Blog

Bendigo Foodshare donation allows our Settlement Services team to help refugee families

: Saturday 23 May 2020; Written by Rod

Pure kindness is alive and well!

A wonderful gesture from an anonymous Bendigo couple who donated money to Bendigo Foodshare to support refugee families with food vouchers for use in local businesses in this Coronavirus time.

Foodshare volunteer Abhishek Awasthi delivered the vouchers to our case worker Zahir and Settlement Services team manager Marty on Friday.

A HUGE thanks to the donors, Abhishek and Bendigo Foodshare - we'll make sure the vouchers get to families in need.

"We would like to thank the donors for their kindness and generosity," Marty said.

"Everyday our settlement case managers are working with families who are experiencing the challenges of loss of employment and a significant reduction in casual hours. It can be challenging to navigate the systems to apply for Job Seeker or indeed secure another job in our current environment of COVID.

"We send a heart felt thank you and this gesture is one of people really do care."

Marty, Zahir and the Settlement team have been doing huge work in supporting refugee communities by staying in constant contact during this Coronavirus time. They've even produced a series of information sheets and videos in Dari, Karen and Dinka to keep the refugee communities up to date and safe. Check out our online Coronavirus Bendigo Refugee Resource Hub: https://bit.ly/CoronavirusRefugees

www.bchs.com.au I #BCHS #thereforyou #WithRefugees

Meet our BCHS Life Member: Jack Taylor OAM

: Wednesday 20 May 2020; Written by Rod

A great community-minded leader and great supporter of Bendigo Community Health Services.

A five-time mayor of the Borough of Eaglehawk, Jack played an important role in the push to establish Eaglehawk Community Health Services in October 1973 which would later become Bendigo Community Health Services.

"We had limited doctors in Eaglehawk at the time and this is just what we wanted as a community," Jack recalled during our 30th birthday celebrations.

"And, of course, the borough council were right behind anything in that regard."

BCHS was sad to learn of the passing of Jack in August 2018. To read our tribute click here

To meet more of our valued Life Members, please visit our special online honour board click here

Bendigo's Got Talent - Top 10 revealed and now it's time to vote for your favourite

: Saturday 9 May 2020; Written by Rod

UPDATE

Voting has now closed for Bendigo's Got Talent 2020.

Singer Mikala McNeill from Wedderburn has won #BGT2020.

Dancer Leonie Ferguson was second with singer Jenna Conlan third.

The Connection Club thanks everyone who took part in this event by either sending us an entry or voting for your favourite.

We'd love to hear your feedback. Let us know if you'd like to see Bendigo's Got Talent 2021 or share any thoughts to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thank you.

Introducing the Connection Club - Bendigo's Got Talent Top 10!

So, who is your favourite?

You can see the full entry submitted by each member of our Top 10 below.

Watch their videos and enjoy their great talent. Decide who is your favourite and then join their team via the official voting link: https://bit.ly/CastYourBGT2020Vote

The performer with the most team members wins a $300 voucher from our great sponsor the Bendigo Marketplace, second a $200 voucher, third a $100 voucher and all top 10 members a great gift pack from headspace Bendigo.

Voting closes at 5pm on Thursday and the winner will be announced on the headspace Bendigo Facebook page on Friday.

Thanks for your interest and supporting these great young performers though our first ever #BGT2020 competition.

How brilliant to see Bendigo youth shining brightly!

Now meet our Top 10, watch videos of their great performances and cast your vote for your favourite below!

: Monday 4 May 2020; Written by Rod

To donate to our Bendigo Community Coat Drive click here

Winter is all but here so it's traditionally time for our Bendigo Community Coat Drive.

We collected, cleaned and distributed a record 2700 coats and blankets last year with the help of partners AFL Central Victoria and Pristine Dry Cleaners - what an incredibly generous community we have!

Well, we're going to need that generosity even more this year.

It's just too hard to run our traditional coat drive calling for second-hand clothes this year under the Coronavirus threat and restrictions that we're all living under to stay safe.

So, we're going online and asking people to donate to our Bendigo Community Coat Drive fundraising campaign so we can buy new coats that will be safe to distribute.

So, how do you donate and how will we distribute the coats?

: Thursday 30 April 2020; Written by Rod

A message for our members

by Vicki Pearce

Chair, Board of Directors

Bendigo Community Health Services

On behalf of the Board of Directors I'd like to thank you for reading our new There For You e-news edition.

This is part of our commitment to keeping our members and the community up-to-date with all the happenings at Bendigo Community Health Services.

We're very proud of what our organisation and staff are achieving in continuing to deliver 'essential' services during this Coronavirus time.

There has been so much work done in such a short time to ensure we can safely continue to care for the community while keeping the safety of our clients and staff as the number one priority.

Our staff continue to turn up for work each day at the Eaglehawk site while others work behind the scenes in support at our Kangaroo Flat site and from home which is a very new experience for them.

Our doctors and health professionals have embraced Telehealth to ensure we can continue to help clients seeking our help either by phone or video link. The doctor then makes a decision on whether the client needs a face-to-face appointment at our Eaglehawk site. We've found Telehealth is being embraced by our clients and while some have concerns they are not actually seeing the doctor face-to-face they understand this is being done to look after their own health and that of our staff as we experience Stage 3 'lock down' restrictions in Victoria.

The board has supported our CEO Gerard Jose in taking a seat on the City of Greater Bendigo Pandemic Relief and Recovery Committee.

: Tuesday 21 April 2020; Written by Rod

It’s very important during this Coronavirus time that you look after yourself in isolation and watch out for any warning signs around withdrawal from drugs and alcohol.

Our Alcohol and Other Drugs team shares some advice to support the community, particularly those who could be in danger of withdrawal, their loved ones and friends.

Withdraw with care

Any withdrawal should be done with great care and the support of your GP. If you are isolated and withdrawing by choice or through lack of access to drugs or alcohol please don’t stop suddenly but cut back on what you’re taking bit by bit.

Watch out for ‘the shakes’

The shakier you are the closer you are to having a seizure. If you have excessive shaking take action by calling your GP, family or a friend sooner rather than later. If it’s really bad call 000 straight away.

Look out for each other

: Saturday 18 April 2020; Written by Rod

UPDATE

Voting has now closed for Bendigo's Got Talent 2020.

Singer Mikala McNeill from Wedderburn has won #BGT2020.

Dancer Leonie Ferguson was second with singer Jenna Conlan third.

The Connection Club thanks everyone who took part in this event by either sending us an entry or voting for your favourite.

Thank you.

UPDATE

We've put together a great little video to give you a sneak peak of all our 18 entries. What a talented group! Thanks for entering. See the video at the bottom of this post.

ORIGINALPOST

It's time to unleash your hidden talent!

We were so excited about co-hosting Bendigo's Got Talent with Headspace Bendigo and our other Connection Club partners for Youth Central Victorian Youth Week but Coronavirus put a stop to that didn't it!

Well, we've decided it's not going to put a stop to us having fun so we're taking the talent show online!

Yes, it's time to unleash your hidden talents and show them off a little and you could take home a $300 voucher from Bendigo Marketplace.

Second place gets a $200 voucher and third place a $100 voucher with the top 10 getting a great goodies bag from headspace Bendigo.

How does it work?

: Thursday 9 April 2020; Written by Rod

It’s been a very long few weeks for our staff who continue to turn up for work each day because they care for the health and wellbeing of our community.

That’s never been more important than this Coronavirus time.

These great nurses took a break from delivering flu shots to ‘high risk’ clients today to share a special message we all want you to follow this Easter ... please stay home!

Yes, Easter is usually a time for getting out and celebrating with family or friends. We will all do that again one day but not this year!

: Wednesday 8 April 2020; Written by Rod

Last updated: April 8, 2020

Bendigo Community Health Services has reviewed all services and programs given the current Coronavirus threat with the safety of our consumers and staff as the highest priority.

The Coronavirus threat means we must change the way we deliver some services.

We are now using Telehealth for appointments so our doctors and other health professionals can consult with you by phone or video link from the safety and comfort of your home. They will then decide if you need a face-to-face consult which will be done at our Eaglehawk site (3 Seymoure Street).

Don’t worry if your face-to-face appointment at BCHS gets changed to a Telehealth appointment - just follow the instructions below and it’s as simple as answering your phone or clicking on the email link we send you for video appointments!

All new appointments will be Telehealth first.

What you must do before a Telehealth appointment with our staff member:

: Wednesday 8 April 2020; Written by Rod

Last updated: May 5, 2020

UPDATE

Great news!

We have received another 500 flu vaccines with word 2000 are on the way.

This means we can start booking people eligible for a free vaccine through the various government programs into flu clinics and then very soon start working with businesses around the city to protect their staff through our Workplace Health Program.

We truly appreciate your patience and fully understand it's been a frustrating flu vaccination campaign so far.

It looks like the flu vaccination backlog is being cleared and vaccines should become more freely available from now on. Let's hope!

ORIGINAL POST

Bendigo Community Health Services is taking a huge number of calls about flu vaccinations.

The Coronavirus threat and announcements by federal and state governments encouraging people to call their GP and get vaccinated has led to this demand.

Australia is seeing an unprecedented demand for flu vaccinations this year. Our supplier has told us to expect delivery delays due to early vaccine supplies being redirected by government to protect frontline healthcare staff working in essential services such as hospitals and aged care homes. This is out of our control but we understand the important need to protect these workers and will continue to talk with the supplier to ensure delivery as soon as possible.

Our Medical Practice and Workplace Health teams have been working hard on a model for delivering flu vaccinations as they arrive that has the safety of our staff and clients as the highest priority during this Coronavirus time.

We know there is frustration around how long this process is taking but trust you understand the way every health service delivers flu shots during this Coronavirus threat requires far more planning.

Our Workplace Health Flu Vaccination Program would normally be underway by now but has been delayed for this reason.

So, where are we at with our Flu Vaccination Program for this year?

Subcategories

General
Community

For all events, information stands, men’s health week, women’s health week and the like
Discovering BCHS - meet our staff

Find out more about our amazing staff
kidzspace - a new era for BCHS

Our kidzspace project
Volunteers

BCHS recognises and thanks our volunteers
Partnerships

BCHS recognises and thanks our partners
From our executive

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Celebrations

Celebrating BCHS's milestones
Men's Health Marathon

Bendigo Community Health Services runs the Men's Health Marathon in late August and early September each year - 11 days of activities designed to get men out, active and thinking seriously about their health.