Nafisa & Sabrah Attend the Wellbeing Expo (Sep 2015)

It was the Wellbeing Expo that brought Nafisa and I along to Wilson Hall on a Tuesday morning in September. We arrived eager to meet, greet and enlighten the attendees about the work that goes on at Halal Food Bank. The expo was hosted by Richmond Wellbeing. It showcased services offered by ASSETS, Reach Out, the Muslim Women’s Support Centre and the Richmond Fellowship themselves to individuals and families requiring assistance to maintain their physical and mental health. We were lucky enough to have a stall right next to these agencies.

As Halal Food Bank’s role is to provide food to families and individuals who are unable to access safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food, we felt that our presence was quite fitting for the event.

In our short time at the expo we learned about the tireless work of staff in service agencies. In a highly summarised view, here’s what they do:

• Richmond Wellbeing is a leading organisation that supports those who have a diagnosable mental illness.
• MWSC WA (Inc) is a specialised agency within the Muslim community that works to promote better health, self-esteem, personal and spiritual growth in addition to the general well-being of Muslim women and their families.
• ASeTTS provides services to those who have experienced difficulties in the process of migrating to Australia from places of turmoil.
• Headspace is the National Youth Mental Health Foundation that provides early intervention through mental health services to 12-25 year olds.

Incredibly, we also received enough donations to fill our whole box. It was definitely worth taking some time out from our uni schedules to get out into the community and find out what other services agencies do.

The guys at the Fellowship really did an amazing job with the expo. They organised an animal farm for the kids (though Nafisa and I really loved this part!), delicious fruit kebabs, hand massages (omg!) and henna stalls. We also received a goody bag each that had loads of information about the representing organisations. I also really appreciated that the content of the expo catered to diverse ages and backgrounds.

A huge thanks to the staff at Richmond Wellbeing and the Muslim Women’s Support Centre for organising such a beneficial community-orientated event and for allowing us to participate. Keep checking in with the team to see where we’re off to next!

Bye for now,

Sabrah and Nafisa
(Curtin Reps, HFB Perth)