THE Balranald community will come together at the town’s football ground for a jam-packed community event.
Local Aboriginal health service Maari Ma Health Balranald is organising the event with the help of a flood-recovery grant from the New South Wales Government.
“This is the first time we’ve had the help of a government grant to put on a community event,” Maari Ma Health Balranald nurse manager Emma Moore said.
The event will have a strong focus on mental health with guest speakers and headspace shining a light on mental health issues in the community.
“We got together with the community and they were looking for some mental-health speakers to come to Balranald because they wanted to find out some tips for looking after their mental health,” Ms Moore said.
“Based on that, we organised the guest speakers and who will be talking about various aspects of mental health such as mindfulness, healthy living and suicide prevention.”
The event will be held at the football ground on Sunday from noon to 6pm and will feature food stalls, rides, and kids’ activities such as a jumping castle, face-painting, rock-climbing and a petting zoo.
There will be talks and workshops with special guests including comedian Sean Choolburra, former AFL player Glenn Manton, and Matt Runnalls, of Mindfull Oz, who will be talking about suicide prevention.
While there will be discussions around deep and sensitive topics throughout the day, the event will finish on a lighter note with a stand-up comedy set by Choolburra.
“He’s hilarious and it’s a must see,” Ms Moore said.
“We had him a few years ago in Balranald and we were crying with laughter, and needed tissues at the end because that’s how good he was.”
Ms Moore said organisers had arranged a variety of activities for the whole community.
“There’s a lot of activities for the kids to do, but there’s also things available for the adults and things for the men as well,” she said.
“We just wanted something for everyone in the community, so they can all have something to take away from the event.”
Ms Moore said the upcoming event meant a lot to the community after being affected by floods, COVID-19, and grief from losing community members.
“I’m looking forward to the whole community coming together and just seeing the kids happy and everyone laughing after having a tough few years.”
Entry to the event is free and open to anyone in the region.
“I know that all the kids in town are definitely interested,” Ms Moore said
“Hopefully we will have nice weather and it will go well.”
