Viv Philpotts’ labour of love for Lancefield community

A passion for producing healthy food and fostering vibrant, self-sustaining communities has led Viv Philpotts on a 30-year crusade at Lancefield.

Every small town needs a community-minded mover and shaker like Viv Philpotts.

The 61-year-old grandmother has volunteered on a long list of committees and clubs and has worked as Lancefield’s Neighbourhood House co-ordinator for 21 years, spearheading a host of community projects over three decades.

She helped initiate “plastic bag-free Lancefield” and a recycle centre, Men’s Shed, Macedon Ranges Community Exchange, and the Edible Lancefield garden program to help promote community health and nutrition.

Viv Philpotts on her Lancefield farm. Picture: Zoe Phillips

It grew into the broader Feed it Forward project in partnership with Romsey Neighbourhood House, Food Bank, Bendigo Food Share, Second Bite, local supermarkets and farmers who continue to make food donations to help volunteers cook lunch once a month for 80 to 100 vulnerable people. During the pandemic they delivered more than 8000 meals locally.

Viv, a Tax Help Volunteer, has also been treasurer of the Lancefield Agricultural Society for seven years and Lancefield Park Committee for 12 years, where she helped ‘unofficially’ project manage multimillion upgrades to the park complex, including new equipment, fencing, change rooms and toilets for some of the 17 user groups of the site, following fire damage in 2015.

The Lancefield Op Shop has raised more than $600,000 for community projects, clubs and schools since it began 14 years ago thanks to Neighbourhood House.

“I’ve been really lucky that I’ve worked in a job that they are community projects but they are my personal passions as well,” Viv said, adding the monthly farmers’ market at Lancefield was the start-up she was most proud of.

“The farmers’ market contributed to improving the economy and social fabric of the town,” she said.

“On a personal level, I grew a lot with it as well just having a better understanding of food security and appreciation of producers and what they do.”

Viv, who farms cattle and sheep on 120 hectares at Nulla Vale with daughter Tarsha Walters and grandson Tom Hendry, 10 months, has more community projects in the pipeline including a farm-based initiative aimed at helping struggling youth.