Community Celebrates Flood Recovery at Festival on the Fields

Last Saturday, 10 February, over 400 locals enjoyed the Festival on the Fields event at Cougar Park, home of the Colo Soccer Football Club. This free event provided a well-deserved opportunity for the local community to come together and focus on some of the positive steps taken towards recovery following the devastation of the floods.

The Festival on the Fields was organised by Colo Soccer Football Club and made possible by funding received from Wentworth Healthcare, provider of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network, as part of their Community Wellbeing and Resilience Grants program. These Grants, funded by the Federal Government, support the wellbeing and resilience of flood affected communities, allowing them to choose their own way to respond to the losses, anxiety and distress they have experienced.

Colo Soccer Football Club was severely affected by the multiple flood events that hit the Hawkesbury region during 2021-2022. The Club suffered significant infrastructure damage and losses that impacted the local sporting community and families who rely on the facilities. Many of the volunteers who assisted the club in the clean up after each flood event, were also personally affected by the floods. Event organisers, Colo Soccer Football Club, said that this event was a chance for the Club to thank volunteers for their support and to lift the spirits of the extended community. The organisers said that Sharon Bell was the driving force behind the event, from the first application through the grant process and to the delivery of the event. The Club would like to thank Sharon and everyone involved in the event planning for such a wonderful event.

CEO of Wentworth Healthcare, Lizz Reay, said that the compounding trauma from numerous disasters, like drought, bushfires and floods, in addition to pressures from the pandemic, have taken their toll on many Hawkesbury residents.

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