Castlemaine Goldfields Football Club members donned red, black and yellow for their training session last Thursday evening celebration of NAIDOC Week (November 8-15). See the Mail for more…
New study looks at impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workforce
Castlemaine Health will be part of a unique research project exploring the impacts of COVID-19 on the health and wellbeing of the rural and regional healthcare workforce.
The three-year study, which hopes to recruit 4000 healthcare workers from health services throughout the Loddon Mallee region, aims to develop practical interventions that can improve workers responses to disasters in the future.
Bendigo Health and La Trobe University will lead the study on behalf of the health services in the Loddon Mallee Health Network, St John of God Hospital Bendigo, the five Loddon Mallee Community Health Centres, the Murray Primary Health Network and the University of Copenhagen.
This consortium will jointly conduct the $1m million research project which is funded through state government’s Victorian COVID-19 research fund.
Castlemaine Health Chief Executive Officer Ian Fisher said the project was an important means of understanding how the pandemic has impacted health care workers embedded in close-knit communities.
“Health services in regional and rural communities are generally the largest employer, meaning the impact of COVID-19 on health care workers has a more direct impact on the community at large,” he said.
“The study presents a unique opportunity to examine rural and regional populations, which have historically been underrepresented in this type of research.”
Epidemiologist Associate Professor, Mark McEvoy from La Trobe Rural Health School is the Principal Investigator.
Professor McEvoy said many overseas studies had assessed the impact of COVID-19 on health care workers’ mental health, but little research had been done to understand the “resilience factors” of workers and communities.
“We don’t know the protective and resilience factors. We don’t know why some do really well in a pandemic and some don’t,” he said.
“The study aims to establish this and develop resilience-based interventions for health care workers so they can improve their response to disasters in the future.”
Professor McEvoy said the study will begin recruiting health care workers in November.
Teddies turn 30!
A small group of members of the Friends of Red Cross Castlemaine gathered at Run Rabbit Run recently to celebrate the iconic Red Cross ‘Trauma Teddies’ – the bears who care – which are turning 30 on November 23!
Friends of Red Cross Castlemaine spokesperson Sue Tribe said Trauma Teddies are a special non-funded program that relies on the generosity of volunteers.
The local gathering aimed to celebrate the efforts of two of the group’s dedicated local knitters Lorna Anstey and Beryl Mein and Trauma Teddies coordinator Margaret Boyle.
Golden gift
During months of lockdown and isolation the Goldfields Quilters have kept busy toiling away on their beautiful patchwork quilt creations.
Last week the quilters were delighted to finally be able to gift their colourful handmade quilts to two deserving local organisations, including Castlemaine Health’s Ellery House. See the Mail for the full story.
Circus cabaret
Castlemaine Circus Festival presented their Spring Cabaret for one very special online show only on November 21.
The show was beamed live from the home of Castlemaine Circus Inc at The Goods Shed.
The online cabaret featured talented local circus performer Mason West (pictured) and a host of other Victorian talent. The festival thank everyone who tuned in and look forward to hosting their inaugural festival event at the Western Reserve in 2021.
Proudly local leaves sweet taste
Castlemaine fifth generation beekeepers Peter and Michelle McDonald could be forgiven for feeling just a little famous whenever they go shopping.
That’s because their faces are now featured statewide on literally hundreds of jars of Capilano honey as part of the new Proudly Local campaign celebrating Aussie beekeepers.
The Capilano Proudly Local range introduces a state-by-state product that features a local beekeeping family, shares a little of their beekeeping story, and promises the honey in each pack is produced solely from beekeepers in that region.
The McDonalds are the first of the Victorian beekeepers to feature with similar labels produced for each of Queensland, NSW-ACT, South Australia and Western Australia.
The campaign aims to help keep the nation’s beekeeping industry strong while calling on consumers to buy local and educate themselves about how their food reaches the table.
Aussie beekeepers are fighting back after a challenging year marked by bushfires, honey shortages and Covid-related border closures.
“We need a new generation of beekeepers to take up this profession to see it thrive into the future,” Peter McDonald said.
“Beekeeping is not just about producing honey. There is a much broader agricultural role as well.
“We pollinate out at Harcourt and do three separate orchards.
“Australia really needs its bees and its beekeepers and the main thing is to support them.”
Peter and Michelle admit they’re finding the experience of featuring on the first of the Victorian Proudly Local labels to be quite a sweet experience.
“It’s exciting especially for Victoria,” Michelle told the Mail this week. Read more in today’s Mail…
Run The Maine raises $9000 for hospital
The final tally is in and it shows that this year’s Covid-modified virtual version of Run The Maine raised $9000 for Castlemaine Health.
The impacts of Covid on crowd gatherings forced the RTM committee to run the event with the theme of ‘Run Your Own Race’ encouraging runners to run alone at any location and upload their times.
And keen runners responded well with 205 registering for the runs ranging from 5km to 21 km.
“It’s brilliant,” RTM event director Gavin Kraser told the Mail this week following final tally confirmation.
“It’s surpassed my expectations.”
The committee keenly hopes next year’s Covid landscape will permit the event to return to the 2019 format when more than 700 runners participated on courses in and around Castlemaine raising $25,000 for Castlemaine Health.
“We want to build it into a really significant event for Castlemaine and central Victoria,” Mr Krasner said. See the Mail for the full story.
Lest we forget
It was a respectful, masked and socially distanced crowd that gathered at Castlemaine’s cenotaph on Wednesday – to Remember.
The threat of Covid might still be lurking, but the assembled crowd was not about to let eleven am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month pass without due notice.
The minute’s silence honouring those who died fighting to protect the nation in WWI, and conflicts since, was observed along with The Last Post, the Australian National Anthem and a brief address by Castlemaine RSL president John Whiddon. See the Mail for the full story.
Community answers the call
Community members with metal detectors were urged to turn out last Saturday November 7 in the hunt for a lost wedding ring.
As detailed in the Mail on October 23 local couple Emma and Piers were seeking the community’s help after Piers lost his wedding ring after a night out celebrating their second anniversary at Castlemaine’s Railway Hotel on Friday October 9.
Hearing about their plight local metal detecting enthusiast Bill Sikora came to their aid and organised last Saturday’s ring hunt. Volunteers spent three hours retracing the couple’s steps from the Railway Hotel, through the Camp Reserve and along Forest Street and Bruce Street but unfortunately the ring was not found.
Determined not to give up Emma and Piers have pledged a $150 reward for the ring’s return and Mr Sikora has kindly chipped in a further $150. See the Mail for the full story.
Bush Tucker on the menu
Bush Tucker is on the menu at Castlemaine Health all this week in celebration of NAIDOC Week (November 8-15).
NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, this year they were postponed due to Covid.
Castlemaine Health’s Aboriginal Liaison Officer Melinda Harper and Chef at Castlemaine Health’s Quick Fix Café Roland Farve developed the Bush Tucker menu featuring a host of native Australian ingredients.
Ms Harper said Castlemaine Health always acknowledges NAIDOC Week but this year they wanted to try something different.
“Bush tucker ingredients have been used by Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years. We wanted to bring some of those ingredients and flavours here for our staff and visitors to try,” she said. See the Mail for the full story.
Bridget’s birds fly for Big Design Market
Even as a child in Northern Ireland Bridget Farmer always loved birds.
When she came to Australia at the age of 27, Bridget says she was “blown away” by the variety of native avian life around her.
Now living in Guildford, Bridget turns her appreciation for her “little winged muses” into unique art pieces.
She’s now one of a number of local designers and artisans whose creations will be part of this month’s Big Design Market Online.
In previous, non-Covid, years Bridget has personally taken her work to the Big Design Market at both Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building and also Sydney’s foreshore Barangaroo Reserve.
“The Big Design Market is a real buzz. You get to meet your customers in person,” says Bridget of the last two year’s markets that she attended along with “boxes and boxes” of her creations.
“People tell me their stories of their affinity with birds – so I get to hear the most beautiful stories.”
Due to the Covid pandemic this year’s Big Design Market is shifting online offering pre-Christmas shoppers a chance to peruse the original work of more than 200 designers, over 100 of whom run Victorian based small businesses.
“I concentrate on Australian native birds,” Bridget told the Mail during a visit to her Guildford studio this week.
“Essentially I’m a printmaker mainly focusing on dry point etching.”
Her designs celebrate the native birdlife she sees around the local area and she turns these into items including linen tea towels, bird mobiles and desk sculptures, enamel lapel pins and original etchings.
The hugely diverse range of products on offer in the Big Design Market Online include a swag of new kids’ books by independent publishers including The Very Hungry Bum by Castlemaine based Atlas Jones & Co.
The Big Design Market Online happens over Wednesday November 18 to Sunday November 29 with a website, instagram and Facebook.
Library supports inclusion
During lockdown Castlemaine Library was working behind the scenes to make the local venue more accessible for all community members.
Castlemaine Library manager Jess Saunders said that back in January Mount Alexander Shire Disability Advocacy Group (MASDAG) conducted an audit of the newly refurbished library to identify areas that needed improvement in terms of accessibility.
“MASDAG noted that our our new tables and booth seating prevented those in a wheelchair from utilising the seating areas.
“I approached the Rotary Club of Castlemaine for support to craft two new benchtops to make the new tables wheelchair friendly and they were more than happy to support the project,” Jess said. See the Mail for the full story.