Grass roots support makes a difference in Mount Morgan and Gracemere

Families living in regional and remote areas often face many challenges when it comes to raising a young family. 

From limited access to early childhood education and care through to a sense of isolation or being disconnected from specialist services, life in these communities can be both challenging and rewarding. 

The five members of The Benevolent Society’s team in Mount Morgan and Gracemere, in Central Queensland, have been working to ease these challenges for families in their community through the establishment and promotion of an Early Years Place for the region. 

Early Years Centres (EYC) and Early Years Places are ‘one-stop-shops’ supporting families and children from birth to eight years of age.

Since April 2022, the Mount Morgan and Gracemere team, comprised of five team members (three who live locally), have worked to establish and deliver this support to local families in a variety of ways, starting with an on-site ‘Play & Grow’ group at the Mount Morgan EYC site, alongside mobile ‘Reach Out & Play’ playgroups organised in Gracemere and Bouldercombe.

Through networking with local schools, organisations and attending a range of local community and neighbourhood days, the team grew awareness for their Early Years services in the region, and now operate in both Gracemere and Mount Morgan.

Local families benefit from a range of opportunities including a playgroup, reach out groups in mobile locations within the Gracemere and Mount Morgan area, parenting workshops, and group sessions helping children and families transition into kindergarten or prep programs. 

“For the Central Queensland region we were in, residents were not familiar with The Benevolent Society. As we laid the groundwork for our services, we focused on educating the local communities around what this support was and how we can walk alongside families and children,” Marisa Phillips, Manager – Child, Youth and Family Services Queensland at The Benevolent Society explained.

“The team didn’t skip a beat getting out there, meeting with locals and other community organisations to put a friendly, welcoming face to the early years support we were bringing them.” 

Along with handing out informative flyers and establishing a social media presence, awareness-raising was successfully achieved through the team networking with local stakeholders and attending local community and neighbourhood days, Ms Phillips explained. 

Forging close relationships with other local community organisations was also key. In Gracemere and Mount Morgan, the team worked closely with Children’s Health Queensland, as well as local schools including Waraburra State School, Gracemere State School, Bouldercombe State School, and Mount Morgan State School to start delivering their programs and playgroups. 

As the community has become more familiar and connected with the EYP team, they have shared their thoughts and insights about what programs and systems could be in place to offer further support and guidance, with the Mount Morgan and Gracemere team recently launching a brand new program offering, Nurture & Grow. 

Nurture & Grow combines the evidence-based frameworks from INFANT and infant massage practices to create purposeful sessions for families with babies up to 12 months old, giving parents a unique way to connect with their babies in the first year of life. 

The program covers topics including nutrition, parent wellbeing, active play, feeding and infant massage workshops to empower families in meeting their babies’ developmental needs.   

Offered in two hour sessions at both Mount Morgan and Gracemere once a week during school terms, the program is already proving popular with the local community. 

“The first 12 months with newborns are incredibly formative. During this time, parents may also feel a bit overwhelmed with the new skills and techniques to learn as part of this journey.

“Our new Nurture & Grow program helps alleviate these feelings. It teaches parents skills like understanding and responding to their baby’s cues, knowing when to introduce solid foods, and infant massage techniques. These sessions also give local families the opportunity to discuss their experiences and learnings with other parents,” Ms Phillips said.

Learn more about The Benevolent Society here.