Drought Support Grants - Empowering our Communities

The successful recipients from Round 1 of the Empowering our Communities grants are summarised below:

We Can (Community Life Batemans Bay) - a 12-week program consisting of two x two hour weekly sessions aimed at providing participants with the tools and strategies they need to deal with a variety of mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression.

Replay Eurobodalla (Impact Eurobodalla) - intensive play therapy group work programs will be delivered during school terms in collaborating schools within the Eurobodalla. Alongside each program there will be child-parent relationship training sessions, which will provide parents with customised behavioural strategies for each child.

Delivering 'My Black Dog' (Fling Physical Theatre) - My Black Dog Wellbeing workshops delivered free of charge through local high schools across the region from Narooma to Eden.

Women in Dairy Breakfast (FSC Women in Dairy Network) - scheduled to coincide with the Dairy Research Foundation Symposium being held in Bega in July, the FSC Women in Dairy will be hosting a breakfast for other Women in Dairy Network members.

Youth Mental Health First Aid Facilitator Training (headspace Goulburn) - headspace Goulburn, in collaboration with Goulburn Mulwaree Council, will send two staff members (one from each organisation) to be trained as facilitators of Youth Mental Health First Aid workshops. On completion of the training it's expected they'll be able to establish opportunities to run the program regularly across the region.

Practical Support for Mental Health (Upper Lachlan Landcare) - Upper Lachlan Landcare will be running a series of events including:

• Landcare smokos - drop-in sessions with a social focus for the rural communities of Crookwell and Gunning
• Q Fever Info session - two sessions scheduled, with one session being delivered in Crookwell and one in Gunning
• First Aid on the farm - subsidised First Aid Training workshops for at last 25 landholders in Upper Lachlan. This activity will have an On Farm First Aid focus ensuring practical every day advice is provided for real situations that can arise in isolated and remote locations.

Families who Farm (Tablelands Farming Systems) - a group training event being held in Goulburn with a qualified speaker providing information on biosecurity compliance requirements and how to handle farm protestors. Training materials and resources will be available to inform farmers how to manage stressful situations and provided free of charge to all participants.

RUOK Project (Goulburn Suicide Prevention Network) - a series of activities to coincide with R U OK? Day include:

• High School talks - sourcing keynote speaker Nathan Hulls, a well-regarded high school motivational speaker and resilience specialist, to engage with young people at local high schools within the region. Nathan will provide information on how young people can support those around them
• Suicide Prevention Packs - packs will be collated and made available to community members free of charge.

Yoga for Seniors (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) - a ‘Yoga for Seniors’ program to residents of Yallambi Lodge aged care facility in Cooma and the Snowy River Hostel aged care facility in Berridale.

Social and educational program for isolated community members (Delegate Progress Association) - a series of activities including:

• Women’s morning tea and luncheon - a pamper day for local women with a guest speaker and a local health professional on hand to conduct general health checks and provide advice on health services in the region
• Shopping trip - transport will be provided for local community members on a set date allowing them to travel to the neighbouring township of Bombala for lunch and shopping activities
• Men’s Happy Hour - a lightly catered event at the local country club with a guest speaker delivering a talk on men’s health and a local health professional on hand to conduct general health checks and provide advice on health services in the region.

G’Day Mate! Men’s BBQ (Shoalhaven Suicide Prevention Awareness Network) - a monthly BBQ get together for men in the Shoalhaven region.

Bringing Mental Health Support and Wellbeing to you with OzHelp (Queanbeyan Suicide Prevention Awareness Network) - OzHelp ‘Tune Up’ vans will attend scheduled events across the Queanbeyan Palerang region. The ‘Tune Up’ vans will include support from qualified professionals who will provide mental health and wellbeing screening support services free of charge to individuals attending each event. Support Vouchers will be provided to allow follow up telephone support to those that are unable to access services due to stigma, lack of transport and/or availability of services in their local area, the vouchers will be valid for 12 months from the date of issue.

Upcoming events:

• Braidwood Follow up - 1 March 2020

Farmer health and wellbeing screening and support service (OZ Help) - OZ Help will be providing health and wellbeing screening and support services to local farmers at the Yass Landmark Trade Show in June 2019. These services will be delivered free of charge to individuals and will include access to ongoing mental health coaching and support from qualified professionals at Oz Help.

'Building Resilience in tough times' Farmer social gathering (Far South Coast Dairy Development Group) - in collaboration with the Far South Coast farming networks, the Dairy Development Group will coordinate and host an 'off farm' dinner for farmers, organisations and businesses associated with farming. This social, resilience building event 'Building resilience in tough times' will be held in June with key note speaker Neville Brady talking on a range of topics including improving personal and mental health and business effectiveness.

Let's Be Mindful (Monaro Community Access Service) - the Monaro Community Access Service will facilitate a series of mindfulness workshops across Cooma, Jindabyne, and Bombala. The workshops will run from May 2019 to December 2019 and aim to teach participants the art of mindfulness and how they can use this in their everyday life to help reduce stress and anxiety.

Southern Inland Agriculture Gala Dinner (Regional Development Australia – Southern Inland) - the Southern Inland Agriculture Gala Dinner will be held on 14 November 2019 in Goulburn, the week before Australia’s National Agriculture Day. The Dinner will celebrate the contribution farmers make to the industry and provide an opportunity for farmers and the community to come together. The evening will feature Glenn McGrath as the key note speaker. Glenn will discuss resilience, rural health, and his upbringing. The event will include a sit-down dinner with local Southern Inland red meat and live music. This event will be the first of its kind in the Southern Inland region of NSW.

Youth Mental Health First Aid Training (headspace Goulburn) - Youth Mental Health First Aid Training workshop for up to 25 community members associated with local youth related organisations in the Goulburn, Yass and Crookwell regions. A two-day program scheduled to be held in May 2019 which aims to educate community members on how they can best assist adolescents developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis.

Sing and Grow Program (Narooma Schools as Community Centres, Narooma Public School) - Group programs which aim to engage families with children aged 0–5 through music therapy, to reduce the impact of early adversity. Programs will be held during school terms at locations accessible to families i.e. Bodalla Public School or Narooma Public School with referrals being made from local agencies and organisations including FACS, Department of Education, Campbell Page, Red Cross, Centrelink, NSW Health, Katungul, and local preschools.

Empowering Eurobodalla (Eurobodalla Shire Council) - The Empowering Eurobodalla grant covers three separate activities consisting of:

• Come and try physical health programs - the programs will be conducted in council facilities from May 2019 to July 2020. Each program will run for 10 weeks and will be delivered free of charge across the Eurobodalla Shire.
• Mental health training - two workshops for volunteers within the community to build on people's understanding of the mental health support services available. The workshops are proposed to take place in Batemans Bay, July 2019 and Moruya, March 2020.
• Farmers' Picnic - scheduled to take in place in Moruya in October 2019, the farmers' picnic aims to build a support network for farmers and their families. The picnic day will have guest speakers and support agencies available to provide information regarding drought support and resilience.

Jamberoo region dairy farmers – Get togethers (Country Women’s Association Jamberoo) - An initiative coordinated and hosted by the Country Women's Association (CWA), the events will encourage farmers, their families and communities to come together to support one another. The two ‘Get togethers’ are aimed at promoting social connectedness and community resilience.

Mental Health First Aid Training for RFS Volunteers (NSW Rural Fire Service – Southern Tablelands Zone) - aimed at ensuring Rural Fire Service (RFS) volunteers are better equipped to provide their communities with the informal support often required in times of need. This initiative will provide Mental Health First Training to RFS volunteers across the Southern Tablelands Zone, inclusive of Goulburn / Mulwaree, Upper Lachlan Shire and Yass Valley LGAs. The courses will be delivered between July and December 2019 across three separate sites: Crookwell, Goulburn. and Yass.

Women’s Wellbeing Workshops (Women’s Resource Centre) - the Women’s Resource Centre will coordinate and facilitate a series of women’s wellbeing workshops to support the emotional wellbeing of women in the Bega Valley. The workshops are designed to build skills in self-care and provide opportunities to engage in activities that build resilience and emotional wellness as well as new connections to reduce social isolation. The workshops will be delivered from the Women’s Resource Centre in Bega and will run from mid June 2019 to mid October 2019.

Young Men’s Mentoring Camp (Teen Clinic) - an initiative coordinated by Bega Valley Medical Practice’s Teen Clinic in collaboration with Bega High School, the Young Men’s Mentoring Camp includes a weekend of outdoor activities that promote ‘mateship’ and enhance communication and team work skills. It is an eight week mentoring program aimed at building resilience in young men, 15 years of age, within the Bega region.

Defying the Drought (Jerangle and Peak View Country Women’s Association Branch) - the local CWA branch will host two café style afternoon get togethers aimed at enhancing community connectedness and reducing social isolation.

Yass Farmers Mob Together (NSW Farmers – Yass Branch) - a dinner event scheduled for October to coincide with Mental Health Month, this event will highlight the importance of communicating during hard times and asking R U OK? Well-known entertainer, author, poet and comic Murray Hartin will be guest speaker at the event and there will be a range of local health professionals on hand to explain the services available to support individual wellbeing. Held at the Yass Soldiers Club, this will be a whole family event with childminding services available. It is hoped the event might kick start future projects aimed at supporting resilience of not only individuals but the broa der Yass community.

Resilient Young Families (Campbell Page) - a monthly group-based program for very young parents in Moruya and the surrounding region. Aimed at improving the parenting capacity of young parents by strengthening core life skills, supporting responsive child/parent relationships and reducing sources of stress.This program will run for 12 months and be provided free of charge to young parents participating.

Good Grief’s Seasons for Growth (Mackillop Family Services) - Mackillop Family Services will be providing ‘Seasons for Growth’ training to 30 professionals across the Eurobodalla and Yass regions (15 in each region). Participants attending the training will be provided with the knowledge, skills and support to deliver future programs within their regions. Parent / carer sessions will also be provided early in the 2020 school year for parents of the Eurobodalla / Yass regions with Mackillop Family Services providing an evaluation of the programs run by trained facilitators during the 2020 school year.

One Book One Community (Sapphire Coast Anglican Parish) - the ‘One Book One Community’ initiative aims to encourage participation in a Shire-wide reading event of a single book, There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett. Local community organisations, businesses, high schools, book clubs, and individuals will be invited to participate in the initiative which will include mid-month discussion groups of the book as well as a ‘Meet the Author’ event. Local HSC students studying Extension English 1 and 2 will also have the opportunity to engage with the author.

Mental Health Matters: Farming Communities Workshops (Australian Red Cross) - the Australian Red Cross will coordinate and deliver eight Mental Health Matters Farming Communities workshops across the South East NSW PHN region. Each of the four hour workshops will engage participants in a nurturing and accepting learning environment with the aim of supporting self-resilience, recovery, and recognition of mental health needs. Workshops will be offered free of charge and take place during November 2019 to June 2020 in the following regions:

• Bega Valley
• Cooma Monaro
• Eurobodalla
• Taralga
• Crookwell
• Yass
• Queanbeyan
• Nowra

4 week health challenge (PA2Health) - PA2Health will provide preventative mental and physical health solutions for individuals through the coordination of a 4 week health challenge. These FREE challenges will utilise accessible technology and will be available to 550 residents in drought-affected communities across South Eastern NSW. With the support of health experts who will guide you every step of the way, individuals will have access to recipes, meal ideas and shopping lists, guided relaxations to improve sleep and combat stress, and exercise routines for all levels of fitness. Throughout the challenge individuals will receive daily messages of support and motivation all using Facebook Messenger!

The successful recipients from Round 2 of the Empowering our Communities grants are summarised below:

BEGA VALLEY

Sapphire Life Opportunities Ltd: Eden Kids Club - Delivered over a 12 month period this weekly after school program will include outdoor games, craft activities, and group discussions aimed at promoting positive engagement with peers and adults. The program provides children and families with the opportunity to connect in a fun, safe and supportive environment.

Wellways: Community Wellness Activities - A series of events that will bring the local communities in Bega and Eden together to showcase what mental health services are available. Wellways will work collaboratively with other services to link individuals to available services, provide community education on managing stress and assist with reducing stigma.

COOMA MONARO

Crop Tour of the Monaro – To provide an opportunity for farmers of the Monaro region to regroup, share experiences and support each other following the recent bushfire event. The activity will bring together community members of the Monaro region and will feature a ‘crop tour’ of local farms; with young and old, female and male farmers, the event aims to provide a social gathering for the farmers after both the bushfires and COVID-19 restrictions.

EUROBODALLA

The Family Place: Mindfulness and Meditation Groups - A six week program incorporating gentle stretching, visualisation techniques, breathing and mindfulness. Qualified staff will be on hand to care for children under the age of six in the Family Play Room if needed. This program will provide families the opportunity to share, connect and debrief around the impacts of drought. Participants will be able to support each other in learning these new skills and connect as parents of children who are also facing the same challenges.

Eurobodalla Shire Council: Eurobodalla Farmers Dinner - A wellbeing dinner event that will bring the local farming communities in the Eurobodalla region together to talk and build connections with the aim of promoting wellbeing and improving the mental health of local farmers within the region.

GOULBURN MULWAREE

Regional Development Australia Southern Inland: Southern Inland Agriculture Gala Dinner 2020 - A formal sit down dinner event featuring two guest speakers and held in Goulburn. This event aims to celebrate the contribution agriculture makes to the economy and provide an opportunity for farmers and the community to come together. The focus of the evening will be on resilience and the importance that communicating and connecting during hard times can have on maintaining positive mental health.

Anglicare NSW South: Positive Living Skills Wellbeing Initiative - Lifetime licences of the Positive Living Skills wellbeing program will be purchased to support the children, educators and families of four Anglicare early learning centres within the Goulburn and Marulan areas: Goulburn Family Day Care, Goulburn Early Childhood Centre, Orana Preschool and Marulan Preschool.

GUNNING

Gunning District Community and Health Service: Gunning and District Gentlemen’s Lunch - A men's lunchtime event aimed at relieving some of the stress and anxiety in the local drought affected community. The lunch will provide a safe environment for people who are going through similar experiences with professionals on hand to discuss and educate the group on mental health resilience, managing stress, anxiety and depression.

Gunning District Landcare: Landcare for the future - A school holiday activity to engage children and young people in the Gunning District to learn about the natural environment, and to become the Landcare members of the Future. Activities are designed around experiential learning to enhance the participants' knowledge of, and instil a lifelong commitment to, conservation, care and regeneration of the land. Activities will focus on building the young people's resilience, and demonstrating the benefits of the natural environment on physical and mental health.

UPPER LACHLAN

Upper Lachlan Landcare: Building Community Support Networks in Upper Lachlan - A series of events including three grazier meetings and one fit farmer event to support the local community by building stronger supportive networks. These networks will have the potential to increase awareness of good mental health practices as well as improving resilience amongst the community.

Gunning District Association: Upper Lachlan Active Villages 2 - This activity will see local personal trainers engaged to deliver a 10 week group program demonstrating the correct usage of recently installed outdoor gym equipment in the villages of Collector, Crookwell, Dalton, Gunning and Taralga. The programs will provide participants with the skills to undertake regular physical activity aimed at improving their mental health and building resilience. Participants will have the opportunity to learn new skills, enhance social connections and develop coping strategies to assist with manage stress.

WHOLE REGION

Pa2health: 4 Week Community Wellbeing Program - Pa2health will provide preventative mental and physical health solutions for individuals through the coordination of a four week wellbeing program. This FREE program will utilise accessible technology and will be available to 550 residents in communities across South Eastern NSW. Individuals will have access to recipes, meal ideas and shopping lists, guided relaxations to improve sleep and combat stress, and exercise routines for all levels of fitness.