A dedicated group of young people have played a vital role in addressing one of the leading issues for youth in Ballarat.
Members of the inaugural Ballarat Live4Life Crew more commonly referred to as 'The Crew' who have become mental health ambassadors in their schools, were officially recognised on Monday for their efforts in reducing the stigma associated with mental health among Ballarat's young people.
At a special end of year celebration at RACV Goldfields in Creswick, 36 Live4Life Crew members received special commendation for their efforts in providing peer support and positive mental health messaging in an effort to improve mental health outcomes in Ballarat.
Mental health remains the number one chronic health condition for young people across Ballarat. Early insights from the City of Ballarat Youth Profile 2024 indicate there has been no significant improvements in mental health statistics for young people over the past two years.
The next Youth Profile is currently being updated and is expected to be finalised in early 2025.
The Crew was made up of current Year 9 students from eight secondary schools who chose to become mental health leaders and advocates after undertaking Teen Mental Health First Aid training as Year 8 students in 2023.
This year, the Crew assisted in delivering events and driving key Live4Life messages at their school and in the community, including awareness campaigns, bake sales, staff versus students netball matches, sausage sizzles and year level assemblies. These activities all contributed to reducing the stigma associated with poor mental health.
The theme that the young participants decided on from the onset was 'talking is tough, we don't do it enough', spreading the message that it's ok to talk about mental health and that we should do it more often.
City of Ballarat Councillor, Des Hudson congratulated Life4Life Crew members on their work for the year, stating it had already made an impact on thousands of Ballarat's young people.
"We know that youth mental health is such a key issue at the moment and that there is a long road ahead," Cr Hudson said.
"These Live4Life Crew members have dedicated so much of their own time for a truly vital cause and their efforts would have already improved the mental health and wellbeing of many young people in Ballarat."
Since Live4Life began in Ballarat in early 2023, almost 3500 young people have participated in Teen Mental Health First Aid. The Ballarat Live4Life program covered 11 schools providing valuable training and mental health messaging to students across Year 8 and Year 10. Ballarat is one of 14 Live4Life Communities across Victoria and Tasmania.
Next year, the program will continue to deliver the rollout of the Live4Life model in schools at Year 8 and Year 10 level. It aims to train up another 3500 young people in Teen Mental Health First Aid, providing young people and the adults that support them the skills and the common language they need to help reduce suicide in our community.
