Meet Sarah Mathews!
Sarah oversees the volunteers who operate The Little BIG House, a warm, welcoming space where you can drop in to meet new faces, pick up a new skill, or just hang out and relax. Sarah loves connecting with our neighbours and celebrating the diversity around us, because she believes that building a kinder, happier, and more vibrant community starts with simply showing up.
Little BIG – a Story About Making Neighbourhoods Human Again
Little BIG began with a simple but powerful truth: beautifully built places don’t automatically become communities. Sarah, the founder, had seen it firsthand. After years in precinct development and community engagement, she kept seeing the same pattern repeated, stunning new neighbourhoods that looked perfect on paper yet felt strangely empty in real life.
People wanted connection. They wanted to run a variety concert or start a weekly board game night, to meet other parents, to try new things together, but red tape, insurance costs, and traditional community centre barriers shut them down before they even started.
Meanwhile, loneliness was quietly growing. The mix of lockdowns, increased screen time, remote work, and dense urban living had people living closer than ever, yet knowing each other less.
Instead of accepting this as the new normal, Sarah and the team at EG Funds, decided to build an antidote. A simple, warm, human one.
That’s how Little BIG House was born. A volunteer-powered community hub designed so neighbours could meet, belong, and feel part of something bigger. Today, the Little BIG House runs over 90 events every month, all led by locals. Parents’ groups, crafternoons, coworking sessions, seniors’ socials, workshops and more. If the community wants it, it happens. If they don’t show up, it doesn’t. It’s that simple and that revolutionary.
Little BIG also operates behind the scenes, partnering with precinct teams, developers and councils to activate neighbourhoods, advocate for loneliness strategies, build social infrastructure, and measure real social impact. But at its heart, it is powered by everyday neighbours doing extraordinary things together.
If the Little BIG House brand were a person, it would be warm, a little quirky, and always ready with a cup of tea. The kind of friend who says, “Come as you are, we’ll figure it out together.”
What makes Little BIG different is its approach. Its low-cost, volunteer-led, flexible, scalable, and always responsive to real needs. Programs come from the community, not to the community. And what people want most, as Sarah puts it, is to feel known, seen, and useful.
For Sarah, passion shows up in the people. She loves seeing volunteers grow in confidence, step into leadership, and create the kind of neighbourhoods they want to live in. And yes, her dog is a big part of her life (70%, she jokes). So are DIY projects, creative pursuits, travelling somewhere new each year, and many cups of coffee.
The Flour Mill is the perfect home for Little BIG. A rare blend of heritage character, creative locals, and a neighbourhood where people genuinely make the effort to know one another. Sarah loves hearing people talk about the Flour Mill with pride, especially when they have no idea she’s involved in building its community heartbeat.
Her favourite part of the day? When a volunteer sends her photos of the Little BIG House full of people connecting, or a message with a funny story from their event. Those small moments are proof that the experiment worked and that connection is alive and well.
Running a mission-led business isn’t without its challenges. Balancing vision with resources is always a juggle. But Sarah carries a farmer’s practicality with her (yes, she can pull a calf, throw a fleece, and ride a motorbike) and she’s the kind of person others describe as organised, community-minded, and someone who simply gets things done.
At the end of the day, Little BIG is exactly what its name promises: small actions, leading to big outcomes. A neighbourhood where you can walk in, feel like you’re in your own lounge room, and leave knowing you matter.
And here’s Sarah’s invitation to you. If you live nearby, pop in for a tea, join a coworking morning, or come along to a community event. Little BIG is for you, your family, your creativity, your connections. You’re always welcome.