Council joins with Rotary to hear children’s voices following bushfires

Wollondilly Shire Council is partnering with Wollondilly North Rotary to deliver a project for children and young people in the Wollondilly area who have been affected by the Green Wattle Creek bushfire event.

The Wollondilly Children’s Voices project will capture the voices of the youngest members of the community who were impacted by the bushfire event, ensuring that their wellbeing has been considered and their perspective incorporated into future preparedness and recovery initiatives.

Wollondilly Mayor Matthew Deeth said, “I would like to thank Wollondilly North Rotary for providing the funding to allow us to bring this valuable project to life for the families of Wollondilly”.

“This is about giving children and young people a voice and encouraging them to express their emotions.”

“Talking about and sharing experiences is part of the healing process for all ages. The information we get from this project will also help us to prepare for future disasters.”

Mark Davies, President Wollondilly North Rotary said, “On behalf of all the members of Wollondilly North Rotary, we are pleased to be able to support this worthwhile cause. Working in conjunction with Di North, our past District Governor, we were able to make a successful submission to RABS (Rotary Australia Benevolent Society) to obtain this grant.”

“It has been a devastating year here in the Wollondilly Shire and to be able to help the young children any way we can in the recovery and healing process is a valuable goal.”

The project will bring together a team of Wollondilly Shire Council staff, including a qualified childcare worker, a primary school educator and a practicing child psychologist.

The children will be encouraged to share their personal recollections and thoughts of the Green Wattle Creek bushfire event whilst participating in activities such as painting, craft and play activities to express their experience.

They will also be invited to draw pictures which will be used to develop a children’s story book to capture their experiences of during and after the bushfire.

During the sessions, the staff will try to capture key themes from a child’s perspective to be incorporated into the Activate Wollondilly 2020 project and identify from a child’s perspective what worked well and what could have happened better in the response and recovery efforts. The feedback will be included in the Final Activate Wollondilly

2020 Wollondilly Long Term Community Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Council will also try to identify other resources to assist children and young people in their resilience building and preparedness for future disaster events to be incorporated into Council’s Get Ready toolkit.

Workshops will commence in August at the following locations around the Shire along with the Dilly Wanderer

Buxton - Wednesday 12 August

The Oaks - Monday 24 August

Picton - Wednesday 26 August

Warragamba - Thursday 27 August

Registrations are essential. Please contact Robyn Syphers Project Leader on 02 4677 9514 or email [email protected]