The Hello campaign is encouraging people to say hello to each other to help create a better sense of friendliness and highlight the importance of social connections in the Valley.
Late in 2019, the Hello campaign hosted pop-up cafÃĐs at Claudiaâs CafÃĐ in Morwell (November 22), the Baw Baw Latrobe LLENâs Chit Chat Coffee Cart at Moe Library (November 27) and Raw Harvest in Newborough (December 11). These events were conducted in a manner consistent with previous Hello Pop-up CafÃĐ events, with similar data and responses recorded.
The Hello Campaign was also represented at the Morwell Neighbourhood House Christmas party (December 10) and Lions Club of Morwellâs Christmas Day Lunch at St Peterâs CafÃĐ (December 25). The latter achieved media coverage with WIN News and the Latrobe Valley Express, which featured interviews and visual representation for the campaign through photos and footage.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the face to face community engagement efforts of the Hello campaign however the project moved with relative ease to the virtual environment by offering daily Hello Virtual-Cafes, moving to twice-weekly following the end of the âfirst-waveâ.
Other community connectedness initiatives within the Hello campaign included a wide-spread poster campaign highlighting the need to say Hello and remain connected while in isolation along with Hello check-in cards delivered to partnering cafes to provide to patrons.
The Hello campaign is a joint Latrobe Health Innovation Zone initiative between We Are Latrobe, Latrobe Health Assembly and Lifeline Gippsland and funded by the Victorian Government.
For more information, please visit: wearelatrobe.com.au