About WCS
Learn about what we do, our values, strategic plans and more.
About WCS
Learn about what we do, our values, strategic plans and more.
About WCS
Learn about what we do, our values, strategic plans and more.
Built by community, for community.
Since 1969, Woden Community Service has been supporting people across the Woden Valley, growing alongside the community we serve.
Built by community, for community.
Since 1969, Woden Community Service has been supporting people across the Woden Valley, growing alongside the community we serve.
Built by community, for community.
Since 1969, Woden Community Service has been supporting people across the Woden Valley, growing alongside the community we serve.
The WCS Story
Newly built homes in Hughes, 1964
Where it all began
In 1962, Woden Valley was established, with Hughes and Curtin among the first suburbs marked out on paper. Many of the surrounding suburbs had been gazetted and were being developed by 1966, with plans to eventually house 90,000 people.
But plans are not the same as belonging. The streets backed straight onto farmland. Curtin had exactly one shop, buses were scarce, and the Woden town centre was still just a construction site, not opening until 1972.
Into these half-built streets came young families. Behind the excitement of a new home was something quieter and harder to name: isolation. For young mothers home alone with small children and for older residents watching their familiar world change shape, Woden Valley was a lonely place to land.
Maisie Griffiths in her earlier years in Canberra, with baby daughter Sarah
Humble beginnings
In the late 1960s, Reverend Geoff Bridges and a handful of parishioners noticed the quiet unhappiness settling into the new suburbs. In May 1969, ten people sat down together and put words to what they'd been sensing. There was a need that a telephone, referral, counselling and visiting service could meet. The people struggling most were the isolated, young families without support, parents of small children, and older residents. And the neighbourhood simply didn't have the infrastructure to hold any of this yet.
By July 1969, the name Woden Community Service was proposed. By October, they had a steering committee and a telephone service, consisting of three volunteers who answered calls on their own home telephones.
Expanding our scope
Word spread quickly and demand grew. By the end of 1972, WCS had outgrown living rooms altogether and moved into Torrens Hall. What followed reads like a community discovering its own strength. There were playgroups for isolated young parents, the Nearly New shop turning donated clothing into dignity and affordability, transport for people who couldn't get around on their own, and counselling for anyone carrying more than they could hold alone. All of it was still run by volunteers giving their evenings and weekends to neighbours they'd chosen to call family.
In 1973, Sue Chivers joined as the organisation's first part-time paid staff member. A year later, WCS bought a photocopier for public use in the community. It was an unglamorous detail, but a generous one for the time, allowing anyone in the community to access essential printing services.
Formal incorporation
In 1973, Sue Chivers joined as the organisation's first part-time paid staff member. A year later, WCS bought a photocopier for public use in the community. It was an unglamorous detail, but a generous one for the time, allowing anyone in the community to access essential printing services.
By 1975, WCS had grown enough to formally incorporate, and its program offerings were widening. There was Family Day Care for young parents and organised activities for older residents who'd been among the loneliest in those early years. The following year brought after school care for the first time. That same year, WCS moved into a new child care centre in Phillip, marking the start of our mission to deliver quality care services to children and support families in the region.
In 1978, Dianne Proctor became WCS's first full-time paid Director. It was the moment an idea ten people once discussed in a lounge room became something with real, lasting shape. And from there, the organisation kept growing and continued to adapt to the community's evolving needs.
Peter Garrett opening the Woden Youth Centre in 1989
Services for everyone
In 1989 The Woden Youth Centre opened its doors, creating a welcoming space for young people to gather. Pool tables, band nights, and a kitchen where young people have a safe space to belong. Youth workers there did some of Canberra's earliest work supporting young people.
Somewhere along the way, WCS also formed a partnership with The Big Issue. Through The Big Issue, WCS began supporting vulnerable people and gave them opportunity to earn a meaningful income selling the magazine on the street, on their own terms, instead of relying on a handout.
As disability support in Australia changed shape nationally, WCS grew alongside it, building out mental health early intervention, hoarding support, and tenancy assistance for people who'd usually fallen through every other crack in the system.
Emma Davidson MLA opening the Woden Community Hub in 2023.
Bringing it all together
In 2023, WCS moves its home into Westfield Woden, right in the middle of the shopping centre. Named Woden Community Hub, the central space is now home to The Little Pantry and several other services, where it serves as the first point of contact to access community support. The Hub continues to be a welcoming and accessible space for all, building connection and bringing people together through a shared space.
Underneath all of that legacy, this is a story about what happens when people caring about each other. It began because a few people paid attention to a community need and it continues to grow today because that same mission is what helps our community stay connected.
The WCS Story
Newly built homes in Hughes, 1964
Where it all began
In 1962, Woden Valley was established, with Hughes and Curtin among the first suburbs marked out on paper. Many of the surrounding suburbs had been gazetted and were being developed by 1966, with plans to eventually house 90,000 people.
But plans are not the same as belonging. The streets backed straight onto farmland. Curtin had exactly one shop, buses were scarce, and the Woden town centre was still just a construction site, not opening until 1972.
Into these half-built streets came young families. Behind the excitement of a new home was something quieter and harder to name: isolation. For young mothers home alone with small children and for older residents watching their familiar world change shape, Woden Valley was a lonely place to land.
Maisie Griffiths in her earlier years in Canberra, with baby daughter Sarah
Humble beginnings
In the late 1960s, Reverend Geoff Bridges and a handful of parishioners noticed the quiet unhappiness settling into the new suburbs. In May 1969, ten people sat down together and put words to what they'd been sensing. There was a need that a telephone, referral, counselling and visiting service could meet. The people struggling most were the isolated, young families without support, parents of small children, and older residents. And the neighbourhood simply didn't have the infrastructure to hold any of this yet.
By July 1969, the name Woden Community Service was proposed. By October, they had a steering committee and a telephone service, consisting of three volunteers who answered calls on their own home telephones.
Expanding our scope
Word spread quickly and demand grew. By the end of 1972, WCS had outgrown living rooms altogether and moved into Torrens Hall. What followed reads like a community discovering its own strength. There were playgroups for isolated young parents, the Nearly New shop turning donated clothing into dignity and affordability, transport for people who couldn't get around on their own, and counselling for anyone carrying more than they could hold alone. All of it was still run by volunteers giving their evenings and weekends to neighbours they'd chosen to call family.
In 1973, Sue Chivers joined as the organisation's first part-time paid staff member. A year later, WCS bought a photocopier for public use in the community. It was an unglamorous detail, but a generous one for the time, allowing anyone in the community to access essential printing services.
Formal incorporation
In 1973, Sue Chivers joined as the organisation's first part-time paid staff member. A year later, WCS bought a photocopier for public use in the community. It was an unglamorous detail, but a generous one for the time, allowing anyone in the community to access essential printing services.
By 1975, WCS had grown enough to formally incorporate, and its program offerings were widening. There was Family Day Care for young parents and organised activities for older residents who'd been among the loneliest in those early years. The following year brought after school care for the first time. That same year, WCS moved into a new child care centre in Phillip, marking the start of our mission to deliver quality care services to children and support families in the region.
In 1978, Dianne Proctor became WCS's first full-time paid Director. It was the moment an idea ten people once discussed in a lounge room became something with real, lasting shape. And from there, the organisation kept growing and continued to adapt to the community's evolving needs.
Peter Garrett opening the Woden Youth Centre in 1989
Services for everyone
In 1989 The Woden Youth Centre opened its doors, creating a welcoming space for young people to gather. Pool tables, band nights, and a kitchen where young people have a safe space to belong. Youth workers there did some of Canberra's earliest work supporting young people.
Somewhere along the way, WCS also formed a partnership with The Big Issue. Through The Big Issue, WCS began supporting vulnerable people and gave them opportunity to earn a meaningful income selling the magazine on the street, on their own terms, instead of relying on a handout.
As disability support in Australia changed shape nationally, WCS grew alongside it, building out mental health early intervention, hoarding support, and tenancy assistance for people who'd usually fallen through every other crack in the system.
Emma Davidson MLA opening the Woden Community Hub in 2023.
Bringing it all together
In 2023, WCS moves its home into Westfield Woden, right in the middle of the shopping centre. Named Woden Community Hub, the central space is now home to The Little Pantry and several other services, where it serves as the first point of contact to access community support. The Hub continues to be a welcoming and accessible space for all, building connection and bringing people together through a shared space.
Underneath all of that legacy, this is a story about what happens when people caring about each other. It began because a few people paid attention to a community need and it continues to grow today because that same mission is what helps our community stay connected.
The WCS Story
Newly built homes in Hughes, 1964
Where it all began
In 1962, Woden Valley was established, with Hughes and Curtin among the first suburbs marked out on paper. Many of the surrounding suburbs had been gazetted and were being developed by 1966, with plans to eventually house 90,000 people.
But plans are not the same as belonging. The streets backed straight onto farmland. Curtin had exactly one shop, buses were scarce, and the Woden town centre was still just a construction site, not opening until 1972.
Into these half-built streets came young families. Behind the excitement of a new home was something quieter and harder to name: isolation. For young mothers home alone with small children and for older residents watching their familiar world change shape, Woden Valley was a lonely place to land.
Maisie Griffiths in her earlier years in Canberra, with baby daughter Sarah
Humble beginnings
In the late 1960s, Reverend Geoff Bridges and a handful of parishioners noticed the quiet unhappiness settling into the new suburbs. In May 1969, ten people sat down together and put words to what they'd been sensing. There was a need that a telephone, referral, counselling and visiting service could meet. The people struggling most were the isolated, young families without support, parents of small children, and older residents. And the neighbourhood simply didn't have the infrastructure to hold any of this yet.
By July 1969, the name Woden Community Service was proposed. By October, they had a steering committee and a telephone service, consisting of three volunteers who answered calls on their own home telephones.
Expanding our scope
Word spread quickly and demand grew. By the end of 1972, WCS had outgrown living rooms altogether and moved into Torrens Hall. What followed reads like a community discovering its own strength. There were playgroups for isolated young parents, the Nearly New shop turning donated clothing into dignity and affordability, transport for people who couldn't get around on their own, and counselling for anyone carrying more than they could hold alone. All of it was still run by volunteers giving their evenings and weekends to neighbours they'd chosen to call family.
In 1973, Sue Chivers joined as the organisation's first part-time paid staff member. A year later, WCS bought a photocopier for public use in the community. It was an unglamorous detail, but a generous one for the time, allowing anyone in the community to access essential printing services.
Formal incorporation
In 1973, Sue Chivers joined as the organisation's first part-time paid staff member. A year later, WCS bought a photocopier for public use in the community. It was an unglamorous detail, but a generous one for the time, allowing anyone in the community to access essential printing services.
By 1975, WCS had grown enough to formally incorporate, and its program offerings were widening. There was Family Day Care for young parents and organised activities for older residents who'd been among the loneliest in those early years. The following year brought after school care for the first time. That same year, WCS moved into a new child care centre in Phillip, marking the start of our mission to deliver quality care services to children and support families in the region.
In 1978, Dianne Proctor became WCS's first full-time paid Director. It was the moment an idea ten people once discussed in a lounge room became something with real, lasting shape. And from there, the organisation kept growing and continued to adapt to the community's evolving needs.
Peter Garrett opening the Woden Youth Centre in 1989
Services for everyone
In 1989 The Woden Youth Centre opened its doors, creating a welcoming space for young people to gather. Pool tables, band nights, and a kitchen where young people have a safe space to belong. Youth workers there did some of Canberra's earliest work supporting young people.
Somewhere along the way, WCS also formed a partnership with The Big Issue. Through The Big Issue, WCS began supporting vulnerable people and gave them opportunity to earn a meaningful income selling the magazine on the street, on their own terms, instead of relying on a handout.
As disability support in Australia changed shape nationally, WCS grew alongside it, building out mental health early intervention, hoarding support, and tenancy assistance for people who'd usually fallen through every other crack in the system.
Emma Davidson MLA opening the Woden Community Hub in 2023.
Bringing it all together
In 2023, WCS moves its home into Westfield Woden, right in the middle of the shopping centre. Named Woden Community Hub, the central space is now home to The Little Pantry and several other services, where it serves as the first point of contact to access community support. The Hub continues to be a welcoming and accessible space for all, building connection and bringing people together through a shared space.
Underneath all of that legacy, this is a story about what happens when people caring about each other. It began because a few people paid attention to a community need and it continues to grow today because that same mission is what helps our community stay connected.