Congratulations to North Townsville Community Hub (NOTCH) for winning the Highly Commended Queensland Resilient Australia Award. NOTCH were one of two finalists for the Queensland Resilient Australia Awards in the Mental Health and Wellbeing category for disaster resilience projects.
The award was presented for NOTCH’s incredible work running the Tackling Regional Adversity through Integrated Care (TRAIC) Mental Health Program. This program was delivered during incredibly challenging times, through the aftermath of the 2019 Townsville Floods and the beginning of COVID-19.
The program created a place-based mental health network in Townsville’s Northern Beaches and hosted more than 22 programs over 12 months. Funded by the Queensland Health: TRAIC grant, this program included wages for a coordinator and a variety of mental health supports that could be accessed via the NOTCH Neighbourhood centre.
These supports were targeted to meet emerging needs in the community. The variety of programs was immense and deeply valuable to the community including: Youth Mental Health programs, Community Connection events and Tai Chi classes to build coping behaviours for individuals. It also aimed to build the capacity of the communities sector through providing free training in Psychological First Aid and Trauma Informed Practices to local organisations and community groups.
Absolutely amazing work by NOTCH, creating such a huge impact on the lives of their community members during incredibly challenging times.