Our own track record
A launch with two City of Melbourne councillors in the room. Three programs back to back in one hall on a Sunday. A podcast the young people built themselves. A festival that started on a suburban oval and ended up in Marvel Stadium Square.
Most of it is not running right now. That is the whole argument — the rooms are still there, and so is the crew, the moment enough people put their hand up.
19 July 2024 · the launch
D-Zone is the Saras.Care youth program behind the launch and the Sunday programs on this page. It launched on a winter evening in a Docklands community room — folding chairs, a projector, the harbour going dark through the glass — in front of a small crowd and two sitting City of Melbourne councillors, Cr Jamal Hakim and Cr Roshena Campbell, who both spoke.
Cr Jamal Hakim at the D-Zone launch — Docklands, 19 July 2024
“Who knows, you might be the next entrepreneur… so you could be the next councillor.”
Cr Jamal Hakim, Melbourne City Councillor — D-Zone launch, 19 July 2024
He was talking to the room about what a program like this is actually for. Try things. “Enjoy a dance class or some theatre classes and learn how to present — whether it's at school or whether it's for local government elections.” Then, plainly: “Use this Docklands D-Zone for everything you need.”
He also spoke about the charity behind it. “It's been a very long journey with Saras.Care that I've had as part of the council,” he said — “to see where you've started, and how you've grown. You have truly, truly made a difference.”
12 January 2025 · one room, one Sunday
Six months after the launch, three D-Zone and Saras.Care programs ran in a single day at the Docklands Community Hub, next to Library at The Dock — yoga at nine, a drama workshop mid-morning, the seniors' club after lunch. Nobody had to leave 3008 for any of it.
They are not running right now. The room is there when there is a crew to fill it.
Lohri with the seniors' club — Docklands Community Hub, 12 January 2025
An hour of breath, movement and stillness, nine to ten on Sunday mornings, starting 12 January 2025. It was free, mats on the floor, no booking needed and no experience wanted.
Docklands Community Hub, next to Library at The Dock · Saras.Care with D-Zone
Help bring it back →
Young people ran warm-up games, improvisation and scene work for other young people, in the same room straight after yoga. Exactly the thing Cr Hakim had pointed at six months earlier — and the kind of thing a postcode with no high school and no youth service has to make for itself.
Docklands Community Hub, next to Library at The Dock · D-Zone
Run the next one →
While it ran, a monthly catch-up for Hindi-speaking seniors in Docklands — conversation, music, dance, games and a vegetarian lunch. The January 2025 session was a Lohri celebration and filled the room.
Docklands Community Hub, next to Library at The Dock · a Saras.Care initiative
Help start it again →Also ours
Started on Ron Barassi Snr Oval in October 2021, run by Saras.Care with Docklands Neighbourhood House. More than 1,500 people by 2022, more than 12,000 in 2023 as the first community event in Marvel Stadium's new Town Square, 20,000 in 2024. It runs now as Melbourne Diwali, still managed by Saras.Care, and it is the clearest proof that Docklands turns up when it is given a reason.
The full count, year by year →Anya Gupta and a group of friends designed it in November 2024 — a three-part episode called Raising Voices: Youth Empowerment and the Fight for Rights, built around an author interview, an emerging-leaders slot, and a student who got roughly a quarter of her year level behind a petition to make schools value non-STEM subjects.
Through late 2025 the crew got as far as multi-camera recording sessions, six people around the table. No episode was ever finished. The format, the questions and the footage all still exist — it needs an edit and a crew, not a rebuild.
Meet the crew →Made here
Run by Saras.Care with residents and local groups, on ground inside 3008. The crowds are the argument: Docklands shows up when it is given a reason to gather.
Diwali at Docklands started in October 2021 on Ron Barassi Snr Oval, run by Saras.Care with Docklands Neighbourhood House. It has grown every year since, and Docklands News has counted it each time: more than 1,500 people at the park in 2022, then more than 12,000 at Marvel Stadium's new Town Square in 2023 with another 1000 at The District — the first community event held in the Town Square — and 20,000 in 2024. It now runs as Melbourne Diwali at Marvel Stadium Square, still managed by Saras.Care, and 20,000-plus in 2025 on Melbourne Diwali’s own count, across 200-plus stallholders and 150-plus performance groups. Free entry, and next on 31 October 2026.
The Melbourne Diwali 2024 launch — the Lord Mayor of Melbourne's address on the screens
A workshop series and a podcast the young people built themselves, auspiced by Saras.Care and led by Anya Gupta — now CEO of docklands.community — with a group of friends. They chose the topic, wrote the questions and ran the recording sessions. No episode has been finished. Getting it there, with a bigger crew, is part of what this site is for.