TOM HAYES
By TOM HAYES
“TO include the unincluded”, is the message from Reclink founder and director Peter Cullen AM. Reclink is an Australian organisation founded in 1990, which provides evidence-based sport and recreation programs to disadvantaged Australians. The Reclink program creates socially inclusive, life-changing opportunities for these Australians, providing pathways to improved health and wellbeing, education and employment outcomes. Reclink exists to provide moments of joy, human connection, opportunity and a sense of purpose for participants, thus, improving physical and mental health via greater social inclusion. Participants are sourced in a range of ways; through welfare agencies, straight from the streets or from boarding houses. “Our role and mission is to bring people from non-inclusion or isolation into the community,” Mr Cullen said. “We believe in health through community, through involvement, through friendship, through participating.” Reclink has partnered with more than 500 different community organisations in Australia, and is now in the Latrobe Valley. “What normally draws us is a community experiencing challenges or disadvantage, or maybe a lack of opportunity,” Mr Cullen said. On Wednesday, December 7, Reclink hosted a cricket match including a handful of participants who suffer from Community Collapse Disorder (CCD). People who suffer from CCD could experience a number of issues from homelessness, gambling, alcohol and drug addictions, disability or poor mental health. Cricket isn’t the only sport that Reclink provides in the Latrobe Valley, as it works throughout the entire year to provide its service. “The main sort of sport programs we do is obviously cricket and footy, they rotate on a seasonal basis,” Reclink senior sports co-ordinator, Isaac Copland, said. To cater for everyone, Reclink also provides programs like chair fitness, chair yoga, walking groups, tennis, squash and lawn bowls. These programs are run in Traralgon, Churchill and Morwell and throughout the Latrobe Valley and Baw Baw regions. “All of our programs are to create a safe and inclusive environment,” Mr Copland said. Reclink has been providing a service to Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley since June 2021, after they were funded by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation (VRGF). They hope to continue to grow and have a Gippsland-based cricket team to compete as other Reclink teams are currently. “I’ve started using the term ‘third-tier sport’,” Mr Cullen said. Reclink’s third-tier sport program is run during the week, is inclusive as possible – including rule alterations so participants can have a fair go – and has no cost to participants, Mr Cullen describes it as “non-clinical therapy”. “Some of the best impact happens at third-tier footy … and it’s probably the most unknown,” Mr Cullen continued. “We believe every time we start up a Reclink team, lives are saved.” Mr Cullen announced the release of new book: ‘The Power of a Football’, which dissects the stories of participants. Also shared is quotes from notable Australians such as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Father Bob Maguire and AFL icons Paul Roos, Kevin Sheedy, Tim Watson and Eddie Maguire, to name a few. The Power of a Football is filled with stories from Reclink participants from all over Australia, sharing their stories in a deeper, intimate way. The profits made from the book will go towards funding Reclink football teams and leagues. “It’ll simply help us run our leagues, which (there) are a lot of expenses to run,” Mr Cullen said. “We have Grand Finals and medal events and development days, potentially camps, umpiring costs and uniforms. “The stories are powerful, and they bring home a strong message.” Even Mr Albanese believes the book is “full of stories of redemption, hope, pushing doors open for people and bringing out the very finest qualities in our communities”. “Reclink Australia has always had a special place in my heart because they make us better as a nation. They help people out and they change lives. Importantly, Reclink is one of this country’s greatest unifiers,” Mr Albanese said. Reclink is always looking for more participants. For more information go to https://reclink.org/ and to buy ‘The Power of a Football’ go to https://reclink.org/power-football
