Building Community, With Purpose
Across South Australia, community life is shaped by place, people and connection. In regional centres like Victor Harbor, shared spaces play an important role in bringing people together, supporting participation and strengthening the social fabric that underpins everyday life.
Toc H has always understood that environments matter. When people are welcomed into spaces that are open, inclusive and human in scale, connection follows naturally. It is within these environments that friendship is formed, service is shared and belonging takes root.
It is in this spirit that Toc H South Australia Inc. is stepping forward with clarity and intent.
At our Victor Harbor site, Cooinda Retreats, we are progressing a Community Centre proposal that reflects both Toc H’s long history of service and a deep belief in the power of place to bring people together. This work is shaped by optimism, responsibility and a shared commitment to strengthening community through connection.
A Toc H Story, Renewed
From its earliest days, Toc H has never been an abstract idea. It has always been physical, relational and practical. A place where people could gather as equals, lay down difference, and rediscover what it means to belong.
That spirit was first embodied in Talbot House, a place of welcome, hospitality and quiet transformation. The Community Centre vision at Victor Harbor draws deliberately from that lineage, not by copying the past, but by honouring it and translating it for a contemporary regional community.
Guided by the Four Points of the Compass
The Community Centre proposal is intentionally aligned to the Four Points of the Toc H compass, not as symbolic language, but as a lived framework that shapes how the Centre will operate and feel.
Friendship will be expressed through spaces that invite people to gather, connect and form relationships across age, background and circumstance.
Service will be lived through volunteering, shared responsibility and programs that respond to genuine local need.
Fair mindedness will be reflected in inclusion, accessibility and a commitment to dignity for all.
Reconciliation will be fostered through listening, hospitality and the creation of safe places for understanding and belonging.
These principles guide the culture of the Centre, ensuring it remains human, grounded and purpose driven.
Volunteerism at the Core
Volunteerism has always been the quiet engine of Toc H, and it sits at the heart of this proposal.
The Community Centre will continue to be animated by volunteers who care for the place, welcome visitors, support programs and contribute their time, skills and experience. This is not transactional volunteering. It is relational. People offering what they can, and in doing so becoming part of a shared story of service.
As the Centre evolves, opportunities will grow for volunteers of all ages and abilities to participate meaningfully, strengthening both the community and the individuals who serve within it.
Membership and Belonging
Alongside volunteering, the Community Centre provides a renewed focus on Toc H membership.
Membership is not about numbers alone. It is about shared values, stewardship and belonging. The Centre offers a tangible way for members to engage with Toc H’s purpose locally, to see it lived out day by day, and to contribute to shaping its future.
As this work progresses, the Community Centre becomes a natural place for welcoming new members, reconnecting with existing ones and strengthening Toc H South Australia as a living, active community.
A Place Designed for Connection
The proposed Community Centre will evolve as a multi purpose hub that supports community programs, wellbeing activities, skills development, volunteering, social connection and partnerships with local organisations.
Nature, openness and accessibility sit at the heart of the design, ensuring the Centre remains calm, welcoming and genuinely useful to the people it serves. Like Talbot House before it, the intention is not simply to create a facility, but to cultivate an atmosphere of welcome, equality and care.
Looking Ahead
The Board and Members of Toc H South Australia are united in their enthusiasm for this next chapter. As we move into 2026, there is strong alignment around progressing the Community Centre carefully, responsibly and with community at its centre.
This is an evolving journey, guided by purpose and shaped through consultation and shared effort. We will continue to share updates here on the blog as the vision takes shape.
This is Toc H doing what it has always done best. Stepping up when communities need it most, creating places of connection, and quietly building a stronger, more compassionate society, one community at a time.