The Wardell Youth Leading the World "My Richmond River" program has been a transformative journey for our young participants, empowering them to connect with and explore the natural beauty and significance of the Richmond River. Through a series of engaging field trips, educational activities, and hands-on experiences, our youth have gained a deeper understanding of the river's ecosystem, riparian zones, and the importance of environmental conservation.
This program has not only fostered a sense of environmental stewardship among our youth but has also provided them with valuable opportunities for personal growth, leadership development, and community engagement. By actively participating in water testing, habitat restoration efforts, and cultural heritage activities, our youth have become advocates for the preservation and sustainable management of the Richmond River.
Valued at over $300 This course is fully funded and positions are limited.
Training will be held over 2 consecutive Saturdays 16th and 23rd. Attendance at both days will be required to complete this training.
About the trainer :
Mark Smith is a leading instructor of the Youth MHFA program. In his role with MHFA International as a consultant trainer, Mark is entrusted with the responsibility of training and assessing new Youth MHFA Instructors. Mark has been delivering Youth MHFA courses from July 2010.
Have you ever noticed an adolescent or young adult experiencing distress, and wanted to reach out more effectively?
Gain skills and confidence with a Youth MHFA Course
The YMHFA course will teach you how to assist adolescents who are developing any of the following mental health problems, experiencing a worsening of an existing mental health problem or in a mental health crisis.
Course participants receive a copy of the YMHFA Manual to keep and will be eligible to complete an online Accreditation Assessment in order to receive a Mental Health First Aider Certificate of Accreditation valid for 3 years.
Course Content
Learn how to assist adolescents who are developing any of the following mental health problems, experiencing a worsening of an existing mental health problem or in a mental health crisis.
Developing mental health problems
Depression
Anxiety problems
Eating disorders
Psychosis
Substance use problems.
Mental health crises
Suicidal thoughts and behaviours
Non-suicidal self-injury
Panic attacks
Traumatic events
Severe psychotic states
Severe effects from alcohol or other drug use
Aggressive behaviours.
123 Magic and Emotional Coaching
facilitated by The Family Centre
This is a parenting program developed to assist parents to respond to your children’s behaviour and help you feel more confident in your parenting approach. The course explores the emotions and in particular how to help children identify and manage emotions to encourage positive behaviours and build emotional resilience. For parents/carers with children aged from 2–12 years. 3 x 2 hour sessions.
Monday, February 12, 2024 - Monday, February 26, 2024, 05:00 PM-07:00 PM
Creative youth led action
Join us for the final activity in our My Richmond River program where we will be learning to screen print and creating our very own t-shirt designs using the artworks created on our previous programs.
This will also be the last session (for now) with Sue Lennox from OzGreen where we will re-cap everything we have learnt, explore how we can take this program forward and continue to grow our youth leadership program to empower our communities young people to protect, preserve and celebrate our Richmond River.
Next workshop : Saturday 2nd December
Lunch and snacks included.
Meet at Wardell CORE - 3 Sinclair Street, Wardell
Sessions run from 9am - 3pm.
SPACES ARE LIMITED TO PLEASE GET IN TOUCH TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT.
What you will need :
Bring a plain light coloured t-shirt or item of clothing to print your design onto.
You can purchase new shirts if you want - but this is a great opportunity to add some create flair to something you already have in your wardrobe.
Wear clothes appropriate for working with ink.
Join us to develop ideas for youth action !
Save our Koalas!
Calling all youth ages 10 and over !
Come on an adventure and tour the Koala Hospital, Koala Care Centre & Burribi Community Education Centre, join local Koala champion Maria Mathes from Friends of the Koalas and Sue Lennox from Oz Green as we explore our local ecosystem and Koala habitat.
"Bushfires, droughts, excessive deforestation, animal attacks and vehicle strikes have put our east coast koalas on the pathway to extinction." The recent floods have put further pressure on fragile Koala habitat and their population.
We will be exploring how we can look after our local Koalas, viewing Koala forage plantations, and getting our hands dirty planting a new Koala refuge in East Coraki.
Next workshop : Saturday 18th or Sunday 19th November
Lunch and snacks included.
Meet at Wardell CORE - 3 Sinclair Street, Wardell
Sessions run from 9am - 3pm.
SPACES ARE LIMITED TO PLEASE GET IN TOUCH TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT.
What do young people want for our Richmond River ?
Calling all youth ages 10 and over ! Come on a Kayaking adventure with us to explore our Richmond River health. We will be exploring our local ecosystem, biodiversity and riparian zones and how we can look after our river and community.
Next workshop : Saturday 21st or Sunday 22nd October
Lunch and snacks included.
Sessions run from 9am - 3pm.
SPACES ARE LIMITED TO PLEASE GET IN TOUCH TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT.
If you have a budding young scientist, naturalist, outdoors enthusiast, environmentalist or keen fishers in your family we will be talking river health, exploring the results from our previous field trips, water testing, community surveys and discussing how we can work together to protect our river. Join us to develop ideas for youth action !
Calling all young people !
We have a great program running next weekend where we will explore our regions river health and how we can use youth voices to create projects and beneficial outcomes for our river and community
Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th. Lunch and snacks included. Sessions run from 9am - 3pm.
SPACES ARE LIMITED TO PLEASE GET IN TOUCH TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT.
If you have a budding young scientist, naturalist, outdoors enthusiast, environmentalist or keen fishers in your family we will be talking river health, exploring the results from our last field trip and discussing how we can work together to protect our river.
Identifying threats to river health and the concerns of young people
Review water testing results and other data
Develop ideas for youth action !
What would you like you like to see happen and how would you like to be a part of making change.
We will be presenting our findings and ideas to the community at the Wardell Gone Fishing Day on Sunday.
This program is run in conjunction with the amazing team at OzGreen and supported by the NSW Department of Regional Youth.
Tuning in to Kids (TIK) is an evidenced based, emotion-focused parenting course that supports parents/carers to recognise, understand and manage their own and their children’s emotions.
TIK has proven success in improving children’s emotional intelligence which can reduce big behaviours.
Who is it for?
All Parents and Carers from our region. Royal Far West are delivering TIK as part of a local Community Recovery Program.
Where?
Small group sessions will take place in person at Wardell CORE, 3 Sinclair St, Wardell NSW 2477
When?
The course runs during the school term, with 1 session per week over 8 weeks. Each session is 2 hours in length. The group will run on Tuesdays, commencing 10th October, 2023.
Next steps:
TIK is free to join & spots are limited. Please the Royal Far West team if you are interested or have questions: communityrecovery@royalfarwest.org.auor (02) 9466 1726
Coming soon in 2023
Project Vision
The recent natural disasters in the Northern Rivers have left many of our youth traumatised and socially isolated. This catastrophe has left our communities severely disrupted with damage to many of the open spaces, community facilities, schools and social activities that young people need for their psychological, physical and social wellbeing.
Evidence suggests that about 1 in 4 young people can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder following a natural disaster in Australia and that the specific needs of young people are overlooked amidst disaster recovery. With a lack of social activities, places to call their own and safe spaces to discuss their concerns with professionals and peer-support, young people are often left behind in the recovery process. Furthermore, youth voices are often ignored in community resilience development and future planning.
