Primary Care Connect holds lunch for overdose awareness

By Kayla Jones

Sep 4, 2024

Primary Care Connect’s alcohol and other drugs clinician Joanne Dawson, youth outreach worker Ashlee Kenny, AOD manager Debbie McDonald, media and communications co-ordinator Shara Scott, AOD clinician Rhys Bethune and AOD clinician Jobe Richter. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

Fifty locks hang alongside budding flowers and plants on the memorial garden wall at Primary Care Connect.

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Engraved on each silver lock is a message carefully written by the person who clipped it there.

It’s an image that resembles a bridge in Paris, where couples, friends and family carve their names into locks and clip them to the Pont des Arts as a symbol of lasting love.

From their spot above the Seine, the locks bear the brunt of the weather, withstanding strong winds, rain and time.

The locks in Shepparton, however, represent a darker storm.

Addiction and overdose impact countless lives every year.

The Penington Institute’s Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2023 shows that six Australians lose their lives to overdose every day — that’s one person every four hours.

International Overdose Awareness Day, held officially on August 31, stood to memorialise lives lost, raise awareness and dismantle stigma.

The locks in Shepparton might come from a different place, but the messages of tribute, love and strength remain as strong as ever.

On Wednesday, August 28, Shepparton’s Primary Care Connect held its annual Overdose Awareness Day lunch, hoping to reduce the stigma surrounding overdose.

This year was the second such lunch, and Primary Care Connect media and communications co-ordinator Shara Scott said it was well received.

“We know there are countless families across our community who have dealt with the pain of losing someone to overdose, or who have recovered from overdose but are left to deal with the stigma,” Mrs Scott said.

“Our aim with this event is to raise awareness of the severity of the issue and to provide a safe and nurturing space for those who have been impacted to come together in solidarity.”

Alcohol and other drugs manager Debbie McDonald and AOD clinician Jobe Richter. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

“(The locks) are an idea I developed last year, stemming from the Love Bridge in Paris,” Mrs Scott said.

“I just felt that leaving a lasting tribute such as a lock would be more meaningful than just having a lunch, and I’m just so pleased that the idea has been taken up by our community.

“We now have approximately 50 locks up on our beautiful garden wall as a tribute to those who have been lost.

“It is really a powerful event, and we are overwhelmed by the awareness we have been able to raise and the exposure our campaign received.”

Around 80 people, including community members, former agency clients and other service providers and stakeholders, attended the event.

The 2024 International Overdose Day theme was ‘Together we can’ — highlighting that through support, open-mindedness and increased awareness, together we can end overdose deaths.