Jade Kay, Harry Evans, Wally McInnes and baby Harriett.
Photo by
Sophie Baldwin
The first ever Harvesting Health event held in Gunbower has been declared an overwhelming success by organiser Mel Taylor.
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The event saw over 200 people from across the district travel to the picturesque Gunbower Butter Factory and participate in a variety of free health checks, and listen to speakers talk about a range of topics, including mental health and succession planning.
Farmers Cheryl McKinnon and Jodie Hay.
Photo by
Sophie Baldwin
Mel said the event came about after her own experiences with mental health, which saw her hospitalised when she was young.
“It has taken me almost 20 years to get to this point but here we are today and it has been amazing,” Mel said.
She said there were many things that contributed to mental health, and that it was also getting harder for people to prioritise and afford health checks.
“We thought we would combine it all in one free community event and here we are today,” she said.
“Our free skin checks booked out in two weeks and the health checks were also very popular.
“We have received so much community support and we are also very grateful for the support from all of our sponsors.”
Organisers Mel Taylor (left) and Danielle Paterson with ‘the Unbreakable Farmer’, Warren Davies.
Photo by
Sophie Baldwin
Guest speaker ‘the Unbreakable Farmer’, Warren Davies, spoke about his own battle with mental health, which basically culminated in a decision to walk off the farm.
He also spoke about the difficulty of dealing with fractured relationships, particularly from a male perspective.
Organiser Mel Taylor with Sarah Crossman from Echuca Regional Health.
Photo by
Sophie Baldwin
“As a farmer you keep pushing through and then one day you wake up and you are running on nothing but dust,” Warren said.
Cohuna dairy farmers Drew Gordon and Brodie McGillivray.
Photo by
Sophie Baldwin
He said events such as Harvesting Health provided an opportunity to share experiences, forge connections and build resilience.
Cheryl McKinnon travelled from Pyramid Hill.
Free health checks were part of the service. Anita Heard from Echuca gets her blood pressure checked by Felicity McLean from Lockington District Bush Nursing Centre.
Photo by
Sophie Baldwin
She particularly enjoyed the succession planning discussion.
Lockington District Bush Nursing Centre nurses Cilla Landy (left) and Felicity McLean, with Echuca’s Anita Heard.
Photo by
Sophie Baldwin
“It was brilliant and the information was very interesting. As a family we will follow up with our succession planning, as we have been talking about it for a long time and this has been a catalyst for me to get moving on it,” Cheryl said.
Over 200 people registered for the Harvesting Health event in Gunbower.
Photo by
Sophie Baldwin
Cohuna dairy farmers Drew Gordon and Brodie McGillivray came along to support the event and participate in the health checks.
Echuca’s Anita Heard sat down with the girls from the Lockington District Bush Nursing Centre for a health check.
“I wanted to come out and show my support and I thought I might as well have a health check while I was here,” she said.
This might have been the first Harvesting Health event but it certainly won’t be the last.
Some of the sponsors of the event.
Photo by
Sophie Baldwin
Mel said they were in the process of incorporating the organisation and they had plans to take the event to other areas.
“Harvesting Health isn’t just for the farming community, it’s for everyone in a rural community and it’s about looking after your health and starting a conversation,” she said.
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