The plan to bring together a cohort of twenty plus attendees from towns around the state was turned on its head, and in an extreme pivot (#WordOfTheYear) we began preparations to take a three-day face-to-face retreat and build it into an online experience, all within a mere 12 hours.

The retreat was to be the kick off point for the six communities that had received seed funding from the Fay Fuller Foundation to begin to build out what the Our Town mental health initiative could look like in their town, as well as a chance for the support team to find out what the towns were looking for in terms of support. Representatives from Berri, Ceduna, Cummins, Kangaroo Island, Kimba, and the Mid Murray region were joined by partners TACSI, Fay Fuller Foundation, Clear Horizon and a host of experts who shifted their in-person capability development sessions to online workshops and experiences.

With mental health and safety at the forefront coupled with the ever-shifting landscape, the retreat became a point of shared experience and connection during the initial days of Covid 19 lockdown in South Australia. Safe spaces were created through group norming, and an online agenda prioritised leaving space for break out rooms and reflections during the retreat. Nonetheless, there was a lot to go through, and over two intensive days the town representatives learned about building teams online, measuring data, and strengths-based approaches to mental health.

Moving a retreat online came with various challenges with the support team having to consider: How to create safe and brave spaces online? How much information is too much? and What does it take to build solidarity and connection through shared experience without being in the same room?

‘I feel like we are all one big family now. Again, online is just not the same as face to face but I think we took advantage of every break out to really connect.’

OUR TOWN COMMUNITY TEAM MEMBER

Overall, there were some limitations to the online environment, and some steep learning curves along the way. Striking the balance between building capability and working at the pace of community was particularly tricky, but in terms of delivering connection the retreat was a resounding success.