’ve cleared that, horse riders, pushbike riders, dog walkers go through. So they’re some of the projects we worked on

And what useful tips or advice do you have for future Town Teamers?

Dave: The 20 Quick Wins book made it easy. It broke it down into small pieces. And there’s many ideas on the Town Team’s Facebook page or website. And there’s people you can speak to: we can ring our coordinator, and she can suggest things to us. But to have a resource like that has been great.

Want to get involved and become a doer in your own community? Head to the Town Team Movement website to learn more.