What is the collective noun for community groups?

by SANDI MILLER
11th March 2026

A WELL-ATTENDED meeting was held at Now and Not Yet on the evening of March 2, which saw the core of the Warrandyte community come together to establish a representative group of Warrandyte community organisations.
The inaugural meeting saw representatives from Warrandyte’s various community groups come together with a spirit of optimism, including the Warrandyte Arts Association, Warrandyte Neighbourhood House, Warrandyte Community Association, Warrandyte Festival Committee, Warrandyte Sporting Group, Warrandyte Cricket Club, Warrandyte Football Club, Warrandyte Tennis Club, Warrandyte Historical Society, Warrandyte Lions, Warrandyte Men’s Shed, Warrandyte Scouts, Warrandyte Retirement Housing Co-op, Warrandyte Donvale Rotary, Warrandyte Riverside Market Committee, Warrandyte Diary, Menzies for Climate, Now and Not Yet, and the Pink Ladies, with apologies from the Warrandyte Mountain Bike Club, Warrandyte Netball Club, and Warrandyte Junior Football Club.
High on the agenda was the opportunity for groups to meet, with time set aside for each group to provide a background on their organisation and express the challenges they are facing over the foreseeable future.
President of the Warrandyte Community Association Terry Tovey opened the meeting by saying several groups’ leaders felt it was a great time for the many and varied community groups to get together to discuss their issues and see whether there are opportunities to help each other.
“Of course, the recent report by Manningham Council on shared facilities is the catalyst, and an example of the sort of thing that a community can rally around,” he said.
He said it was an opportunity for local groups to benefit from a common understanding and from sharing experiences, and he hoped it would be the first of a regular calendar of meetings.
The gathered groups expressed an appetite for collaboration and future networking as many of these groups have existed side-by-side for decades without knowing what each other does, and with many potentially benefiting from cooperation.
Rotary President Olive Aumann highlighted the recent work her organisation has done on community engagement, with a common theme in her series of community interviews articulated first by local Police Sergeant Stewart Henderson.
“He said, ‘there are all these fabulous groups doing fabulous things, but they’re all doing it separately,’ and he suggested we should get together three or four times per year,” she said.
Which is what it is hoped this meeting will be the start of.
The Emcee for the event, Grant Purdy of the Warrandyte Arts Association, discussed the genesis of the meeting, which was Manningham Council’s Warrandyte Community Facilities Review, which he said has allowed the community to find a united voice to protect Warrandyte, “the jewel in Manningham’s crown”.
The statement of purpose was agreed upon, which read:

“To bring Warrandyte’s community volunteer organisations together, to explore how we can strengthen collaboration, agree a shared purpose, and develop sustainable approaches to counter the challenges facing our community.
Finding opportunities to pool resources, foster partnerships, and respond more effectively to issues that affect our community.”

The group envisage being able to respond to issues such as loneliness, youth engagement, food rescue, resilience and security, environmental stewardship, and emergency preparedness.
The final order of business was a lively discussion on finding a name for the new collective, with many suggestions taken from the floor.
The final name was decided by a vote via email, with the ultimate winner being Warrandyte Volunteers Alliance (WAVA).
Community groups interested in attending future meetings of WAVA can contact convenor Olive Aumann at oliveaumann@gmail.com.