Community dinner is a bi-monthly gathering at Armagh for people to meet in an informal setting over a shared meal. Whilst listening to a guest speaker the dinner is an opportunity to connect with others of different backgrounds, cultures and ages beyond one’s usual circle of contacts. With a pot-luck dinner the evening becomes a melting pot of flavours, conversation and music.
Mia Du’s shared her impressions of the first community dinner she attended capturing the essence of the evening.
The first dinner in 2025 coincided with the start of the Lunar New Year – The Year of the Snake, and the evening included Chinese drumming and a dragon-lion dance performance in the garden at Armagh. The evening’s guest speaker was Anthea Hancocks, CEO of the Scanlon Foundation, who presented an overview of the organisation’s survey-based report on social cohesion in Australia. Read a post on the evening here.
The second dinner welcomed Tom Duncan, CEO of Earthbanc, pioneers in large scale tree planting and regenerative agroforestry. Tom spoke of the organisation’s aim is to plant 70 million trees in northeast India.
At the next dinner in June, Sudarshen Suresh, a Life Matters Alumni launched his new booklet The Joy of Flourishing – a Changemaker'’s Guide to Healing, Purpose, and Impact. In addition Sudarshan shared some of his own steps toward change and why he genuinely believes that everyone can be a Changemaker.
In August Sarah Naarden, IofCA Trustbuilding Program Manager, who spearheaded it’s five-year commitment to building bridges between Indigenous Australians, spoke of her work. The evening was a wonderful end to her role at IofCA as she handed over a message stick IofCA had been given to keep communication unfolding to build a shared future.
Dave Chauhan the speaker at the final gathering of the year spoke of his move from the corporate sector to follow his inner conviction to reimagine leadership in an age of rapid change. His book Captain Set Sail: a Nautical Guide to Leadership in an Unchartered World.
Community Dinners will continue in 2026. Join us at the next one on Thursday 23 April, 6 pm onwards at Armagh, 226 Kooyong Road, Toorak. The speaker for the evening will be Steve Thorpe, a proud Gunaikurnai, Gunditjmara, and Yorta Yorta entrepreneur and co-founder of Sustainative, which means ‘sustain’ with ‘native’ wisdom. Register here