Our Services

Big Yellow Umbrella's (BYU) Community program aims to strengthen, enrich and empower the community of Macarthur by providing a wide range of services for people residing in the Macarthur Local Government Area (LGA). BYU works in partnership with, and receives support from, a number of local based services and organisations. BYU’s community program is funded by NSW Department of Community & Justice.

Community Development Workers oversee BYU’s Community program.

Our community workers:

    • Provide information to the community
    • Provide support and referral services to individuals.
    • Facilitate programs, workshops, community activities and events

Information, Support & Referral


BYU provides various support services such as:

    • Legal Advice with Macarthur Legal – First Wednesday of each month @ BYU office. Bookings essential
    • Access to assistance with payment of Sydney Water bills
    • Community information and resources about upcoming events
    • Information sessions as the need is identified
    • Information and referral to other services and community groups in the Macarthur LGA

Programs

BYU provides regular programs for residents in the Macarthur LGA. These programs are facilitated by a Community Worker and include:

  • These sessions are designed to educate and/or inform and create awareness about particular issues. Some examples include:

    • Financial skills sessions
    • Mental Health information sessions
    • Food Security sessions
    • Legal information sessions
  • Watch this space for new Community Programs coming in 2023.

  • During school holidays BYU organises affordable activities as part of their Kids Club program, for children 5-12 years. Kids Club runs on each Wednesday morning of the school holidays, except during the Christmas / New Year period and bookings are essential. Activities include:

    • Circus workshop
    • Cooking workshop
    • Hip Hop
    • Basketball
    • Self-Defence
    • Gymnastics
    • Athletics
  • Workshops generally run over a period of 2-8 weeks but we also hold one-off workshops. Members of the community are encouraged to actively participate in workshops whether they have prior experience or are looking to learn something new. Some examples include:

    • Cooking workshops
    • Road Safety workshops for children
    • Art and art therapy workshops
    • Therapeutic Journal
    • Writing Laughter Yoga
    • Knitting for a Cause

Contact Big Yellow Umbrella about our programs

Community Activities & Events

Community Events

BYU holds events to celebrate key dates on the community calendar of events. These include:

    • Seniors Week
    • Carers Week
    • Youth Week
    • R U OK Day
    • Mental Health Awareness Week
    • Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea
    • NAIDOC Week

BYU also participates in annual community events alongside other community services in the Macarthur LGA. Some examples include:

    • Narellan Rhythms Festival
    • Camden Play Day
    • Camden Kids Festival

Networking Events

Big Yellow Umbrella hold quarterly networking events. The quarterly networking events are aimed at bringing people from all areas of our community together to meet with each other and also to provide relevant information provided by quality guest speakers.

Community Creative Projects

These projects involve participants working as a team to create art that can be enjoyed by the community. Examples include:

    • Mosaic Project – four table can be seen at the Macarthur Centre for Sustainable Living.
    • Women’s sculpture project – sculptures are on display at the Camden Civic Centre.

Fundraising Events

We also hold our own fundraising events to help sustain the work of our organisation. These include:

    • Community Breakfasts & BBQs
    • 2019 Golf Day
    • 2018 & 2019 Trivia Night
    • Bunnings BBQ

These fundraising events offer a great opportunity for members of the community to volunteer with us.  

To find out more or to make a booking