Overview
Overview
Introducing the Port Lincoln community.
Port Lincoln is a region of great strengths, beauty and resilience. Like all communities, there are people doing it a bit tougher. Industry changes, COVID-19, drought and climate change, tourism instability and international trading relations all have their impact. Across the community many people have experienced trauma, whether it is bushfire related, family violence, or disconnection from culture and identity.
There are many people and organisations providing great support and care in the region. But we know, this sometimes this can occur in a silo, or isolation, where individuals and agencies work really hard in their own patch, but may overlook opportunities, or lack the tools and methods to collaborate and develop shared responses and solutions.
The shared vision for The Bush Telegraph is for Port Lincoln to be a wellbeing and trauma responsive community. This is a community who has the knowledge, skills, language and methods, founded upon best-practice science, to work side-by-side together to intentionally respond to the growth needs of individuals and communities, and in a manner that really honours local knowledge systems and strengths. A community that acknowledges the power and resilience of Aboriginal understandings of social-emotional wellbeing.
The Bush Telegraph Port Lincoln Partners and Community Partners
Intent ('What')
Build a Wellbeing and Trauma Responsive Port Lincoln Community
As Made Practical Through the Following Co-Designed Outcomes
System or Community
The Port Lincoln community has sustainable methods, language and shared processes to co-design and implement ‘wellbeing solutions’ at the ‘system’ or ‘interagency’ level.
Community Partners
Foundational awareness and skills
- Wellbeing, resilience, brain functioning and mental health.
- Intentional trauma-responsive practice.
- To intentionally respond to community member needs, rather than react to behaviour.
- How to work with others in shared intent, and develop shared growth solutions (or Growth Action Plans) together.
Community (Clients)
Individual and collective community members have increased:
- Awareness (literacy) of what is wellbeing, resilience and mental health.
- Awareness and skills to apply best-practice tools and methods to build positive mental health and wellbeing outcomes.
Project intent: Working together in “Shared Intent” to deliver meaningful outcomes for children, young people and families.
LBI Foundation is supporting schools and agencies across Port Lincoln to come together and build a wellbeing and trauma responsive community. This work is being delivered under the LBI program: The Bush Telegraph, and the local program partner is Centacare Catholic Country SA.
The project is focused on empowering and building the capacity of the Port Lincoln community to work together in “shared intent” and deliver meaningful wellbeing, learning and whole-of-life outcomes for local children, young people and families.
The Bush Telegraph is founded upon the IMPACT Program. IMPACT offers an evidence-based common language, knowledge, methods and skills to intentionally translate the science of wellbeing, trauma and growth into action. It moves best-practice science from just another thing to do, to a way of thinking and being.
The Bush Telegraph is designed to deliver sustainable ripple effects that expands from practitioners/teachers, to organisations and to children and families, and deliver outcomes important to all layers.
Community Funders
- The 2024-25 project is funded by Australia Post.
- The 2023-24 project was funded by: The Fred P Archer Charitable Trust (Perpetual Impact Grants), with in-kind support provided by LBI Foundation and the local community partners.
- The 2020-21 project was funded by Wellbeing SA. Click here for research outcomes
Actions ('How')
Suite of capacity building opportunities available to all community partners
Project Features
The Bush Telegraph is designed to strengthen existing community wellbeing and mental health initiatives. The Bush Telegraph delivery was founded upon the following four features.
- Foundational IMPACT Training – this was delivered at the start of the project in January 2022 to diverse community partner members. The training provided the foundational shared language, methods, tools and resources to enable the science of wellbeing, growth and trauma to be translated and personalised to individual context, in a manner that honours the strengths and knowledge of individual and community. The project offered a rolling cycle of professional development.
- Community Champions – four local Centacare Catholic Country SA community members were trained, coached and accredited to the IMPACT Coach level, to support the localised coaching and embedding of IMPACT content (30+ coaching sessions conducted, in collaboration with LBI).
- Community Conversations– interagency workshops to build a shared intent and collaboration (5 community conversations). Local partner conversations and group-based coaching.
- Wellbeing Projects – the Community Champions and LBI supported the delivery of 6 projects that translated the science of wellbeing and trauma to individual agency and community needs and context.
Pictured above: Centacare Catholic Country SA Community Champions.
Local Quote
The Role and Importance of The Bush Telegraph For Regional Communities
Supporting our local communities to develop ownership of their wellbeing journey is vital to sustainability and growth. Working together side-by-side, The Bush Telegraph offers access to best-practice wellbeing solutions that are embedded in the community and have a positive impact on outcomes.
27th of November 2023 – Children and Young People Who Hurt Others: Growing Empathy
(3 Hour Online Professional Development Workshop)
- 1st of December 2023 – Statewide Community Conversation: Where Does “Love” Sit Within Care, Support and Teaching?
- 2 Hour Online Forum.
- Further information and registration click here.
- 14th of December 2023 – IMPACT Foundations Workshop (Introduction to Intentional Trauma-Responsive Practice)
- Full day workshop at Department of Child Protection in Port Lincoln (8.45pm to 4.00pm)
- It is the foundational training program for The Bush Telegraph.
The one-day accredited IMPACT workshop will provide trainees with the evidence-based common language, knowledge, methods and skills to empower them to intentionally:
- Respond (rather than react) a client’s individual growth, trauma, learning and developmental needs.
- Scaffold client’s growth through side-by-side coaching relationships, growing awareness, skills and mindsets associated with thriving outcomes.
- Work side-by-side together clients/families/others in shared intent, and co-construct shared wellbeing and growth solutions (What-What-How Plans), as personalised to client needs, context and voice at the centrepoint of planning.
- For further information and registration, please contact Greg.
- Community champion phone and/or zoom implementation coaching by Greg (on a needs and interest basis).
- Community champion phone and/or zoom implementation coaching by Greg (on a needs and interest basis).
- Online professional development workshop – 3 hours (topic and date to be advised)
- Onsite group-based coaching and community conversation (date and intent to be advised)
- Community champion phone and/or zoom wellbeing project planning conversation by Greg (on a needs and interest basis).
- Online professional development workshop – 3 hours (topic and date to be advised)
- Community champion phone and/or zoom wellbeing project planning conversation by Greg (on a needs and interest basis).
- Onsite group-based coaching and community conversation (date and intent to be advised)
- Community champion phone and/or zoom wellbeing project planning conversation by Greg (on a needs and interest basis).
- Online professional development workshop – 3 hours (topic and date to be advised)
- Community champion phone and/or zoom wellbeing project planning conversation by Greg (on a needs and interest basis).
- Online professional development workshop – 3 hours (topic and date to be advised)
- Onsite group-based coaching and community conversation (date and intent to be advised).
Project Lead and Contact
Greg Hatcher
For further information and contact details, please contact Life Buoyancy Institute’s Community Development and Wellbeing Lead, Greg Hatcher.
- Email: greg.hatcher@lbi.org.au
- Phone: 0421 826 319
Local Impact and Stories
Port Lincoln is a community committed to making a difference in the lives of local children, young people and families.
The IMPACT program equips local Port Lincoln afterschool fishing program to teach young people more than how to catch fish.
A Port Lincoln afterschool fishing program is tailored for young people who are having some difficulty fitting in at school.
LBI Foundation’s Community Development and Wellbeing Lead, Greg Hatcher, was recently on the Port Lincoln wharf and able to see two leaders interact with young people, naturally using the elements of validation, curiosity and coaching in their supporting roles.
During IMPACT training, Jim really resonated with the diagram of the brain and had used it extensively with young men to help them understand the concept of grounding and being able to self-regulate.
Jim shared a story with Greg about the power of ‘mirror neurons’ when he was engaging with a young person who was acting aggressively and escalating their behavior. They were outside and near a building. Jim put his back against a wall and slid down to the sitting position on the ground. He said that the young person calmed very quickly and ended up sitting down against the wall near him. Jim was able to have a side-by-side conversation with the young person about “what’s happening for you at the moment?”
This intentional coaching conversation led to growing the young person’s awareness of triggers, brain function and skills in grounding.
This is the intent of The Bush Telegraph. Local people, integrating the IMPACT content into their practice and growing the awareness, skills and mindsets of members of the community.
April 2024.
