Close the Gap at Campbelltown Hospital - Part 2 of 2

As a part of my project reflection process, I would like to share some of the great result we had in Qld for the National Close the Gap Day on 25th of March, 2010.

There were over 550 events registered nationwide and nearly 200 events happened in Qld alone :-)

Events Registered by Different Areas in Qld

1. Brisbane: 91
2.Greater South East Qld: 39
3. Wild Bay: 8
4. Central Qld: 5
5. North Qld: 21
6. Far North Qld: 22
7. Other regions: 1 (Gununa in Mornington Island)

In order to get In-depth feedback from event organisers, I have conducted phone interview with 17 event organisers in Qld.

The summary of the interview are below:

Highlights of the event: Having opportunity to educate community. Having opportunity to interact with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (e.g. by inviting a local Elder to join in a monrning tea to discuss about the issue).

Challenges of the event: Ensuring the maximum participation (e.e. not all staff could participate due to a very busy customer base, or natural disaster (Cyclone Lui)). Motivating people to be more interested in the actual issues and encouraging them to find information for themselves.

Events in the past and the future: 2 events organisers who were interviewed have had held events in the past, and all the organisers would hold an event next year.

The process and support for the promotion of the event: Since many event organisers belong to organisations that are aware of this particular issue, many of them had a great support for the promotion process. The promotion process included: putting posters up on the walls at their workplace, promoting the event on their website, approaching their local radio station, and approaching other key stake holders (e.g. a manager from a Department of Community Service) in ther community.

Suggestions to make the event better in the future: Some event organisers are keen to make the event bigger and more publically visible next year (e.g. instead of holding an event within their work place, holding one at a more public space such as at a park. Other event organisers recommended more resources to be distributed as they experienced the shortage of the promotional materials, but their office budget did not allow them to buy extra resources.