Farewell to four fabulous years of Yarning Shed

After four fulfilling years as a significant part of the remote Napranum Community, Rhonda Parry and Paul Cook rolled the door down on the Na’Muk’A’Run Yarning Shed for the last time on Friday 11 September.

 

The Na’Muk’A’Run Mob first began as a community initiative developed by the late Traditional Owner, Mr Budby. Supported by other Traditional Owners and Elders from Napranum, Weipa and Mapoon, it was designed to empower local young people and create opportunities for them to have a voice in matters affecting their future. Initially, up to three staff led by Jack Wipa, mentored participants in local employment projects and began work to record and preserve the local Thaynakwith language.

 

However, it was when the group secured their first grant, allowing the move into the Yarning Shed at the Kuku’nathi Services Hub in Napranum, that they really solidified their role in the community. Na’Muk’A’Run Mob coordinator Rhonda Parry said The Yarning Shed aimed to be a drop-in space that became a trusted point of connection for community members seeking friendship, support, information, participation and belonging.

 

“The Yarning shed is all about bringing in the community and especially the young people in it,” she said.

 

“We want the community to see what we are doing and how we can create [opportunities] moving forward.

 

“To make them understand they are not alone, we are here.”

 

To strengthen this aim, Community Owned Enterprises and Kuku’nathi Services joined forces to win a Social Isolation and Loneliness Grant for the group in 2023.

 

Through this funding, and the three permanent staff it supported, the Yarning Shed rapidly expanded it’s offerings. New games, a dedicated art room and a commercial washing machine and dryer all contributed to make the Yarning Shed a place the community regularly came to for connection, information and support.
As community groups including local support providers and health organisations began to utilise the space when in Napranum, the number of people dropping in for a yarn swelled and with them the programs on offer again too.

 

The Yarning Shed became the home and supports for the Get Ready, Get Set, Go program, funded through the Queensland Government’s Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative. In this program ten participants built their literacy, language, numeracy and digital skills within the trusted and supportive environment of the Yarning Shed. Community Owned Enterprises’ Project Coordinator Rebecca offered community haircuts during visits to the ‘Shed and a local community band got it’s start during the Yarning Shed’s Big Jam.

 

Music quickly proved to be a powerful tool for bringing people together and those keen to get involved learned guitar, keyboard and bongo drums, supported one another and built friendships. The Big Jams led to the formation of the ‘Yarning Shed Community Band’, who proudly performed at the recent Piccinini Day Community Celebrations. This performance showed the journey some in the band had made from isolation to active community participation and pride.

 

This was also not the only time the Na’Muk’A’Run Mob has extended out beyond the Yarning Shed walls either. Staff have regularly supported the Mapoon community and projects there as well as visiting Elders, people with mobility challenges and carers in the Napranum community. This ensured community members throughout the Western Cape benefited from the connection, culture and friendships the Yarning Shed provided.

 

In it’s inclusion in the Napranum community the Na’Muk’A’Run Mob Yarning Shed was also supported by the community and strong partnerships with local and state organisations including Napranum Aboriginal Shire Council, Community Justice Groups, EMG Inclusive Supports, Apunipima, and Cape York Health. The Yarning Shed team extend their heartfelt gratitude to everyone that helped make the shed such a vibrant and inclusive place.

 

Through the Yarning Shed more than 70 community members regularly found connection, support and belonging. While it’s disappointing that the lack of ongoing funding means the Yarning shed cannot continue to support the community in the way they have been, the Na’Muk”A’Run Mob can be extremely proud of the impact they have achieved over the past four years. The friendships, confidence, cultural connections and community spirit developed through the Yarning Shed project will remain part of Napranum for many years to come.

 

This story first appeared in the Cape York Weekly as ‘Heartfelt gratitude’: Yarning Shed shuts doors due to funding shortfall.