General News
24 November, 2025
Keep cool and be hydrated this summer
More than a dozen people attended the Summer Health Day event at Horsham Neighbourhood House, where the town’s key organisations helped and educated the community about the upcoming heatwave and summer season.
The two-and-a-half-hour event, held on Wednesday, November 19, at the House was a partnership between HNH and the Heatwave HELP project.
Organisations, including the Grampians Health team, Phoenix Animal Rescue Horsham volunteers, YMCA staff members, a Goolum Goolum representative, and the Wimmera Emergency Team Management team, attended the event, educated attendees on precautions, and promoted the heat-safe message within the community.
HNH manager Charlie Helyar said people actually had the opportunity to have face-to-face conversations with the related organisation members.
“The event was a joint partnership between Grampians’ Public Health Unit and the Horsham Neighbourhood House, promoting Heat Safe for community members to come and meet with our other organisations and learn about what they’re doing regarding heat safety,” he said.
“We probably had about 15 to 20 people, and everybody received it well.”
Mr Helyar said the primary purpose of the event was to educate the people about how harmful heat can be for all of us.
“Probably the big thing is that heat can kill, and it’s not just extreme heat - any type of heat can affect people differently,” he said.
“Whether it would be through their medications, they might be taking, or they might be elderly, or even young children.
“It can affect everybody in our community, not just minority groups.”
Mr Helyar said the pets should also be cared for during the upcoming season.
“I think pets are just as important as humans and we need to look after our pets,” he said.
“So in a heat wave, they feel the heat just as much as we do.
Keeping cool, staying alert, and keeping an eye on the weather were the core points of the event.
“Keeping themselves cool is a big message,” Mr Helyar said.
“And if they can’t stay at home, go somewhere where they feel it’s safe.”