Stay Afloat Australia’s Community Resilience Grants
STAY AFLOAT: (L-R) Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council CEO Julian Harrington and Rural Alive and Well operations manager Andrew Dean joined Senator Jonno Duniam and Stay Afloat program manager Jo Marshall for the launch of the grants in Hobart on February 8.
As part of the Stay Afloat Pilot Program 25 Community Resilience Grants are available to support events that encourage commercial seafood communities nationwide to come together in a supportive setting to raise awareness of mental health and the benefits of overall wellbeing.
The grants form an important part of the Stay Afloat program and are designed to support and improve the mental health and wellness of our national, commercial seafood industry. Members of commercial seafood communities both small and large are encouraged to apply.
The objectives of the grants are:
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To encourage seafood community members to come together in a supportive setting;
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To raise awareness of the benefits of positive mental health and overall wellbeing towards a quality of life; and
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To provide support and tools to improve the mental health and wellbeing of our commercial fishers.
Once we receive your application our grants approval panel will review and let you know the outcome.
We encourage everyone to apply and if you need a hand just let us know.
Short on ideas?
Tie a barbecue or morning tea to your next association AGM, safety day, meeting or just because you want to and ask us for some positive mental health material to share, or find a local speaker to engage with. Topics that you may like to focus on include
- Healthy communities
- Healthy living
- Positive psychology
- Mindfulness
- Stories of lived experience with mental illness
- Stress management
Start a weekly walking or other exercise group that ends with a breakie, or cup of coffee at the local café.
Hold a community ‘Walk to Stay Afloat’ – engage local community members, even your local council and hold a community walk followed by a breakfast. Get fishers and their families to come along.
Don’t get tied up in knots! – hold an event where people can come and learn the generations old skills of fishermen, such as tying knots or mending nets.
Land meets sea – get a group of local primary producers together from both land and sea (farmers and fishers) to hear from a local speaker, share stories, food and laughter.
Start a book or podcast club – get together once a month to chat about a common book or podcast on a topic of the groups choice. Use your funds to buy a cuppa, or some books each month.
‘Feeding our Fishers’ – Engage with some local chefs/hospitality workers and hold an event where your local fishers bring along the fish and the locals ‘give back’ and show appreciation for our Fishers by cooking them a meal. You could get creative in lots of ways to make our Fishers feel appreciated.