Teen Mental Health

On Monday 25th of November our three Live4Life crew members Kherington, Simone and Josh were invited to participate in the end of year recap and celebration of achievement following the completion of the 2024 program in the Ballarat community. 

Kherington and Simone attended alongside their fellow crew members from other local Ballarat schools and were provided with the opportunity to reflect on the progress made within the Ballarat community this year. We recognised the achievement that across Ballarat we have successfully completed Teen Mental Health First Aid training with over 2000 students and have provided Youth Mental Health First Aid training to more than 500 adults in our region. 

We reflected on what this means within our schools, noticing from a staff perspective that students are utilising the language that they have been taught, and an increased rate of students coming to wellbeing or another safe adult to report safety concerns for their peers, regardless of whether that peer attends Ballarat High School or another local school. One of the major strengths identified about the Live4Life program is that it is a program that has been established across a collective of schools. That all involved schools are providing their students with the same crucial information and key language to assist them in supporting their peers experiencing a mental health problem to access appropriate supports.

Kherington and Simone were thanked for their work in providing mental health advocacy in 2024 and their role within the crew and participation in key events such as Ballarat High School’s RU OK? day celebration which raised over $1000 towards the Live4Life program. They received their certificates of participation and explored what they can do next in this space as mental health advocates within not only Ballarat High School, but the Ballarat community.

Georgia Gregor

Mental Health Practitioner