Accidental Councillor
Accidental Councillor
To provide skills to those who find themselves acting as a councillor by accidents simply because of their role in the community.
Local Links - Stronger Communities -
LLCI008-009
The issue
Due to the drought conditions in our community we were hearing more and more stories from community members about the declining mental health of our local farmers and business owners. " I seen them last week and they seemed ok but when I seen them today I just didn't know what to say, they were really down." this was a common sentence heard in the community and people were wanting to help but didn't know how.
Many community members found themselves in this role by accident.
The solution
We received funding from FRRR to hold an Accidental Councillor workshop so we could provide community members with the skills to help those down on their luck and also to protect themselves from the unknown.
We held two Accidental Councillor workshops, One in Coonamble and one in Gilgandra.
21 people attended the workshop in Coonamble and 16 people attended the workshop in Gilgandra. The feedback received was amazing and all participant learnt a lot from the workshop.
The impact
We were able to give local people the skills to engage with those who are feeling down and direct them to the best place to get help. When the community is a long way from a regional area getting help can sometime be impossible. These workshops have help our communities become more resilient and more aware of mental health issues. It also gave the participants the skills to recognise when it was time to walk away and get the person or themselves external help and that it was ok to do this.
Key facts
- Mental Health
- Resiliant Community