What is Help Your Neighbour? 

Help Your Neighbour started in March as a community response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With restrictions placed on people through social distancing, the campaign has three main goals:

• To educate and encourage the community to look out for each other, especially vulnerable groups
• To share information and resources about where people can go for help  
• To share the good news stories from the community and provide hope and inspiration

Neighbourhoods and communities always find ways to work with each other by sharing resources and checking in on others. Help Your Neighbour makes these connections happen a little faster.

Who is running Help Your Neighbour?

Help Your Neighbour is a partnership between Bendigo Foodshare, Haven; Home, Safe, Bendigo Community Health Services and the City of Greater Bendigo.  

While it’s important to follow the Department of Health and Human Services guidelines to minimise the spread of COVID-19, like social distancing, it’s important to stay connected.

We have several volunteer Neighbourhood Co-ordinators who live across the City of Greater Bendigo. They are helping people and groups in their local communities to make connections and get help if, and where, it’s needed. 

We are on the lookout for further Neighbourhood Co-ordinators. If you’re interested, please email [email protected] or call 5444 3409.

How can I help?

There are four main ways to get involved. Don’t under estimate the power of small actions.

1. Pick up some Help Your Neighbour flyers. Fill in your details as a point of contact and deliver to some letterboxes in your neighbourhood. Flyers are available at most IGAs or you can download a copy.
2. Share a story with us. If you see an act of kindness, share it! There are many people in our community doing great things to help others. Often, they don’t even realise it. That’s why we’re relying on people like you to get in touch and share stories.
   Please email [email protected] or get in touch through Facebook.
3. Provide practical support, like cooking a meal. Or, you could share excess produce from your garden, such as vegetables or herbs. Perhaps you could write a letter to an older person (see Make Someone’s Day). Chat your neighbours over the fence, maintaining social distancing, of course!
4. Be kind. Everyone deals with stress differently. You may see or experience behaviour which is upsetting. Remember that hard times pass. Reach out for help if you need to. The most important type of kindness is what we show to ourselves.

I need help. Where can I go for support?

From housing and family violence, legal, health, education and business, there are many resources available to help. Download our food relief and community support guides to point you in the right direction: 

• Food relief
• Community support

If you, or a member of your household would need more information on COVID-19, including where the closest testing facility is, click here.

If you have an emergency, please contact 000.

Lifeline
13 11 14
www.lifeline.org.au

Beyond Blue
1300 22 4636
www.beyondblue.org.au

1800 Respect
1800 737 732

National Relay Service
1800 555 677

National Translating and Interpreting Service
131 450

Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Services – Food Exchange

Supporting multicultural families required to isolate after COVID-19 testing.

Bilingual community workers can help with:

• Food packs
• COVID-19 information
• Accessing support payments and emergency relief packs
• Centrelink reporting
• Referrals to crisis and emergency services

10.00am – 4.00pm Monday to Friday.

Call 0492 963 242 or email [email protected]