Tag Results

The new year will see a new location for Thorne Harbour Country’s Community Hub. Thorne Harbour Health is investing in Bendigo for 2021 — purchasing a new site just around the corner from its previous premises.Following in the footsteps of the Country Awareness Network (CAN), Thorne Harbour established a Bendigo-based service focused on preventing blood-borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections as well as supporting both people living with HIV (PLHIV) and LGBTI communities in the Loddon Mallee Region in February 2016.“After over 20 years of serving the community in Bendigo, the Country Awareness Network left some big shoes for us to fill, and I believe we’ve risen to the challenge,” said Thorne Harbour Health CEO Simon Ruth.

Thorne Harbour Country is working with Bendigo Library to launch LGBTI Q Time - a new initiative creating a safe space for community members to ask questions related to gender identity and sexual orientation. Starting this week, Thorne Harbour Country will have a staff member at Bendigo Library from 10AM-12PM on the first Monday of every month.Based in Bendigo, Thorne Harbour Country is part of Thorne Harbour Health (formerly the Victorian AIDS Council) and provides information, counselling, and referrals to health and wellbeing services to LGBTIQ+ people and people living with HIV. “It is fantastic to see a number of LGBTIQ+ pride festivals underway across regional and rural Victoria, but some people may be hesitant to engage with LGBTIQ+ community pride events or come to see us at our location on Mundy Street” said Thorne Harbour Health Acting CEO Carolyn Gillespie.“This could be due to previous experiences of discrimination, apprehension about ‘coming out’, or simply being intimidated by all the excitement.”Damien Stevens-Todd is the Thorne Harbour Country Program Manager.