Connecting community through Wellbeing Day

Social emotional wellbeing project officer Teagan Wanganeen said the event helped create a safe space for community members.

“Coming into that winter, it's hard to get our mob out of their houses and start to work on themselves,” she said.

“So we thought we’d bring something together, have a feed, and just have a yarn and not make it so clinical because I feel that our mob turn from clinical.

“If we create days like this, then we get more of an engagement from mob to go to the hospital and know that the hospital's not such a bad place and that the police are here to support for us and (they’re) not a scary (group).”

The event began with a smoking ceremony, led by Colin Atkinson, before guests were invited to take a look at the different stalls on the day.

Stalls were hosted by local community groups including Boys to Bush, Djirra, Echuca Regional Health, Echuca CFA, Headspace, Ambulance Victoria and Echuca police.

In the hub, visitors were able to get crafty as they designed their own jewellery.

A barbecue lunch was also cooked on the day by the Njernda team for guests to enjoy.

Ms Wanganeen said she hopes to host more wellbeing days in the future.

“(We’re) just trying to show that we're all working together so that our mob can have the best go at life really,” she said.

“I want to try and do this once a month or every two months or something, just so that we can come together in a more culturally safe space.”

If any First Nations peoples are seeking out services, they can drop in to any Njernda office and will be referred accordingly.

The Njernda Wellbeing building is located at 34-86 Annesley St, Echuca.