From little things big things grow. For Kiama Unplugged founders Jane Bourne and Ian Harvey-George it’s a phenomenon they have witnessed first hand.

The unplugged initiative encourages the community to disconnect from their phones and reconnect with each other through a range of activities organised by Jane, a civil celebrant, and Ian, a pilot, at their own expense and supported by local community members.

The couple, originally from England, started Kiama Unplugged almost a year ago after recognising the value of community connection and seeing the negative impact of social media “brain rot”.

Each month Kiama Unplugged hosts a phone-free family afternoon at Fillmores with board games, Lego, colouring, outdoor games and an art corner with a talented local artist.

Every Thursday there is a reading hour at Cin Cin Wine Bar where families are encouraged to snuggle up with a book.

Kiama Unplugged also hosts Street Pizza Oven Nights, where families bring their homemade pizzas to cook and share in a communal oven.

The next step in the pair’s grand plan to get the community to switch on by switching off is a public piano project with Kiama Village Shopping Centre.

“We’ve sourced a piano and we've got a lovely local musician, a piano teacher, who's going to tune it for us for free,” says Jane. “So once we’ve found a removalist we’ll be ready for the community to play some tunes.”

Facilitating community connections was born of necessity for Jane and Ian when they settled in Kiama a decade ago.

With no family in Australia the couple’s neighbours became “their village” and the pair organised impromptu street parties “three or four times a year”.

Over the past decade these small steps have expanded into a region-wide movement to create a wider sense of community connection.

“We’ve always been very community minded prior to starting Kiama Unplugged,” says Jane.

Facilitating community connections was born of necessity for Jane and Ian when they moved to Kiama a decade ago from bustling cities in the UK.

With no family in Australia, their neighbours became “their village” and the pair organised impromptu street parties “three or four times a year”.

Over the past decade these small steps have expanded into a region-wide movement to create a wider sense of community connection.

“We’ve always been very community minded,” says Jane.

“We turned our front yard into a herb and veggie garden and invited the neighbours to help themselves.

“There’s also a book library on our street and we started toy libraries at local beaches because not everyone brings buckets and spades when they go on holiday.

“We want families to disconnect to reconnect and rediscover the simple things in life like board games and Lego.”

Jane points out that while many parents would like to limit their children’s phone use it’s often a minefield.

“Kiama Unpugged started from the idea that we wanted to get people to pledge that they wouldn't give kids a phone when they start high school just because everyone else has one,” says Jane.

“At the end of the day the more parents who hold off giving their child a smartphone the easier it will be to get kids on board too,” explains Jane.

Exclusion is an argument often levelled at parents in a child’s bid to get a phone, but Jane says children won’t feel like they're missing out if they remain connected to their community and social networks in other ways.

“Parents need to band together to ensure their child doesn’t feel excluded because they are the only one in their year without a phone,” she says.

The unplugged initiative kicked off around the time radio personality Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli helped launch the 36 months campaign, calling for a social media ban between the ages of 13 to 16 (the 36 months where teens are at their most vulnerable).

The social change initiative was backed by the federal government with new laws coming into effect from December 10. Anyone under 16 will be banned from accessing platforms like YouTube, TikTok, SnapChat, Instagram and Facebook.

Social media companies who don't enforce the ban could face hefty fines of up to $50 million. But parents have an important role to play in ensuring kids don’t find workarounds to the ban.

And the Kiama community is leading the charge, supporting the legislative changes by backing initiatives like Kiama Unplugged events.

Crowds continue to increase at Fillmores and Cin Cin and there has been a swell of support from local businesses pitching in to help. Known Design and Print promotes unplugged initiatives with signage and designs and prints merchandise.

Parenting expert Maggie Dent and Canberra’s The Heads Up Alliance - another growing community of families delaying social media and smartphones until at least the end of Year 8 - have also thrown their support behind Kiama Unplugged.

“It feel like it's getting a bit of a bit of traction from a very small idea initially, so we're really excited about what comes next,” says Jane.

“At the end of the day, we want our children and teenagers to not have the addiction to smartphones and social media because of the very serious damage to their mental health. And not just to young people, but so many people of all ages.

“In the past week we have already been contacted by supporters in Berry, Dapto, Hobart, Brisbane and Torquay who are interested in creating their own local Unplugged communities. We want to foster and support this.

“Our big dream isn't just for Kiama Unplugged, but lots of regional branches that all come under our umbrella of Australia Unplugged.”

Big things are growing. To join the movement visit Kiama Unplugged on Facebook and Instagram, an irony not lost on Jane, and keep an eye out for their upcoming website.