Making for a more inclusive Carnarvon
On July 18th, the Department of Sport and Recreation in partnership with Inclusion WA and the Shire of Carnarvon conducted free community workshops to provide information and raising awareness of building a more inclusive community.
02 August 2012
Inclusion is giving people of all ages who are disadvantaged, disabled or disconnected from society the ability to become more physically and socially active within a community.
Jo Vassallo and Will Kerr from Inclusion WA were contracted by DSR to present two dynamic workshops in Carnarvon.
“We were so pleased that the DSR in Carnarvon really understands community development, and wants to support the community to be inclusive of all people” said Ms Vassallo
Kerr presented the first workshop which was held at the Gwoonwardu Mia, Gascoyne Aboriginal Cultural and Heritage Centre. Twenty-two representatives from service providers, businesses, educators, and agencies attended the highly interactive and informative workshop.
The second workshop held at Premier Oval Pavilion, Carnarvon Festival Grounds was conducted by Jo Vassalo. Carnarvon’s sport and recreation representatives enjoyed a conversation with Jo on realistic strategies that can be used by clubs to include people with disabilities to participate in sport and recreation activities.
“The main goal of the workshops was to get people talking about the existing inclusion landscape in Carnarvon, and to start thinking about the possibilities. We believe this goal was certainly achieved.” said Ms Vassallo.
“We used conversation based learning as our medium for increasing awareness and education around the issue. We discovered that Carnarvon is a community of people who are friendly, welcoming and committed to inclusion.
“We enjoyed the participation of people at the workshops, and seeing the contributions of individuals that clearly value the place where they live. Carnarvon is a great place that has many winning assets, but by far the greatest asset of that community is its people”
One sporting club representative said “It is nice to have confirmation that we are on the right track. It is really encouraging".
Some of the professional representatives that attended Kerr’s workshop were form Durack Institute of Technology, PCYC Carnarvon, Carnarvon Senior High School, Granny Glasgow’s Day Care, Mungaullah Community, Shire of Carnarvon, Gascoyne Asset Maintenance, Disability Services Commission, Emu Services, Carnarvon Family Support and Centacare. Representatives from sporting clubs which attended workshop were form the Carnarvon Amateur Swimming Club, Carnarvon Softball Association and Regional Home Care Services.
Department of Sport and Recreation's Gascoyne Regional Manager Salvatore Siciliano said “The feedback from those who attended the workshops is brilliant. Everyone got something significant to take away with them”.
