AS a Councillor, it’s easy to get caught up in the road, rubbish and rates mantra that some believe is our entire focus.
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Every now and then though, a real gem comes along that allows us, as elected officials, to participate in something that truly has the ability to not only shape the Upper Hunter but revisit the entire way the country educates our children.
Every Councillor and numerous council staff have been invited to participate in the Upper Hunter Appreciative Inquiry Summit, a world-first, uniting the whole of the Upper Hunter community.
The summit is being hosted in the Upper Hunter by local charity “Where There’s A Will” and will unite almost 200 people from our shire, Muswellbrook and Singleton.
People from different walks of life, coming together to discuss building pathways to help young people flourish across Upper Hunter schools and communities.
So why Appreciative Inquiry and why here?
The community of the Upper Hunter are capable and competent and can tackle any issue that they put their mind to. They have decided we have to look after our own.
Mental health and suicide are no longer dirty words that they once seemed to be, the conversation has been started, people are talking and that is great.
What we need to do with this new conversation is to figure out how to keep it going and continue to head in the right direction.
The summit will allow us as a community to look at the things we do well, where we might need to make adjustments and how we can use our strengths to do this.
Youth in rural communities often face challenges not applicable to their city cousins.
The summit will help us empower ourselves and our kids to face their challenges and life issues that can be unique to a rural environment.
As someone with a personal connection to “Where There’s A Will”, I am very proud to be able to attend the summit and even more pleased to be asked to represent council at such a ground breaking event.
The progress that ‘Where There’s A Will’ is making in the important area of mental health and wellbeing of our youth is to be commended and I am pleased that we in the Upper Hunter are leading the way for our community to thrive.
