scone.com.auWhere There’s a Will Going Right
WHERE There’s a Will Foundation is going to host a two day summit later this month to identify ‘what is going right’ to create change and develop a blueprint for promoting wellbeing across the Upper Hunter.
The ‘Appreciative Inquiry’ summit will be held at Muswellbrook High School on July 28 and 29 will involve representatives from all sections of the community including politicians, media, medical professionals, community health workers, teachers, sports coaches, parents, grandparents, school students, business houses and key industry groups including mining, horsebreeding and agriculture.
Pauline Carrigan, founder of Where There’s a Will Foundation is looking at new ways to address mental health issues.
“Like many rural communities we face some significant challenges around ensuring good mental health is a priority, when a problem like this exists, the normal approach is to look at what’s going wrong and then try and fix that, ” Pauline Carrigan said.
“What we’re looking to do with the ‘Appreciative Inquiry’ summit is to take a strengths based approach to create change.
“We’ll use the summit to identify what is going right – to understand what already exists in the Upper Hunter that allows people to flourish – and then we’ll look to create more opportunities to build on those.
“We’re inviting people from across the community to come together for two days to figure out where we’re doing a good job to help young people flourish, to understand what’s working and how can we do that more consistently.
“This won’t be a ‘talk fest’, this will be a ‘doing fest’. People will walk out of the summit with a clear idea of what needs to happen and who needs to take action to make these hopes a reality.” said Pauline Carrigan.
Michelle McQuaid will be hosting the summit and is a world leading expert in translating positive psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies for health and wellbeing and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Harvard Business Review and is an honorary fellow at Melbourne University’s Graduate School of Education.
“This is the first time I’ve seen such a strong community based approach to improving wellbeing and I think we’ll see some really positive changes happening very quickly after this summit,” Ms McQuaid said.
“I’ll be explaining how positive psychology approaches are helping young people all over the world flourish – allowing them to function effectively as they navigate the highs and lows of life that we all experience.
“It is not about making young people ‘happier’, it’s about making them more confident of handling whatever comes their way.
“Using an Appreciative Inquiry summit to embed this approach is nothing new, it’s not rocket science: schools, businesses and government organisations have been doing it for years, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a strong community based approach to addressing wellbeing.
“The way all the schools in the Upper Hunter are working together is truly remarkable and I hope to see it replicated in other communities around Australia.”
Dr Eddie Rice from Scone Medical says the community is fortunate to have Where there’s a Will working to mobilise so many different groups to come together and develop a plan for wellbeing.
“This is an incredible opportunity for people in Upper Hunter to create some really meaningful change to the mental health problems facing this community,” Dr Rice said.
“This isn’t something that doctors or teachers or parents can deal with in isolation, it needs everybody working together and that’s why we’re so excited to be a part of this Appreciative Inquiry summit.”
Anyone interested in offering ideas on what is ‘going right’, what makes people in the Upper Hunter is asked to contact their local Where there’s a Will committee.
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