Funded through the Tasmanian Community Fund, the Break O’Day Community Wellbeing project seeks to build community capacity to cultivate their own, and other people’s, wellbeing through multiple strategies including community conversations and the creation of local community-led actions. The project aims to:
- strengthen community capacity to manage and build personal wellbeing and make positive and proactive choices
- increase opportunities for community connection and create an inclusive and open forum to learn about and share experiences around wellbeing, identify community strengths, and to develop a shared language of wellbeing through introducing people to wellbeing literacy and wellbeing tools and using principles of positive psychology.
The following initiatives have been delivered as part of the program:
- An eight-week community wellbeing certificate program: This strengths-based program encourages participants to reflect on what they do well and to help them turn that into creating more good things for their community. In total, 80 community members have participated in the program.
- Appreciative inquiry community wellbeing summit attended by around 50 community members, which encouraged community members to reflect on why they love where they live and how they could use their strengths to grow a positive community.
- Wellbeing project website (wellbeingaction.org) to support wellbeing learning and showcase actions across the community.
- The annual Festival of Wellbeing: Held annually since 2021, by the council and volunteers, the event is attended by around 400 people annually, and involves about 60 contributors each year who create interactive experiences and share local information on programs and activities, from the community choir, to suicide prevention programs.
- Small local actions building on individual and community strengths: Examples include the Play it Forward card game, to help community members connect and explore where they live, a local games group, a women’s surfing circle and a men’s table.
- Wellbeing champions: Identification of wellbeing champions across the community helps to recognise some of the great work underway across the municipality.
Break O’Day Festival of Wellbeing. Photo: Break O’Day Council.
