‘Up Armidale Road and Other Tales’ community event coordinated by Lisa Hort was held at Upper Lansdowne Community Hall on Sunday the 20th of November 2022. The event was a collaboration of funding bodies to deliver a mental health, creative recovery, and musical event for the community of Upper Lansdowne and its surrounds.
The event at Upper Landsdowne Hall started at 4 pm with Lifeline Mind Your Mates 45-minute presentation (‘Toolbox tool’’ about recognising the signs of depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide) followed by the screening of three ‘Women’s Recovery Stories from 19/20 Black Summer Bushfires’, followed by afternoon tea. During and following the Lifeline presentation there was a creative recovery art activity for kids and young at heart located on the hall’s side deck. The location of the activity allowed parents to attend the MYM’s inside the hall knowing their children were safe and engaged in a creative, fun activity close by. The Lansdowne RFS cooked a BBQ before the screening of ‘Up Armidale Road” into the evening the community enjoyed live music with Grace and Hugh and the band with the evening finishing at 9 -9.30 pm.
The film Up Armidale Road follows the story of the tiny village of Nymboida, with two thirds of its residents left homeless by a the Black Summer bushfires. They embarked on a journey with musicians Grace and Hugh on an ambitious musical collaboration to bring the song to life in the midst of rebuilding the village and piecing together livelihoods.
The workshop aimed to: Bring the community together at the local hall and provide an opportunity to share stories about the recent disasters and build community connections. Build connections between the region’s community services and acknowledge their role during the bushfires Provide support to the community through mental health education and tools along with stories of recovery, film and music which created an opportunity to engage with the challenging experience through the creativity lens.
“RFS members said watching the film validates their experience of what happened with the fires on a local level.”
“Both the Up Armidale Road film and the women’s recovery film told the story of what happens to people, and communities impacted by disaster and how important it is to share these stories at a community level but also to the government body”.
Outcomes
The event opened up a conversation about the impact that the fires had on individuals and the local community and their mental health. Both during and following the event people reached out to the Midcoast Lifeline community advocate for support. The film highlighted to some people that they hadn’t got over the fires and the trauma of the disaster is still sitting within them. The film also reflected some of what the Lansdowne RFS went through in the 19/20 Black Summer bushfires and validated their experiences. The Upper Lansdowne event has been spoken about by neighbouring communities months later, and they voice their keenness to have the event at their local hall.
Download this Case Study: Creative Recovery Case Study – Arts Mid North Coast – Upper Landsdowne