About Us
Find out more about who we are, what we do and who we do it for.
How Grafton Living Started
Hi! I’m Melissa Dyogi, the founder of Grafton Living. Welcome to this wonderful online Grafton community space!
My Grafton roots run deep. I was proudly born and raised in Grafton, attending local primary and high schools in the area, before moving interstate and then overseas to attend university. I am an experienced Content Creator, Website Designer and Tour Guide, and I have worked in the areas of web design, search engine optimisation, international relations, and travel and tourism for many years. I have a strong and very long connection to the local Grafton area with my Mum, Grandma, Aunties and Uncles also growing up, attending school and working in Grafton, and my Grandparents as well as my Great Grandparents also being born, raised, attending school and working their whole lives in the Clarence Valley region.
The Importance of Community Connection
I have a strong passion for Grafton and the Clarence Valley and I believe that local living can further be improved by connecting the community. I have always had a great love for my local community and I feel very grateful to have spent my childhood in Grafton. I loved playing at the beautiful local parks, going down to the river each week, attending the annual Jacaranda Festival events each year, and as I got older also volunteering at the local Grafton community radio station as a Radio Announcer and Programmer. It really is an ideallic family location, with fantastic weather all year round, surrounded by stunning national parks, beaches and waterways including the mighty Clarence River, and many safe outdoor spaces available for children to play and simply enjoy being kids. Grafton also has a fantastic community spirit and is a place where residents and businesses always come together to support each other and collaborate on joint projects to benefit the local community.
Recent events such as the decision by the State Government to bypass Grafton on their upgrade of the Pacific Highway and the devastating bushfires that have affected the Grafton region, together with my love for my hometown, led me to launch Grafton Living in order to give back to my local Grafton community and to help more people learn about what a wonderful place Grafton is to live and visit.
Grafton Living’s Mission
The aim of Grafton Living is to have an easily accessible online space where anyone living, working or spending time in the Grafton area can connect to and make the most of this fabulous part of the world. Grafton Living is an exciting space for community engagement and its main mission is to make Grafton an even better place to live.
It is my hope that Grafton Living will be the go-to place for local insights, interesting local news items and helpful information about the local area. This is a welcoming and user-friendly platform where local businesses can be recommended and reputable tradespeople introduced, where people can discover great local activities to take part in, donations can be made to hardworking local charities, and local residents and visitors can unite to bring about positive change in the community.
I hope you enjoy your time on Grafton Living and you find just what you’re looking for!
How To Find Your Way Around The Grafton Living Website
Home Page
Our Grafton Living HOME PAGE offers articles about subjects including the local community, our amazing regional lifestyle, the home and family, noteworthy local personalities, interesting places to visit and great local businesses to support.
What's On In Grafton
Our WHAT’S ON IN GRAFTON page highlights upcoming events for kids and adults in the Grafton area, as well as anything a little further away that might be of interest. Upcoming events can be viewed ahead of time to make planning your schedule a breeze and bookings easily made if necessary.
Grafton Dining Guide
The GRAFTON DINING GUIDE is a platform for our many incredible local Grafton cafes, restaurants and eateries to display their menus and let the community know what makes them stand out.
Grafton Business Directory
Our GRAFTON BUSINESS DIRECTORY is a much-needed list of our local Grafton small businesses and services. Here, local businesses can showcase their services in a clear and succinct manner to potential customers. It is essential that our community knows about these small specialty businesses that make our region what it is and that people can find their contact details smoothly, in order to preserve and better support them. Everybody loves supporting local, and you can now do so quickly and easily at the click of a button in our comprehensive Business Directory.
Grafton Community Directory
Our GRAFTON COMMUNITY DIRECTORY supplies a list of and detailed information about local children’s and adult’s classes and activities and not-for-profit organisations under categories such as Sports and Recreation, Arts and Culture and various Community Groups. Here you’ll find helpful details about local sporting groups, hobbies, creative leisure activites, relaxation, and so much more you may never have even known existed in the Grafton area.
Visit Grafton
The VISIT GRAFTON page highlights information that is essential for those visiting Grafton to know. It details handy facts about the area and showcases the region’s beautiful sightseeing spots, fun activites and great local travel and tourism operators. If you’re a visitor to Grafton or you’re in the process of planning your next trip here, head on over to our Visit Grafton page.
More About The Grafton Business Directory
For local businesses, a great photograph, clear logo and an engaging list of your main services is all you need to connect with and engage an audience of people who are looking for exactly what your business provides. If you’re a local business that is located in the Grafton region, go ahead and take full advantage of the wonderful opportunity to list your business on Grafton Living.
Please also get in touch if you have any feedback, suggestions or amendments to information featured on the website.