In February this year, a diverse mix of Gladstone community members, downed tools and took time away from their usual work demands to come together for two days to improve community wellbeing.
An 'Early Years' Together in Action event held on Wednesday 21 February provided a strong demonstration of commitment to local children in the Gladstone Region. 60 cross-sector stakeholders representing health, education, social supports and the business community, spent a day together collaborating to enhance existing local supports for families and children.
Collectively, early years professionals and stakeholders workshopped access improvements to existing supports and designed further solutions to support local parents in their valued role raising our local children.
The event saw teams of local stakeholders present on projects that they have been developing over the last 18 months in response to community feedback and improvement suggestions contributed by community over the last 3 years. Projects are outcomes of the community-designed and endorsed Gladstone Region Wellbeing Action Plan, focused on improving wellbeing for families and children.
Attendees also participated in a practice opportunity for shared decision-making, reviewing community priorities and considering the allocation of funding into new initiatives and leverage existing strengths in the local service system to improve wellbeing outcomes.
Resources from The Early Years are available in the linked images below.
 |  |  |
|---|
On Thursday 22 February, 'The Gladstone Social Plan' Together in Action event brought together 53 stakeholders from government and non-government sectors, spanning health, education, social, and economic interests.
Event participants collectively designed core elements of an inaugural Gladstone Social Plan.
The Gladstone Social Plan will help align local efforts for community wellbeing outlined in existing local, state and national government plans and strategies, and non-government social impact management and social investment plans and strategies. It will support the alignment of existing services and help address identified gaps and improvement opportunities to enable a healthy local supports system and community.
While the community-designed Gladstone Region Wellbeing Action Plan is already established with projects being implemented to improve outcomes, specifically for families and children in the Gladstone Region, the Gladstone Social Plan is designed to capture opportunities to improve wellbeing outcomes for everyone.
Participants acknowledged the work of community to date in sharing aspirations for the future of our region and shared frank and open thoughts on the individual and collective work that needs to done, to enable the level of equity and collaboration required to achieve our collective goals.
Whole of community voice and lived-experience in identifying priorities in the plan, was collectively identified as critical to ensuring that the plan meets the needs of everyone in the Gladstone Region, including our most vulnerable community members.
Updates from these events are available from GRT.
Opportunities to participate in workshops and contribute to community needs to inform the plan will occur throughout 2024.
For those interested in contributing personal experiences to inform the Gladstone Social Plan, additional information can be found via the link below and survey QR code.
For further information, please contact GRT
P: 07 4970 7382