Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (10:04): Last week I attended the Sons of the West online graduation ceremony organised by the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation. Western Bulldogs young player Cody Weightman also joined us virtually for this event, along with a few Wyndham city councillors. The Sons of the West program is in its eighth year now, and it covers several topics, including mental health, nutrition and food sustainability, healthy masculinity, cancer prevention, Aboriginal culture and history, and more. The program runs over the course of 10 weeks.
The Western Bulldogs Community Foundation delivered this program in partnership with Wyndham City Council, Western Leisure Services, WorkSafe, Australian Multicultural Community Services and other local service providers. Twenty-nine men graduated from the Wyndham program.
The program was delivered across 13 different sites to over 400 men. This program reflects the rich cultural diversity we have in the Wyndham city and the diverse state of Victoria. I wish to thank Dimity Gannon and Alyssa Huxtable from the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation for bringing this event together. I wish to thank Kashif Bouns, the GM of the foundation, for his hard work and leadership. The Western Bulldogs Community Foundation’s Daughters of the West women’s health program starts in July, and registrations will open shortly. I urge women from the Western Metropolitan Region to register if they have not already done so. Thank you to Western Bulldogs for promoting excellent health initiatives for both men and women and conveying its importance to our diverse communities in the west.