{"id":50583,"date":"2026-07-14T20:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T20:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/50583\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T20:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T20:49:09","slug":"sydney-hobby-clubs-tackling-loneliness-and-creating-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/50583\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney hobby clubs tackling loneliness and creating community"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a local pub in Sydney’s inner west, a long table is stacked with colourful scrapbooking supplies and is abuzz with creative ideas from keen crafters.<\/p>\n

Natasha Mcnauff is behind a fortnightly scrapbooking club in Newtown, aimed at creating a community space through a shared love for craft.<\/p>\n

“[The club] attracts those people who are creative but might not have done anything since being a child,” Ms Mcnauff said.<\/p>\n

“Those people who want to express themselves, who are busy working all day and want a break from that.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Natasha Mcnauff is behind the fortnightly event Scrap and Yap Craft Club. (ABC News: Nandini Dhir)<\/p>\n

The Scrap and Yap Craft Club has so far attracted university students, office workers, new migrants and academics.<\/p>\n

“People want to connect with people. People want community\u2026 more than ever,” Ms Mcnauff said.Making meaningful connections<\/p>\n

Sula Creassidis moved from Spain and found a community in Sydney through the craft club.<\/p>\n

“In Spain, we didn’t used to have these kinds of clubs, so it was really nice to find it,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I feel like it’s a safe place for girls and that’s really important to me.”\"A<\/p>\n

Sula Creassidis made new friendships through the scrapbooking club. (ABC News: Nandini Dhir)<\/p>\n

Ms Creassidis attended the club regularly where she met Catherine Tran.<\/p>\n

“It’s got me back into crafting again, because I’ve always done it just by myself, but I feel like it’s a dedicated space,” Ms Tran said.<\/p>\n

“I met Sula [here] and I had so much fun, and \u2026 I think everyone’s craving community.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Students, office workers, new migrants and academics gather to craft and socialise. (ABC News: Nandini Dhir)<\/p>\n

Gina Lee and her three friends run a film club from a number of venues across the city.<\/p>\n

They came up with the idea because they wanted to share lesser-known films with a range of audiences.<\/p>\n

“It just means we can come together regularly \u2026 watch a film and discover new things, different perspectives, cultures and connect with other people,” Ms Lee said.\"A<\/p>\n

(Left to right) Gina Lee, Sabrina Loh, Emily Gunawan and Chloe Ngongo-Keller run the Subtitles Film Club together. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

The Subtitles Film Club focuses on screenings with captions, which Ms Lee said made it more accessible for people who speak different languages and those with accessibility needs.<\/p>\n

“Most of [the club organisers] speak a second language at home which naturally means we’re watching a lot of foreign films,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Lee said finding community was not easy for her friends who had migrated to Australia.<\/p>\n

“We just wanted to make a safe space where you can simply watch a film together and connect with people,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The film club aims to be inclusive of everyone in their film screenings. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Ms Lee said she was excited to continue building the club and its community.<\/p>\n

“It’s just so special when you’re in a packed room watching the same film and then having a chance to talk about it with people who are just as excited as you are afterwards,” she said.<\/p>\n

Loneliness common among young adults<\/p>\n

The NSW Mental Health Commission found that, in a 2025 survey of about 2,000 people, 10 per cent more women aged 18 to 29 experienced loneliness compared to the state’s average.<\/p>\n

Michelle Lim, scientific chair at Ending Loneliness Together, said young people were “predisposed to feeling lonely”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Michelle Lim says loneliness is a global issue. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

“What’s worrying is, about one in seven young people \u2026 experience persistent loneliness, so loneliness that lasts at least two years,” she said.<\/p>\n

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Lim said loneliness had been recognised globally as a social issue.<\/p>\n

“For the most part, community helps, and young people really, really desire quantity of relationships \u2026 and this is where community can really step up,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Shared interest groups are an amazing non-stigmatised way to get connection.”<\/p>\n

Keeping community affordable<\/p>\n

Dr Lim said there was not enough investment in community solutions for young people.<\/p>\n

“I think that young people often say that ‘I don’t have a safe space where I can just be’.”<\/p>\n

She said the emergence of hobby-based clubs showed how “resourceful” Generation Z was.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Hobby-based clubs are helping combat loneliness among young adults. (ABC News: Nandini Dhir)<\/p>\n

Ms Lee said the club purchased 20 movie tickets for an upcoming film screening and sold them at the same price to club attendees so they could be seated together.<\/p>\n

“It diminishes the fear of going to something alone because at least you have a built-in group that you’re going with,” Ms Lee said.<\/p>\n

For Ms Mcnauff’s craft club, she started a donation jar to help fund materials.<\/p>\n

“It’s not about making money, it’s about bringing people together and having a safe space for people,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a local pub in Sydney’s inner west, a long table is stacked with colourful scrapbooking supplies and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[5061,6868,31098,36074,36075,36071,36085,36070,36087,36088,36086,36078,36079,36073,36084,36076,36077,36083,36081,36080,36072,27180,36082,247,12638],"class_list":["post-50583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sydney","tag-arts","tag-community","tag-craft","tag-craft-club-newtown","tag-craft-club-sydney-inner-west","tag-creativity","tag-ending-loneliness-together","tag-hobbies","tag-hobbies-for-communities","tag-hobbies-for-connection","tag-hobbies-for-mental-health","tag-how-to-combat-loneliness","tag-how-to-feel-less-lonely","tag-loneliness","tag-michelle-lim","tag-movie-club-newtown","tag-movie-club-sydney-inner-west","tag-nsw-mental-health-commission","tag-scrap-and-yap-craft-club","tag-scrapbooking-club-in-newtown","tag-social-issues","tag-socialising","tag-subtitles-film-club","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-inner-west"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}