On Tuesday, 29 November, FCVic’s Special Projects team launched its Pathways for Carers outreach program at the Pathways for Carers Statewide Biannual Meeting. The Pathways for Carers project, funded by the Victorian Government and facilitated by Interchange Outer East, offers unpaid carers the opportunity to connect with one another by going on walking events organised in their local area. Each walk ends with a hot drink at a local café. Where possible, guests from local support services join the events to chat to carers and share information about news, services, and support available to them.
The FCVic Pathways for Carers outreach program aims to provide local financial counsellors as guests at some of the upcoming Pathways walks. We hope that this initiative will begin to build a relationship between carer support services, while also introducing the benefits of financial counselling to carers in an informal and low-pressure environment.
Pathways co-ordinators have been given access to a dedicated Pathways for Carers page on the FCVic website, where they can request a local financial counsellor to attend an upcoming walk. After receiving this request, the FCVic Special Projects team will reach out to local agencies to find a financial counsellor who may wish to attend.
We’re hoping that this outreach opportunity will be of interest to our members – it should be a lovely way to build local connections while also raising community awareness of the work that financial counsellors do. (Please note that the walking component of the day is not essential – you can meet the group at the café instead!) Financial counsellors who wish to participate but are unsure how to approach an outreach opportunity like this will also be offered support, either in the form of an introductory eLearning or briefing session.
At this stage, we are responding to requests from the Pathways co-ordinators, so we will contact agencies as required. Please keep an ear to the ground and listen out for information on upcoming Pathways walks near you!