The kindness, support and goodwill shown by you the Bendigo community to our staff during these Coronavirus times has been heartwarming and inspiring.
Our staff have been amazing as they turn up on site each day or work from home to continue delivering 'essential services' to care for the health and wellbeing of the community.
It's what they do so well.
It's what they love.
But it's been tough going at times and we just need you to know it's your support that keeps us all going.
So we put together this little video to say 'Thank you Bendigo!'
It's so appreciated.
Watch the video by clicking on the read 'more button' below.
Our Health Promotion and Women's Health Clinic staff have been busy making videos for a Your Body, Your Life series to give you an indepth look at important issues.
Questions: Find out how you can ask our Women's Health Clinic team any questions you mighthave around women's health at the bottom of this post.
The Your Body, Your Life series will feature:
Sunday night - September 6
A history of women's health at BCHS: Dedicated to improving access to services.
Take a look back at how the hard work and dedication of our women's health staff has improved access to services and affordability for women in Greater Bendigo and beyond.
Monday - September 7
Morning: Contraception and women's reproductive health - We're here to help (Part 1).
Our sexual health nurse Mary-Anne talks about short term contraception options and their success rates.
Afternoon: Contraception and women's reproductive health - We're here to help (Part 2).
Our sexual health nurse Mary-Anne talks about longer term contraception options and their success rates and emergency contraception.
Tuesday - September 8
Morning: Puberty - There is hair now there!
Our Health Promotion team member Siobhan talks puberty, the changes girls will see in their bodies and why these are happening.
Afternoon: Consent - Thinking about sex?
Our Women's Health Clinic nurse practitioner Louise explains sexual consent and why this matters.
Wednesday - September 9
Morning: Sexually transmissible infection (STIs) -You CAN ask that.
Our Women's Health Clinic nurse Rebekah and Health Promotion worker Siobhan talk STIs and the importance of getting tested.
Afternoon: Cancer screening for women -When was your last check?
Our Women's Health Clinic nurse Rebekah talks about cervical, breast and bowel cancers and the importance of a regular check up.
Thursday - September 10
Morning: Healthy mind and healthy living - Don't let that 'Inner Witch' rule your life.
Our Women's Health Clinic nurse Mary-Anne talks about the need for you to feel good about yourself.
Keeping a healthy mind is important and there's things you can do around self-care to make a difference.
That includes keeping your 'Inner Voice' in check so you can keep that 'Inner Witch'in her place!
Afternoon: Women's health for all genders - Featuring special guest Andie telling their story. (LGBTQIA+)
We are truly thankful to Headspace Bendigo HEY Diversity Worker Maree and special guest Andie for this valuable insight into the healthcare needs of all genders with a focus on important reminders such as the need for self care, finding the right GP, exercise and regular STI testing.
Friday - September 11
Morning: Menopause: The big M for women.
Doctor Poornima from our Women's Health Clinic runs through what menopause is, the symptoms you might experience, what you can expect through this change and the possible treatments that might help.
Afternoon: Women's health for the LGBTIQ+ community
Claudia from Thorne Harbour Country makes a guest appearance in our Your Body, Your Life series to talk about some important women's health issues that the LGBTIQ+ community must consider including watching alcohol consumption and staying on top of cervix testing.
We will premiere a new video from the Your Body, Your Life series each day of Women's Health Week via this post and our social media platforms so stay tuned!
This will work in well with the Jean Hailes for Women's Health Week themes for each day:
Monday: Gynological issues explained.
Tuesday: The heart.
Wednesday: Guts, bladder and bowel.
Thursday: Mental health.
Friday: Financial health (a new theme this year).
Question and answer sessions with our staff
Watching these videos is probably going to raise questions for you.
The good news is our Women's Health Clinic staff will be available to answer them via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. between 3.30pm and 4.30pm each day of Women's Health Week.
Women's health has always been important to us
Our commitment to providing timely and affordable access to quality care has seen our Women's Health Clinic build from one GP and one nurse half a day a week 14 years ago to today's service which features several GPs and sexual health nurses based at our Central and Eaglehawk sites.
So we are also making a special look back at the history of of women's health video to give you an insight into how far these services have come in Bendigo for the good of all women.
Our Central site is home to regional Victoria's first Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Hub and we're pretty proud of that. Sadly, Coronavirus means these services must be delivered from our Eaglehawk site for the moment.
To learn more about our Women's Health Clinic click here
A statement on behalf of Bendigo Community Health Services
By CEO Gerard José
Bendigo Community Health Services is a proud member of the Greater Bendigo Coalition for Gender Equity.
We are committed to working together to advance gender equity, prevent violence against women and diminish all forms of domestic violence, racism and exclusion.
The recent attack on the Victorian Minister for Women, Minister for Prevention of Family Violence and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Gabrielle Williams is totally unacceptable.
The language used to denigrate Ms Williams is an example of verbal abuse that reinforces that only men should be in positions of power and feel entitled to use such degrading expressions against women providing strong leadership in our community.
These are tactics that seek to control and subdue women and generate fear for other women who may seek leadership positions.
The outcome of such behaviour only reinforces distrust in politics being solely about male power and not about advancing a civil society focused on being inclusive of all people.
UPDATE: Yellow balloon 'Everyone's welcome' stickers launched in support of refugee community. Learn more
Believe in Bendigo and Bendigo Community Health Services have begun a campaign to support the city’s Karen community after a series of COVID-19 related incidents.
Bendigo Community Health Services has received reports of Karen community members being verbally abused, coughed on and called names linked to the Coronavirus pandemic.
“The incidents have centred around blaming people of Asian Australian appearance for the origin of Coronavirus,” BCHS Cultural Diversity and Relationships team manager Kaye Graves said. “It’s ludicrous, unfair and it’s dangerous. It has left a lot of Karen community members upset and frightened.”
Mrs Graves said given the unsettled and unsafe life experiences of most of Bendigo’s Karen community before arriving in the city they were hesitant to speak with police because of their unfamiliarity with reporting processes.
“We understand that and have been busy working with them and the amazing staff at the Bendigo police station,” she said.
“Inspector Shane Brundell has helped us make a video for our website to encourage the Karen community to report these incidents and remind the community of the laws and penalties for such behaviour.”
Believe in Bendigo came to the fore during the protests surrounding the approval of the Bendigo Islamic Community Centre in 2015.
The successful anti-racism campaign, which has been copied in cities around Australia, focussed on a positive message and showed the world that Bendigo condemned hate and violence.
And it is doing it again.
“If you belong to a minority group, a minority culture or a minority religion, you are welcome in Bendigo,” Believe in Bendigo spokesperson Margot Spalding said.
“And we want to show the Karen community that today. The Karen community is one of Bendigo’s biggest success stories, and they offer our community so much.
RELATED: To watch a statement of support for Bendigo's refugee communities from Bendigo Mayor Margaret O'Rourke click here
RELATED: Welcome to Bendigo video made by the Karen community with our support. Beautiful: http://bit.ly/WelcomeToBendigo
SPECIAL VIDEO: See a video we have made with Victoria Police Inspector Shane Brundell from Bendigo Police Station explaining prejudice motivated crime such as racism to the Karen community and how they should report any incidents at the bottom of this post. Thank you.
National Reconciliation Week incorporates two very important days in Australian history: National Sorry Day (May 26) and Mabo Day (June 3).
In This Together is the National Reconciliation Week theme this year which is more fitting now, than ever.
Today is National Sorry Day
While it’s much harder to publicly observe and participate in this year’s Sorry Day, it’s still very important to remember and acknowledge the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people forcibly removed from their families and communities and today known as ‘The Stolen Generations’.
National Sorry Day allows us to acknowledge the First Peoples of this Nation and reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is important that we all as Australians join in this journey of healing and commemorate this day across the nation.
Recovery within communities requires understanding of the impact on people and accepting the truth of our history.
Bendigo Community Health Services is taking our own journey on the reconciliation path.
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
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
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!
Our Bendigo Community Coat Drive has raised $18,410.
A huge thank you to the community, businesses and our staff and board directors who contributed to the coat drive.
Some of the efforts that deserve special recognition include:
City of Greater Bendigo: $10,000 grant.
Kangaroo Flat Enterprise Committee: $1500.
Rotary Club of Bendigo: $1500.
Anonymous Bendigo couple: $1000.
Holloway Air Bendigo: $500.
ESE Consulting Bendigo: $500.
A huge thanks to these donors and everyone elso who took part - we truly appreciate your efforts.
We have now started to buy new coats from different stores in Bendigo. We thought this was important given the present business climate thanks to Coronavirus.
The coats have started being distributed by our staff and partners Haven Home Safe and Eaglehawk Community House.
A huge thanks to Bendigo Fooshare who has helped us collect and distribute coats - much appreciated.
ORIGINAL POST:
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 Drivefundraising 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?
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.
