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Mental health charity, Gold Fields helping Kalgoorlie football clubs tackle suicide risk - Kalgoorlie Miner

Friday, 17 February 2023

A mental health charity is set to begin workshops in March with football clubs to encourage positive conversations around health and well-being in young men.

The WA Football Commission, Kalgoorlie MP Ali Kent and mining company Gold Fields joined forces after the tragic loss of several young men to suicide in the past few years with youth mental health charity zero2hero to help support the community.

Mental health workshops will be delivered to 150 young players across five football clubs in Kalgoorlie-Boulder and surrounding areas from March 13 to 17 to ensure they are aware of the signs leading to suicide in their peers.

WA Football Commission Goldfields regional manager Gemma Harrison said that while football clubs provided a place for sport and connection, there was also an opportunity to focus on the well-being and mental health of their players, members and wider community.

"Several country football clubs across the State have been impacted by recent critical incidents," she said.

"We are hoping this tour will reduce stigma, build participants' confidence to engage in positive conversations around health and well-being and strengthen club environments.

"I am delighted to have had the opportunity to work in partnership with everyone involved in this tour to roll out such incredibly powerful sessions to our local footballers and support staff.

"Acknowledgement must also go to the local clubs who have opened their doors to us."

The workshop is called safeTALK and will be delivered by trained zero2hero facilitators free of charge for the players.

Zero2hero chief executive Ashlee Harrison said the safeTALK program prepared anyone over the age of 15 to become a suicide alert helper.

"The program will encourage young people's willingness, confidence and ability to recognise when a person like their fellow teammate may be having thoughts of suicide and safely guide them to access further help from mental health support services as needed," she said.

"We know that young people turn to their friends when they are struggling, not adults, and that they are the least likely to seek help.

"So when a young people knows how to comfortably have hard conversations like this and knows how to safely help them, it has the ability to save lives."

Ms Kent said a main focus was to give young people in regional areas access to tools that could help improve their mental health.

"I saw how zero2hero was helping so many young people in Perth and thought that we needed to bring those skills and experience to Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the Goldfields," she said.

"It's one of the aims that the local group was striving to reach and is a great step towards ensuring young people in the Goldfields are equipped with the skills necessary to support their own mental health, as well as support others."

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed that 75 per cent of those who took their lives in Australia in 2022 were male.

"Bringing safeTALK to the footy clubs in this area will enable so many men to get access to the skills and knowledge they may need," Ms Kent said.

Gold Field's Australasia executive vice president of operations Stuart Mathews said the gold mining company supported the push for open conversations around mental health in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

"Gold Fields has a genuine commitment to supporting safe and healthy communities through the region," he said.

"We see the incredibly value programs like the zero2hero safeTALK initiative can deliver to the Goldfields by talking openly about mental health and empowering community members to become suicide alert helpers."


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