UQ at Springfield

Greater Springfield is full of young people with ideas, perspectives and experiences worth hearing.

That's the idea behind Youth Advisory Greater Springfield (YAGS), a new youth-led initiative from The Y Springfield Central Community Centre that will create opportunities for local young people to be represented and connected in the community.

To help bring YAGS to life, The Y is looking for local young people aged 16-25 to take part in a photoshoot showcasing the initiative and the diverse young people who call Greater Springfield home.

They're not looking for models, they're looking for everyday young people from across the community.

As a thank you, participants will receive:

📸 A professional headshot for resumes, LinkedIn or job applications
🍕 Free pizza lunch
🎁 The chance to win one of two $50 gift cards

If you've ever wanted to support young people having more of a voice in your community, or know a young person who would, this could be a great place to start.

📧 To express your interest, email: [email protected]

Will you skip to help save hearts in Australia? 🤸❤️

This November, Heart Foundation is inviting people across Australia to take on 95 skips a day to get active, have fun and raise vital funds for heart research.

Do it for every person in Australia who dies from a heart attack, one every 95 minutes.

Find out more and register 👇

Skip Your Way for 30 Days Challenge Join the skipping challenge that can help save Aussie hearts.

Young people in sport are navigating growing pressures around performance, appearance and achievement, both on and off the field.

We're helping spread the word about a new research study looking at how young people in community sport experience and respond to these pressures, including perceptions of performance and image-enhancing drugs.

If you or someone you know is aged 16-25, living in Queensland, and participating in community sport, we'd love to hear your perspective.

The anonymous online survey takes around 10 minutes to complete, and your input will help shape future education, prevention and harm reduction resources that reflect the real experiences of young people.

We'd really appreciate it if you could share this with a sporting club, team, organisation, or young person who may be eligible.

🔗 Complete the survey here:

Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

How do we design cities that make it easier for people to live healthy lives?

That was one of the big questions explored during the recent Transport Professionals Association National Transport Conference, where we were proud to host a tour of Springfield's healthy city initiatives.

Our partner, the Heart Foundation, brought together a group of transport planners from across Australia and New Zealand for a 'walkshop' around Springfield.

Rather than sitting in a room talking about active and healthy communities, we put on our walking shoes and went looking for the things that help make them possible.

Together, we explored how planning decisions shape everyday life and the role transport, health, community and research all play in creating places where people can thrive.

Some of the conversations included:

🚉 Why public transport needs to be considered from the earliest stages of city planning
🌳 The role parks, green spaces and walking paths play in health and wellbeing
🤝 How community connection and social belonging contribute to healthier places
🔎 Why research and real-world evidence are essential for understanding what works and guiding future decisions

We were delighted to showcase how Springfield Healthy Hearts is working alongside residents, researchers and partners to better understand what supports healthy living and how that knowledge can help shape future communities.

Lily Green, a senior traffic engineer who attended, captured these discussions brilliantly in her reflections from the conference: https://amberorg.com.au/what-we-design-to-encourage-and-what-we-still-enable/

Thank you to everyone who joined us!

Connection is what it’s all about ❤️

It was wonderful to catch up with members of our first Active Choices cohort (and a few four-legged friends!) for a morning walk, coffee and chat around sunny Springfield on Sunday.

Over the last few months our Active Choices group have connected with and tried local community activities such as crossfit, pickleball, hiking, climbing, and even buhurt!

Active Choices has also helped connect veterans with other fantastic local initiatives, including Veterans For Youth and Dance for Veterans by Queensland Ballet.

If you're a veteran looking to meet new people, get active or explore community opportunities, we'd love to help you get connected.

Interested? Get in touch at [email protected] or 0431 099 337 to learn more.