Ambassadors for Gender Equality & Respect is a youth focused project currently being implemented in the Upper Yarra region of the Yarra Ranges. The project is engaging students from three secondary schools in a series of workshops on the importance of equality for women, men and all genders, and the role young people can have as change makers in the community and the world. Students will not only explore gender equality, but they will develop skills in project development and activism. Participants will also get the chance and will be supported to develop their own activities to raise awareness and engage their peers in this important issue.

Inspired by Jamie Oliver’s efforts to improve the health of school children Inspiro, a not for profit health service operating in Melbourne’s east, have launched a far reaching project to tackle unhealthy school eating habits through positive encouragement, healthy food identification, advice for parents and healthy cafeteria options. 

The objective of the project is to promote a healthy food culture and increase healthy foods brought to school. With obesity and unhealthy lifestyles becoming a growing concern among Australian families, tackling these issues at a young age has never been more important to the health of our children...

With nearly 3 million Victorians spending almost 1/3 of their day at work, the workplace is an important place to have a positive impact on our health and wellbeing. Workplaces can provide a setting which supports employees to live healthy lifestyles and make the healthiest choice the easiest choice.

This is it. The beginning. We’re live!

www.inspiro.org.au/blog

The Inspiro Blog is the home for nutrition advice, how-to’s, success stories, recipes, secret farms that sell direct to the public, health tips and all things Inspiro. It’s meant for everybody who has been to the dentist, thought about or seen a counsellor, visited a physio or who has kids and just wants the best for their future.

Inspiro is excited to announce the launch of the Yarra Valley Food Network website, in partnership with Yarra Ranges Council, Bendigo Bank (Warburton and Yarra Junction) and Koha Café.

YVFN is an online hub for bartering, swapping, selling and giving away excess local produce.  The website is designed for EVERYONE to have access to information about locally grown and produced foods.  The website encourages, enables and shares information, supporting the health of the community and supports local growers, even backyard ones!

Inspiro Community Health Service has been operating from Belgrave for over 15 years, providing affordable, quality care to everyone in the community. This week they will be closing doors and moving, only 1km, down the road to Tecoma. 

They have set up shop in the Tecoma strip (3/1527 Burwood Hwy), across the road from BP and near McDonalds. The location has been renovated and upgraded specifically to cater for Inspiro clients.

Services available at Tecoma include Podiatry, Physiotherapy, Counselling, Diabetes Education and Dietitian appointments. 
 

Three talented Yarra Ranges tertiary students have been awarded up to $3,000 each in scholarships and encouragement awards, as part of Inspiro’s annual scholarship program.

Residents of the Yarra Ranges region are new benefitting from higher quality and more timely health services.  Thanks to a range of improvements Inspiro Community Health Service is pleased to announce that waitlists on most serviced have been reduced to a minimum, generally less than two weeks.
Inspiro CEO, Karyn McPeake said “We are very pleased to be able to provide more clients with easier access to our services. We pride ourselves on delivering quality health care to everyone and this is truly being delivered” 

In 2016 Inspiro Community Health Service is celebrating a milestone 21 years of service to people in the Yarra Ranges region. Inspiro CEO, Karyn McPeake today announced “We are excited to be celebrating this milestone with our staff and clients. We invite the community to join us in these celebrations” 

Inspiro and Eastern Health, in partnership with Yarra Ranges Council and Women’s Health East have this week launched an information resource for local football club coaches called Be The Change! Inspiro CEO, Karyn McPeake explained, “Be The Change! is a guide for coaches on how to use their role to encourage players to understand and build equal and respectful relationships with women.  We are empowering coaches to create and be the change and to influence the change in their players and our community.”
 

Tertiary students studying medicine, nursing, allied health or other health sciences, who live in the Shire of Yarra Ranges, are invited to apply for the Inspiro Tertiary Health Scholarships by Tuesday 1^st March 2016. The scholarship program offers four major awards this year, totalling $10,000.

Inspiro Belgrave children’s speech and occupational therapy services will be relocating from January 2016

As Inspiro prepares to make room for the new Belgrave Hub, The Manse at Belgrave is closing and we are moving these children’s services to the Sherbrooke Family and Children’s Centre.   

The 2015 Inspiro Annual Report is now available!  We are pleased to share with you our achievements for 2014-15.  Download here or collect a printed copy from reception. 

The Inspiro Consumer Journey Project final report has been released and is now available to download, along with the summary report. The aim of the project was to identify barriers and concerns that may exist for our consumers. 

We are currently developing an action plan based on recommendations from this project, to create better ways to access our programs and services and to provide care to the community.

Inspiro and Eastern Health Respond to demand and start an Adult Speech Pathology Service

Speech Pathology Week is 23-29 August and Inspiro are pleased to announce this new service!
 
The need for a community health adult Speech Pathology service in the Yarra Ranges has been identified by clients at both Inspiro Community Health and Eastern Health.  In response to many requests from local residents, Inspiro and Eastern Health have teamed up to launch this new service from Inspiro Lilydale.

Inspiro and Eastern Health’s YOU&I initiative is teaming up with the Eastern Football League (EFL) to encourage equality and respect to prevent violence against women.  In support, this Saturday 1^st August, the EFL is holding a ‘Respect Round’.
 
Inspiro CEO, Karyn McPeake said “We are very pleased that the EFL are supporting this community program and are taking initiative to encourage equality and respect amongst their football players and within the football community.”

Inspiro joins a group of community health services proudly partnering to improve the health and wellbeing of people in the northern and eastern metropolitan regions of Melbourne.  Known as the Community Health Collective, the group includes ten* independent, not-for-profit organisations that currently provide community health service coverage to 1.5 million people; employ over 1400 staff, work alongside 600 volunteers and deliver over 450,000 client contacts per year with a combined budget of $120 million.  

Four talented Yarra Ranges tertiary students have been awarded up to $3,000 each in scholarships and encouragement awards, as part of Inspiro’s annual scholarship program.

These awards acknowledge and reward standout students, providing them with financial assistance to help with the costs of their studies.  
 
This year’s winners have demonstrated academic achievement, a passion to succeed in their chosen careers and a strong commitment to help improve the health and wellbeing of our local community.

Congratulations to the winners!

 

Have you made new year promises about losing weight, eating healthy, cutting out sugar or going Paleo? Join us at our 'Not Another Diet' seminar run by our accredited dietitians and nutritionists, and find out the real facts.

This edition of Inside Inspiro features our AGM with guest speaker, Kevin Sheedy, our Buy Local Eat Seasonal app, our Tertiary Health Scholarships for the new year, and of course, our Term 1 groups and programs for 2015.

Our Buy Local Eat Seasonal app is now ready for download! It's free, it's easy to use and it means you can find the freshest produce that's in season and right here in the Yarra Ranges. The directory even maps where the local U Picks and Farm Gates are.

Did you know that the Whitlam Government pioneered the national Community Health Program in 1973 to shift the emphasis of health care from treatment to prevention, to provide an alternative to general practice, and to reduce the community’s dependence on hospitals?