We’ve received a grant to establish a network of Community Carers and Responders across the Northern Rivers!
We're delighted and grateful to announce that Resilience NSW has awarded Resilient Byron with a grant to fund our proposed 2-year project.
The aim of this project is to establish a network of 100 trained and mobilised Community Carers and Responders (CCRs) who support their community throughout the disaster management cycle (prevention, preparedness, response and recovery) and build community resilience and regeneration in 5 Northern Rivers LGAs affected by the 2019-2020 bushfires (Ballina Shire, Byron Shire, Kyogle, Lismore City, Richmond Valley.
CCRs will be trained in first aid, psychological first aid, and building resilient communities. They will support the community in disaster prevention and preparedness; assist in the first instance in an emergency in their neighbourhood and help the coordination with emergency agencies; and support the recovery post-disaster. Beyond disasters, CCRs will also work on strengthening links within their community, by creating an atmosphere conducive to caring for each other, identifying the most vulnerable in their communities and exploring ways to support them, organising localised events to bring the community together, and facilitating links and connections within their community. They will also be working with the community to explore opportunities for building resilience through regeneration.
The project will officially start on the 1st of May and we will spend the three first months consulting with relevant stakeholders and designing the project accordingly.
Meanwhile, we’re taking this opportunity to provide you with an update about our ongoing activities:
- Byron Shire Resilience and Regeneration Roadshow: we have completed this project, spearheaded by Renew Fest and funded by the Northern Rivers Community Foundation this past Saturday. If you couldn’t make it to one of these events, you can read and listen to a range of media stories and podcasts featuring special guests of the Roadshow here: Roadshow.
- Near completion of a pilot workshop in Bangalow on building resilient communities, in partnership with OzGreen: the final workshop is scheduled for the 24th of April.
- Active participation of Resilient Byron at the Northern Rivers Strategic Bushfire and Disaster Convergence organised by Renew Fest in partnership with us, on the 3rd of May.
- Active participation of Resilient Byron at the coming Renew Fest with a Resilience Hub (8th and 9th of May), several resilience workshops, a Tiny Home expo and panels.
- Provision of an 8 months Resilient Communities Facilitator training throughout the Byron Shire, in partnership with OzGreen and funded by the Northern Rivers Community Foundation. You can still apply for it! More info here: We are offering free training to build your community’s resilience! — Resilient Byron.
Resilient Byron is also implementing other projects (through the Housing Security team, the Health and Wellbeing team, the Research team and the Energy Security team in particular) but this is getting too long so we’ll stop here for now.
Last but not least, please support us by taking our Resilience and Regeneration Survey!
We look forward to starting the Community Carers and Responders project soon - stay tuned!