Tamworth group receives grant for digital drought resilience project 'My Drought Story'

Local ladies Kate Arndell, Melissa Bowman, Alison Treloar and Sue Ellen Hogan have received a $16,000 grant to encourage rural residents to share their experiences of the drought.

The project, titled 'My Drought Story' will include a website showcasing during and after drought images alongside stories of how people got through.

Ms Arndell, who works with the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program, said the story telling project would give people the chance to grieve and reflect on the drought.

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"When we finished the drought we went straight into fires, COVID, mouse plagues and flooding, we didn't really get the chance to reflect on how devastating the drought was before we moved onto another adverse event," Ms Arndell said.

The group applied for the grant after meeting at a Drought Resilience Leaders Development Program where they were inspired to help enhance resilience and preparedness in agricultural dependent communities.

The soon-to-be-launched website will ask those affected by the drought to submit examples of what it was that helped them get through the tough time.

"We're asking people what made you put one foot in front of the other each day," Ms Arndell said.

"It could have been playing tennis every Sunday or having a hot cup of Twinning's tea at 9pm each night."

By looking at side by side photos of during and after the drought the project team are hoping to improve drought resilience within rural and regional communities.

"It was a time where you thought it was the end of the world and it can't get any worse," Ms Arndell said.

"But if you look at a comparison photo where the grass is green, the animals are fatter and the paddock looks healthy it makes you think 'I could get through that again'."

Melissa Bowman, a primary producer in Barraba, said anything that would help the community be more resilient for the next drought was "a good thing".

"We were really badly hit by the drought, our paddocks were bare and we had to destock a lot of our cattle," Ms Bowman said.

"It's taken us a long time to restock and get back to where we were... financially it will still take us a while to get back on top of the drought."

Once the website is launched the best images will be compiled to form a hard copy book which will be available in libraries and council buildings around the region.

The website is expected to be launched soon with the book set for publication by the end of September.

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