Wellways invites you to book a free Well Together Workshop – Staff training, Professional Development, Run a group for people accessing your service

Wellways Australia are rolling out an exciting new project in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven area and we would like to invite your organisation to be involved.

Wellways has been funded by the NDIA to deliver our ‘Well Together’ workshops, to organisations like yours, in order to explore mental health, community inclusion and issues surrounding stigma. The workshops are tailored to the specific organisation and community context of the attendees and aim to generate practical actions that attendees can take to build strong, supportive and welcoming communities for all.

Our workshop runs for 3 hours (shorter version can be negotiated) and includes a presentation from a speaker with direct experience of mental health challenges and recovery. Workshops are suitable for groups of 10 -20 people and there is no charge for hosting a workshop. We will come to you to deliver the workshop at a time that is suitable for you.

If you are interested in booking a workshop or have any further questions, please contact Amy Bertakis on 0417 642 698 or abertakis@wellways.org. Please also feel free to extend this invitation to other groups or organisations you think may be interested.

Background Information

What is the Building Belonging project?

Wellways Australia has been successful in receiving a grant from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA, the agency responsible for rolling out the NDIS). The grant is known an Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) National Readiness Grant. The ILC is focused on improving the inclusion of people with disability. It is about creating connections between people with disability and their communities. One way the NDIA wants to help create those connections is through providing grants to organisations such as Wellways.

This funding provides Wellways with the opportunity to train Community Educators with lived experience of mental health challenges to share their personal mental health experiences and to facilitate Well Together workshops.

The project will provide community groups and organisations with:

• A Three Hour ‘Well Together’ workshop including a presentation and Q&A session with a person with direct experience of mental health challenges and recovery
• Phone and email support from Wellways Helpline peer volunteers
• Access to online resources, videos and interactive learning activities
• Helpful information and resources such as tip sheets for implementing inclusive practice, policy templates, resource kits with posters, postcards and fridge magnets

The Well Together Workshop                                    

Workshop Aims

The workshop aims to provide community groups with information, knowledge and skills to be supportive, welcoming and inclusive of people in their community who are affected by mental health issues.

 Who is the workshop for?

This workshop is suitable for all community groups and organisations who want to provide a supportive, welcoming and inclusive environment. This could include sporting groups, hobby groups, workplaces, schools, council organisations, community groups, parents groups, religious groups… any group of people.

No. of attendees – Minimum of 8, maximum of 20 people. (Ideally between 10 -15)

Duration – 3hrs with a break

Module 1 – Exploring and understanding mental health

Module 2 – Supporting recovery and creating inclusive communities

Learning methods

• Information sharing
• Group discussions, exploration, reflection and brainstorming
• Learning from expertise gained through personal experience
• Group and individual activity