How good are Rotarians! This week we were totally in awe of the dedication and commitment of Rotarian, Trish Carr and her team, who saw a need and got together to create the Mental Health and Crisis Support card.
As a teacher we were always told you needed to use a ‘hook’ to get initial engagement at the beginning of a lesson. The ‘hook’ which Trish used to get our attention was so powerful, that for those of you who were not at our meeting or for those of you who would like to view it again, I have attached the link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPFy5GrlTnY
All of us have someone in our lives who has been affected by Mental Health challenges. And it is a sad fact of life that there are more and more families than ever before, who need crisis support.
How good it is that with the use of a simple QR code those people and/or their loved ones have somewhere they can go which will give them the support that they need, when they need it the most.
Not only does the link provide contact details for Lifeline, Beyond Blue, Kids Helpline, Headspace, SANE (for people affected by complex mental health issues), Open Arms (for Veterans & their families), The Orange Door (for families needing support for children and young people experiencing family violence), Mensline Australia, My Aged Care, Griefline, Red Nose Grief and Loss Support Line (to support those who have experience the loss of a pregnancy, baby or child), but they have also recently added the National Centre for Farmer Help, as they saw a need to support our rural friends too.
The plethora of other support services which people can access via the QR link cover drug, alcohol and gambling addictions, homelessness, family violence, support for people, their friends and families, who identify as LGBTQIA+ is impressive and extremely comprehensive and it can be accessed on a phone at any time of the day or night.
At our next Board meeting we will look at where our Club wants to go with putting the Mental Health and Crisis Support QR into our local community.
Out and about, members have also been very busy this week delivering and collecting Art Screens. Well done to those who have supported this Club project, which is one of our major fundraisers. I know a call has gone out for more helpers (especially a couple of people who can tow) so if you can help, in any way, please let Felicity and Trevor know.
Another team was also busy at the Berwick Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning. This is such a great way of getting our Rotary name ‘out there’ so please come and help at the next market, if you can. Even though a few stall holders told us this was a very quiet market, our sales were pretty steady throughout the morning. We were able to use almost all the eggs left over from the previous market and any extra bread rolls and a couple of dozen eggs which were left over were, once again, donated to the Vinnies Soup Van.
A small group was also working at the Langmore Centre on Thursday morning, replacing some of the plants and also fertilising and tidying the garden there.
This week we welcome Nina Stanyer, a friend of our local Akoonah Ward Councillor, Scott Dowling, to our meeting.
Nina, has travelled down from QLD and is currently in Victoria presenting to a number of organisations on Domestic Violence. Nina is an author, speaker and mentor whose work centres around self-trust, identity, choice and the restoration of internal authority.
As we know, DV awareness is one of District Governor Emma’s focuses this Rotary year and a topic which, unfortunately, we do need to be more aware of, so that we have the tools to help those who may need our support.
Looking forward to seeing you all this week.
