What is it about a spark that makes it so powerful? It’s the possibility of creating something bigger than itself. And Spark’s showing that – just like the lyrics of Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody’s song, it is true indeed that From Little Things Big Things Grow. With expert focus and grass roots support, Spark has spent the past eighteen months helping our community build valuable connections. It’s an intentional plan to create a culture of belonging, but there’s nothing scripted about the wonderful, organic ways people are connecting thanks to Spark. New Sparkie Claire has been exploring how the Spark magic happens.

What Spark is sparking
We all know that life feels better when we connect with other people and help build our community (enter our awesome Spark initiatives bringing people together), but what does connection actually look like? As a new Sparkie I’ve been keen to understand the ways Spark is igniting the embers of possibility to grow into something bigger. It turns out that connection looks different for everyone, and whether it’s a new friendship or a nod of “I see you” recognition in the street, it all adds up.

For Victoria, joining Spark events, including a weekly gathering at Stirling restaurant Miss Perez, has substantially widened her go-to list for support on just about any topic. Victoria says she now has a “brains trust for connections” “a huge long list of people who can offer help with a whole range of things”. Importantly Victoria says this “brains trust” means she always has people to connect with. Spark also ignited a triple connection gem of opportunity for Victoria – the chance to give back to the community while pursing a favourite hobby and levelling up her Dungeons and Dragons game. Victoria is now a Dungeon Master running a weekly D&D campaign for teenagers at The Hut Community Centre. And something else has happened, through her Spark experiences Victoria is also noticing the connections others are making. She’s seen Spark participants sharing books with each other, developing ongoing friendships and she’s even seen one Spark connection result in an Adelaide Hills newcomer finding a new job.

Sparkie Liz has been involved with Spark from the beginning. Liz has become somewhat of a ‘Spark-scout’ introducing a lot of people to the program’s goodness. “They don’t know what they’re missing until they come along and they realise this is ok, these people are nice”. Liz has seen Spark change lives for people experiencing isolation. “They’d visit the group, and some real strong friendships have grown”. Liz has also seen people become more confident and find their voice, “they find it’s kind of a safe place to go and they need to share their lives in a way, and get support”. Involvement with Spark gives ‘connectors’ like Liz that warm fuzzy feeling, “the difference you can make just to help people out when things are tough, it makes you feel good. I suppose I’ve always been a bit of a nurturer”.

One Sparkie Lynwen Maeder and the Kanmantoo Spark crew are taking connection to the next level. “I love an op shop, so we all talked about op shops and we said lets do an op shop tour”. The Kanmantoo crew save-the-date and phone ahead to alert the local op shop”. I told her we have a group of us coming, it’s a bit of fun – she was so excited”. Building connection through the op shop tours has been a hit. “We’re going somewhere you wouldn’t normally go exploring, and let’s face it op shops in South Australia are great”. The next one is planned for early May. Lynwen says the Kanmantoo Spark crew is a vibrant group drawing people from Nairne to Callington and beyond and they have great conversations. “We’re seeing people reveal things they’ve held a long time, change their attitude about life, and I think people feel comfortable, they feel safe”.

Like Victoria, Liz and Lynwen I have seen the Spark magic at work and I love the way people find the connections that are right for them. For me Spark has been a fabulous discovery at a time when I was seeking volunteering work that aligned with my values. What I didn’t anticipate was how much more connected I would become thanks to Spark. What were Liz’s wise words again…”They don’t know what they’re missing until they come along”.

Words by Claire Coggan