THERE has been a major win for the Mitchell Shire Youth Council (MSYC), scoring a $10,000 grant from the Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal’s (FRRR) Strengthening Rural Communities program to set up a 12-month mental health pop-up service.
The project is designed to empower youths in the Mitchell Shire region, with improved access to support services across the Shire.
MSYC Youth Mayor Councillor Nic Houghton says it was a great reward after putting in more than 12 months of work to secure the grant.
“We’ve been working on the pop-up mental health service for over a year now, and only recently learned we got the $10,000 that will go a long way to implementing what we need to implement and making a real change in our Shire,” he said.
“We know mental health is one of the biggest issues in our Shire. We’ve seen a lot of youth are unable to get support because of long waiting lists, long distances or just being unable to reach out, but we want to fix that by making a more accessible, local solution.
“We are hoping to run programs all across the Mitchell Shire.”
Mr Houghton said the long-term goal was to utilise the pop-up service to implement a permanent space.
“We’re hoping to implement temporary mental health services in the Shire and run a program evaluation of those to hopefully gather enough evidence for a permanent mental health space,” he said.
With the continued building of relationships between the newly-elected MSYC and Mitchell Shire Council, Mr Houghton said both teams were working together well.
“We want to make real change and we’re working towards that every day,” he said.
Jill Karena, Head of Granting at FRRR, said programs such as the MSYC’s mental health pop-up space helped encourage new people and new generations to step up.
“Locally-led, grassroots organisations are key to ensuring vital community services continue to be delivered. That takes committed volunteers, and we are seeing more not for profits (NFP) working hard to attract and retain volunteers by making improvements to amenities, purchasing new equipment and offering training and mentorship. This not only makes things easier and more efficient for current volunteers but helps to encourage a new generation of people to step up, which is critical to the sustainability of these organisations,” she said.
“We are also seeing NFPs doing more to address service gaps for children and young people living in remote, rural and regional Australia. This includes finding innovative ways to attract staff for daycare centres, providing appropriate facilities for playgroups and youth activities, offering outreach programs and further education, as well as better job opportunities.
“This round we’re also pleased to be able to support several communities that are exploring new technologies and educating locals on online safety and security, so that they are better equipped to embrace these technologies. This is such a critical step in terms of narrowing the digital divide, especially for older residents.
“The initiatives we’ve funded in this round of grants really showcase the diversity of needs of remote, rural and regional communities. This is why flexible funding programs, like SRC, are so critical to the sustainability and vibrancy of our inland communities. We are grateful to all our partners who share our commitment and make these grants possible.”
