Hastings Community Drug Action Team has been an active since the Drug Summit in 1999, with some of its original members still active 20+ years later. Over this time they have worked on a long list of projects including family fun days, Drinksafe, NAIDOC activities, Festival of the Sun and education events which have all contributed to reducing the harm of OD in their community.
In 2021-22 a new collaboration was formed with Headspace and Wauchope High School to provide a four-day workshop engaging a Manga artist, Matthew Lin, to support students in co-designing a mural focusing on connection, country, and nature, for their school community and a theme evolved…
Jewel of Wauchope
The goal: to bring this small school community together after experiencing fires, floods and COVID, that identified protective factors, celebrated resilience, support, and connection within the school. The activity was developed in a way that nurtured the esteem of the students and the school community and successfully engaged students from different areas of the school who would not usually work together.
Headspace was on hand for informal conversations, AOD and mental health resources were available throughout the project. Students were encouraged to expand their knowledge of support services online or through finding out about local services with some students integrating the resources into school assignments. The Manga drawing and Steam Punk Art encouraged participation from the wider school community as a lead into the upcoming Cosplay Festival in August.