Message from Alan Tudge MP

This kitchen at the Ferntree Gully Girl Guide Hall could be the most useful one in Knox.

Not only is it used by the Ferntree Gully Girl Guides, but it also helps Pastor Steve and the team at Foothills Community Care cook and serve hundreds of meals every single week for those in need in our community. Now, thanks to a $16,000 federal grant that I helped secure, it is fully refurbished and ready to cook up a storm.

Foothills Community Care has hosted a community meal at the hall every Wednesday for close to seventeen years, but they’ve played a particularly important role in our community over the past two years supporting the vulnerable and helping the isolated in our community stay connected during those terrible lockdowns. 

In 2021 alone they served an incredible 42,000 meals to locals at their homes and in the hall – an amazing effort that has impacted the lives of countless locals. 

I was proud to attend the official opening last month which also marked 65 years of Girl Guides in Ferntree Gully – a huge achievement for a great local organisation.

It was wonderful to chat with the many generations of guides, their leaders, and the Foothills team to hear their stories. They are all equally as proud as I am of what has been achieved in this little hall in Ferntree Gully. 

Nothing beats the community spirit that we’ve got here in Knox.

If you live nearby and are interested in getting involved in either of these organisations, they are always looking for new volunteers and members, so please get in touch. Sometimes just a small amount of money can make a huge difference. 

Please contact my office if your local club or organisation is not on my database, so we can keep you informed of upcoming grant opportunities.

Alan Tudge is the Federal Member for Aston