INNOV8

INNOV8 is the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network’s online hub, designed to share ideas and meet other people with interest and expertise in healthcare.

Thank you to so many of you who came along and contributed to supporting positive change in our communities at our Pitch Night event on the Central Coast.

Amanda, Ian and Kerryn and Mary, as well as their advocates, did a wonderful job sharing their passions for empowering those in our region through their health initiatives.

Together we pledged over $110,000 - a true demonstration of the power of the collective!

	LIVE LIFE GET ACTIVE - $39,400 Live Life Get Active is a social enterprise that addresses the growing issue of social disconnection by bringing all people together and providing them with a sense of belonging in a welcoming environment - a “whole of community” health and wellbeing initiative. They aim to get people up, moving and having fun in a group, make them aware of their health issues, their lifestyle behaviours and get them to review how they eat. They do this by providing free daily fun activity camps in local parks that includes cross training, boxing and yoga for all levels, for 200 days of the year.
	DIABETES NSW & ACT - $21,700 Digital Health Games is an online intervention to engage the community in a fun and interactive way. It is a clinically validated, evidence-based app designed to stimulate lifestyle change through competition between teams in the community. Participants will receive health education around nutrition and physical activity and in-app health and motivation during the program. Participants can engage with other team members through the app and messaging features. During the games participants are invited to undertake an in-app screening to assess their risk of developing a chronic disease such as diabetes, stroke or heart disease.
	THE WHOLESOME COLLECTIVE - $50,500 The Wholesome Collective offers fun and interactive cooking experiences that have a nutrition and movement focus. They are comprised of a team of dietitians, a home economist, a diabetes educator and an exercise scientist and together, they combine our skills to improve the overall health and wellbeing of vulnerable population groups within the Central Coast and Newcastle areas. They aim to target teenagers and young adults who come from low socio-economic backgrounds and use practical education (in the form of hands-on cooking and group-led education) to enable community members to optimise their nutrition knowledge and cooking skills.

Thank you to so many of you who came along and contributed to supporting positive change in our communities at our Pitch Night event.

Shaun, Pat and Jake and Kim, as well as their advocates, did a wonderful job sharing their passions for empowering those in our region through their health initiatives.

Together we pledged almost $150,000 - a true demonstration of the power of the collective!

	BEYOND EMPATHY - $44,500 The Aboriginal men involved in Moree’s Mari-Dhaadharr (Gomeroi for man-hut) are trapped in cycles of deviance where family violence, addiction and incarceration have become normalised. With no personal currency or support to break this cycle, access to conventional welfare is limited. Loss of identity, on-going dispossession, trans-generational trauma, systemic racism, shame and the burden of low expectations entrench these cycles further. Through providing a supported, creative men's program that prioritises mental health, relationships and transitional work skills, Mari-Dhaadharr aims to disrupt this cycle.
	GOMEROI EDUCATION AND TRAINING - $41,000 The program will work with each local Aboriginal Men's group to develop a framework that will assist Aboriginal Men's Group define their purpose and value proposition within their own community. The framework will provide an opportunity for Aboriginal men to influence decision making and be a voice on issues that impact on them. They are seeking to gain a deep understanding from Aboriginal men about the barriers that currently impact on their lives / families / community. The Aboriginal men possess a deep insight to their own barriers and have the capacity to inform the solution, which will become a focus for the Regional Aboriginal Men's Alliance.
	TAMWORTH LOCAL ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCIL - $62,500 The target group for this proposal is young Aboriginal people of primary school age (school years K-6) within the Tamworth Local Aboriginal Land Council boundary and Tamworth Regional LGA. The activity provides a positive early-intervention initiative which will benefit up to 60 Aboriginal students and their families over nine school holiday periods by providing positive cultural, skill-building and recreational activities for three days each holiday period. The programs build relationships with a variety of community members and potential mentors which increases students’ future engagement in other local Aboriginal-targeted programs.

Pitch Night 1 Finalists

Our INNOV8 Pitch Night finalists who successfully pitched for funding at our inaugural event, where over $160,000 was distributed to these . You can view their pitches in the video section.

	Pius X Aboriginal Corporation - $47,000 Since 1965 Pius X has been a provider of Primary Health Services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in North West NSW. Given that Aboriginal mothers generally seek antenatal care late and attend fewer antenatal sessions, Pius X seeks to create an innovative program that will encourage engagement of expectant mothers with antenatal care and education.
	Orange Sky Australia - $38,600 Orange Sky is the world's first free mobile laundry service for people experiencing homelessness. Our mission is to positively connect communities, restore respect and a sense of dignity, raise health standards and ultimately help transition people out of homelessness.It takes an hour to wash and dry someone's clothes. During that time, we offer a conversation. Many people we speak to have had no human contact for days. Once trust is built, we can refer to health services, offer casual employment, again to help restore respect, self-confidence and sense of self-worth.
	Hunter Rehabilitation and Health - $28,200 Hunter Rehabilitation and Health help people get back to doing what they love by implementing specific and individualised exercise programs to better their health and change their lives. We have collaborated with John Hunter Children's Hospital and Cystic Fibrosis NSW to implement a regular exercise program for CF children. We have achieved life changing results so far and if the results of this study show a significant improvement in CF disease status, it could change the way care is delivered.
	Upper Hunter wheres there's a Will - $48,600 Our objective is to address the significant mental health issues facing youth in the Upper Hunter. We believe that in order for us to improve mental health and reduce suicide rates, we MUST take a whole community approach. Our Visible Wellbeing project combines the science of wellbeing with the science of learning and teaching to make wellbeing visible in all classes and across co-curricula. Techniques help the teacher to use the learning process itself as a delivery mechanism to build student wellbeing.