VicHealth visits Glenelg Shire

As part of VicHealth’s visit to South West Victoria, the VicHealth team and CEO Sandro Demaio scheduled a tour with Heywood & District Secondary College to meet teaching staff and students and hear about the college’s holistic approach to encouraging active, healthy lifestyles. 

Jane Killmister (Healthy Kids Advisor – Glenelg Shire) met with the VicHealth team to outline her role across the Shire and how she supports different facets of the college’s learning experiences. A key area of her support is working alongside educators who run the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program. Together, they use harvested garden produce to build a healthy, fresh canteen menu and equip VCAL students with skills to design, budget and prepare delicious items like spanakopita, Caesar salad and veggie-packed sausage rolls. 

VicHealth visited the college’s four unused tennis courts that will soon be converted into an inclusive, accessible community garden. Jane, our Healthy Kids Advisor, was pivotal in the reimagining of this space, consulting students of the Kitchen Garden Program to help lead the design of the garden, host fundraising events, and form a local committee to keep the project moving ahead. 

The visit was a practical demonstration of the collaboration between VicHealth’s Victorian Local Government Partnerships team and the Healthy Kids Advisors initiative, and how our focus on strong partnerships can transform food environments through locally-led change.

 About the Healthy Kids Advisors initiative

The Healthy Kids Advisors initiative is delivered by the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation and supported by the Victorian Government and Australian Government.

This community engagement initiative is active in 13 priority communities to spread pleasurable food education and encourage participation in the state-wide Vic Kids Eat Well movement.

In collaboration with local health promoters, Council and community, our Advisors offer free support and simple ideas to boost healthy and delicious food and drink in schools, sports clubs, after-hours care and council-run facilities.

Want more information?

Visit the Healthy Kids Advisors news page or contact us at hka@kitchengardenfoundation.org.au

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