Our Youth Reference Group nail their first project!!

On Wednesday 26^th of August 2015, headspace Hurstville’s Youth Reference Group (YRG) hosted over 30 students from local St George High Schools for their first Mental Health Leaders Day.  The 12 members of the YRG have been working vigorously over the last 6 months to plan, deliver and evaluate this project.

The overall purpose of this project was to raise awareness about headspace and its services, to reduce the stigma surrounding youth mental health and to empower young people to think about some project ideas they could implement in their own school to promote a safe and healthy school culture.

All 12 members of the YRG had in integral role in delivering the two hour session which covered topics such as;

• Common Mental Health problems and their signs and symptoms.
• How to talk to a friend who might be going through a tough time.
• How to reduce the stigma about mental health and create and empathetic environment.
• Self-care strategies.
• Ideas for running a project in your school to support young people and promote wellbeing.

Through humour, interactive activities and student involvement the YRG engaged, educated and enlightened the participants about youth mental health and wellbeing. They were able to use their skills in team work, project management, public speaking and knowledge about mental health to facilitate an extremely successful first project.

Students and teachers who attended the event also had an opportunity to tour the headspace Hurstville centre and learn a little bit more about how we support young people.

A special thanks to our YRG team; Maria, Christina, Laylaa, Tandee, Anton, Ray, Jesse, Brandon, Stella, Sarah, Georgia and Marnie.

Check out some pictures from the event below!