Hello Willum Warrain Mob,

It has been a challenging time for all our mob during this COVID-19 pandemic and we hope all are staying safe and caring for one another. Unfortunately, the decision was made to shut down our gathering place and though this has been difficult for many, we must have the safety of all community members as the priority. This means we won’t be opening the gathering place during Term 2 and no programs will be running. We are going to support community members as best we can during this time and are continuing to answer our phones/emails.

Keeping positive is important right now, so we wanted to reflect on our achievements during Term 1 2020. All our programs kicked off to a great start, with many new mob connecting to our gathering place. The hut being built in Men’s Group looks deadly; with the mud going on and the rock base now secured into place. It is such a culturally significant building for us to have and will bring about lots of exciting activities into the future. Women’s Group finished the frame of the bough shelter, made some deadly tye dye t-shirts and tablecloths and had a visit from Aunty Helen Bnads. Deadly Kids learnt about Bunjil, possum skin cloaks and spear throwing. It’s great to see so many young people building relationships and learning culture. Our bubups at Bush Kids Play have been learning about Tiddalick the frog, creating artwork and exploring the bush. The rammed earth garden beds are almost complete thanks to all the mob coming to Willum Warrain on our Community Day, we are looking forward to growing plenty of food.

During our closure we will be focusing on maintaining our gathering place to ensure it doesn’t deteriorate over the next few months, including our Koorie Plant Trail, hut and turtle sanctuary. This will guarantee a thriving and vibrant gathering place when we reopen, and all the hard work does not go to waste. We are still working on getting our Men’s Shed and office extension built in collaboration with Mornington Peninsula Shire.

Special thanks to First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing for running a flu vaccination clinic for our mob during the school holidays, we had a great turn out!

We will be keeping the community informed about our reopening in the future as the pandemic unfolds.

Stay safe! Stay deadly!

Executive Officers of Willum Warrain