This Month in Central Arnhem – Community Updates for March

Building Fire Pits at Shorty Creek

Our Barunga team have been working with Bagala Aboriginal Association to create a Cultural area with fire pits for traditional cooking down by Shorty Creek.  

They mowed and levelled the area, carved out the fire pits from the earth and placed rocks around the outside.  

It’s great to see the team utilising the machinery skills they’ve mastered from the past training courses we’ve run in community!   


Forklift License Training 

It’s been all go at the Katherine Training Hub with our Beswick and Barunga teams participating in their Forklift License training with the Batchelor Institute!  

As well as learning how to operate a forklift, the men were taken through a thorough safety briefing and learnt the importance of pre-checks before using the machines.  

We’ve been super impressed with the engagement, effort and commitment shown by the guys throughout the training.  

Well done to Peter Beesley and his projects team for facilitating this training and bringing the guys in from community.  


Op Shop Donations from Nightcliff Uniting Church 

The Troopy was filled to the brim with clothes and goods for the next Beswick Op Shop!  

Our General Manger Tracy spent a day with the Nightcliff Uniting Church Op Shop superstar Ann Stephens and her team to collect and load the first supply of op shop items for 2024.  

This truck load will be sorted and prepared for sale by our Beswick ladies who will run the op shop with our team.  

All the proceeds from the sales are put back into out Ladies hub to fund their activities.

We’re so grateful to Ann and the Nightcliff Uniting Church Op Shop for their support and supplying us quality goods for the community. Your work makes a difference! 


Getting First Aid Certified 

Our Katherine and Binjari teams dedicated three days to completing a comprehensive First Aid Training with the Batchelor Institute.  

It was a full-on program with lots to learn but our teams stepped up, gave everything a go and all passed successfully.  

Having first aid training is especially important for people living in remote communities as the nearest clinic or hospital can be hours away. Someone knowing what to do in a medical emergency can be the difference between life or death, or a life altering injury.   

This is why we facilitate this training to all of our staff and our clients in community. 

A big thank you to our Trainer Deb Marshall for her expert teaching and making the whole course engaging. 


Celebrating Harmony Day with the Barunga Community 

Last week, we teamed up with ULaunch, Barunga Creche, Barunga School, local community members and our clients and staff to celebrate Harmony Day and recognise the work we do together in our communities. 

Harmony Day is Australia’s celebration of cultural diversity, inclusiveness and belonging. 

Our Harmony Day event was jam packed! 

We had an op shop, a sausage sizzle, reading books with the kids and their families, and shared fresh fruit salad and cream. 

Great to see our community come together to have some fun!