One of the most rewarding things about the growth of Stitch over the last few years has been seeing local Stitch communities get started in hundreds of new areas, particularly in smaller regional towns and cities.
More and more, we’re hearing from members in new areas about how exciting it is to see the community becoming vibrant and active in their area, and how it’s already changing lives around them.
This includes towns in every country Stitch is currently active, particularly in our most established countries such as the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.
(And if you’re wondering how new communities get started, and would like to help make it more active in your area, please check out the Stitch Pioneer Program!)
Even more magical, we’re seeing more and more stories of members travelling between these towns, as they realize they are not just part of a local Stitch community, but part of the wonderful, worldwide, and welcoming Stitch family.
That’s what this month’s community update is all about.
In April, I drove 1500 kilometres (940 miles) up and down the Australian East coast over a two week period, stopping in town after town to meet Stitch members, attend Stitch events, and see firsthand how some of our regional communities are going.
And I have to tell you, it was absolutely incredible. I came home buzzing with excitement about the wonderful community we all share.
I also lost my voice (hence the title of this article ), and ended up in Byron Bay Hospital getting eight stitches in my hand from a surfing accident!
But none of that worried me, because I was meeting such wonderful people.
Best of all, some of the members I met were willing to go on camera and tell me their stories so that I could share them all with you!
Watch the video below for a taste of what this amazing road trip experience was like, and then read on if you want to know more about what happened!
What inspired the trip
My extended family was planning a trip to Byron Bay over Easter, with most members of the family intending to fly there.
I had other ideas.
Late last year, I had held an event in a place called Avoca Beach, which is part of the Central Coast Stitch community, about an hour and a half north of Sydney.
I was visiting Avoca to see friends, but had an evening free on a Saturday night, so decided to set up a very casual get-together for any local members who wanted to catch up.
The event introduced me to so many great local members and was so much fun that I remember thinking at the time, “I should set up a Stitch activity every time I go anywhere.“
So when the family trip to Byron was planned, I decided it was the perfect opportunity for me to go on a road trip and visit a bunch of Stitch communities along the way.
Beyond just meeting members in each city, I also wanted to highlight how, as the Stitch Community grows in more and more locations, we’re seeing more members travel to other towns and cities beyond just where they live.
Because that’s one of the amazing things about Stitch being a community: it’s your passport to belong, no matter where you are.
So I loaded my car with my bike and my surfboard, and set off up the coast.
Sydney to Coffs Harbour
My first stop was in the coastal city of Coffs Harbour, where local Community Champion Pam helped me organize a beachside lunch to meet some of the local members.
If you watch the road trip video, you’ll get to meet the lovely Pam!
I had no idea our community in Coffs Harbour — which includes some of the surrounding towns — was already so active. It was amazing to hear Pam describe the community as being like family, and even tell me stories of members helping each other with doctor appointments when they were dealing with serious health issues.
That’s what the community is all about.
Everyone I met was lovely, and reinforced what we learned a long time ago in Stitch: once you put people in an environment where kindness is recognized, amazing things start to happen.
(And my apologies to Kate from Nambucca, who also gave a wonderful interview, but unfortunately my microphone had stopped working! Unfortunately that happened for several interviews on this trip — that’s what you get when you get an amateur like me doing all the filming ).
Beautiful Byron Bay
My next stop was Byron Bay. For those who don’t know, Byron Bay sits on the most easterly tip of Australia. It’s where our two Eastern ocean currents meet, which means it hosts amazing sea life and has fantastic whale watching.
More importantly (for me at least), it’s also home to some of the most famous surf breaks for longboarders in the country. As a novice surfer, I was looking forward to checking it out.
Before I had a chance to surf, however, I had a big Stitch event to attend!
The community hasn’t really got started in Byron Bay yet, so I was amazed when I found out 18 people had registered to attend my activity, which was a lunch at the Beach Hotel.
It turned out many of them had driven from towns around Byron Bay, including several who had driven all the way from Queensland to come to meet me!
Members from Brisbane and the Gold Coast met local members from Byron, Ballina, Lismore, and surrounds, and highlighted how regional communities don’t work in isolation. They form part of a network of communities, where members frequently travel great distances to attend events in other cities.
Stitches of the unwelcome kind
My dreams of improving my surfing skills on my way back down the coast were dashed when I contrived to cut my hand open on my own surfboard fin on the morning of Easter Monday.
Apparently I was lucky not to have severed all my nerves and ligaments, but do you think the guy in the photo below was feeling lucky?
The doctors told me that I shouldn’t drive for another week. But with five more Stitch communities to visit on my trip, I wasn’t going to listen to that advice!
The trip back down
After solemnly promising the doctors I wouldn’t drive until my stitches were out, I got back in my car and set off down the coast for the rest of my journey.
Stitch members were waiting to meet me, and I wasn’t going to let them down .
In all seriousness, I really didn’t want to miss the chance to meet the members who were doing so much to get the community started in their areas.
It’s always the early days of a community that are the hardest to get things started, when everyone is waiting for someone else to be the first one to suggest or organize and activity.
Once things are up and running things get easier and easier as more people learn about the community and want to join. But without the members who are willing to take a leap of faith to make it happen in the first place, no community would ever get started. I really wanted to meet the members who have had the vision and foresight to make Stitch happen in their local areas.
And honestly, after spending 4 days driving to Port Macquarie, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Toukley, and Avoca, and meeting hundreds of members along the way, I don’t think I could have made a better decision.
My hand was a bit sore by the end of it, and I completely lost my voice by the time I got back to Sydney, but it was up there as one of the most memorable trips of my life.
Members who get the community started when there isn’t anything happening in their area yet are the true champions of Stitch.
I’m not just talking about organizers, by the way: anyone who attends an activity in the early days of their local community makes a huge contribution to make it a reality.
The stories of friendship, kindness, and community I heard were truly inspirational, and I hope everyone I met knows how much it meant to me. I truly did end the trip feeling — more than ever — that Stitch is a great big family.
More road trips to come
The road trip made me realize how easy it is to meet Stitch members, no matter where you roam.
I’m now planning trips to other communities in Australia (Melbourne, Hobart, and Adelaide are already on my plans), and of course we have our upcoming Big Stitch Trip to Ireland, followed by the Stitch Together 2026 Conference in Bath in the UK.
But you don’t need to travel that far to meet other Stitch members.
Very often, all it takes is suggesting an activity yourself, and you will start to meet like-minded companions.
If you’re contemplating joining and you’re in an area that’s only just getting started, we hope these stories are an inspiration for what is possible. Our regional communities are growing in these areas simply because someone was willing to suggest an activity, and other members were willing to come along.
What are you going to do to make it happen in your own area?
I’ll end this article with a special thanks to everyone who welcomed me on the trip, or who helped me with logistics and plannings for the half a dozen events we held along the way. It was fantastic to meet you all, and thank you so much for looking after me so well. I’m looking forward to doing this exact same trip sometime soon.
Until then, thanks for being part of the community, and for making my life great.
Happy Stitching!.





Looks like fun.