Frankston Community
Support and Information Centre is one of the busiest of it's type in
Victoria - with more than 12,000 people contacting the agency for assistance
each year. The Centre has around 80 volunteers who
come from a wide range of social,
political, religious, cultural and work backgrounds. Volunteer workers
who have direct contact with the
public in a support role must be accredited, which entails successfully
completing a 50 hour training course.
The Centre aims
to provide people with information, advice and skills so they can be more self
sufficient within the community. Services are cost-effective because the community volunteers provide
their time and services free
of charge. The Frankston City Council is also a major supporter of
the Centre - providing our premises, two
paid staffing positions along with telephone and electricity.
2007
Annual Report
(33 page, 770k
PDF file)
'Who we are,
What we do'
(1
page, 110k PDF file),
'Services Available' (1
page, 80k PDF file).
In 1966 a
project known as the Church and Life Movement was formed to make people more
aware of the needs of the Frankston community. The Frankston Community Welfare
Committee was formed at a public meeting called by the Movement in 1967, at what
is now the Frankston Campus of Monash University. One of its first projects was
to establish a
Citizens Advice Bureau to provide advice and community
information to people about local services.
Frankston Community Support and
Information Centre (formerly
known as Frankston Citizens Advice Bureau; FRANKSTON CAB)
was established in August 1968 and was directed by the Frankston Community
Welfare Committee until 1973 when a sub-committee was formed to take over the
administration and planning responsibilities of the Bureau. The Frankston
Citizens Advice Bureau became autonomous and self-managing in April 1977 with
its first Annual General Meeting taking place in August of that year.
In 1993 the
membership voted to change the name of the organisation to Frankston Community
Support and Information Centre as it was felt that this name provided the
community with a better understanding of the organisations role and activities.
As more Frankston residents became disadvantaged through unemployment, and other
social and emotional problems, the agency became involved in a number of
additional services and activities including counselling, crisis support,
research and community development.
The
Centre is staffed by trained volunteer community workers and is independently managed
by local residents through an annually elected Committee of Management. Our
focus is on assisting people to become more independent and contributing members
of the community.
