There was a lot of love in the room at Hotel Rochester on January 18 for Rochester Rotary’s wellbeing evening for men.
Rotary Club of Rochester president Heather Watson and Rochester Bowls Club president Graham Willis were the brains and brawn behind the event, which attracted more than 50 men to the Moore St hotel for an informal two-hour gathering.
A car park conversation between the pair resulted in them co-ordinating the evening with the hotel.
Mr Willis said he had always considered himself to be a strong person, but even his resolve had been tested in the past few years — particularly since October last year.
“Fortunately I have a phone-a-friend card,” he said.
“I spoke to a friend for three quarters of an hour and while I know it is going to be a long journey, there are people out there who can, and want to, help.”
He said he posed a question to Mrs Watson: “Do you think there are blokes out there struggling?’’
Four weeks later the billiards room of Hotel Rochester was overflowing.
Mr Willis said the work of Mrs Watson had been amazing, and ensured the success of the event.
Rochester-based former police detective Narelle Fraser was a late withdrawal as a guest speaker, informed only earlier in the day that she was able to relocate from a motel back to her house.
Her position alongside Rochester and District Health Service guest speakers Darren Clark and Mebin Baby was filled by Kyabram’s ‘Unbreakable Farmer’, Warren Davies.
Mr Clark said he had been involved in men’s wellbeing evenings previously, saying “you generally get (more) blokes to attend, so this is wonderful’’.
“And it is the first step,” he said.
With a 37-year career in nursing, including several years in forensic psychiatry (working in jails), along with aged care and palliative care experience, Mr Clark was more than qualified to speak about men’s health.
He said men were generally the worst when it came to their own wellbeing. He said keeping in touch with mates and asking for help were the two most important steps.
“There is some great stuff happening at the 4Rs and Rochester Community House, along with Echuca Regional Health — who have been given 10 staff in mental health,” Mr Clark said.
He said all REDHS services were operational, apart from its hospital beds.
He started at REDHS in March and while not signing up for the challenge that a major flood event had presented, he said he was astounded with the community response.
Mr Baby started at REDHS three weeks before the floods, as community care manager.
He said all of his community care staff were back on board, along with home-care staff.
“As people come back to town we will be increasing our services. All our allied health services are in Elmore and we are recruiting for a social worker at the moment,” he said.
Carl Fraser also spoke briefly at the event, in his capacity as rural financial counsellor with AgBiz Assist.
He said there were several free services available to people facing financial hardship as a result of the flood event.