On a night that celebrated the success of community projects in NSW and Queensland, that receive funding from mining giant Glencore, one speaker truly captured the audience's attention.
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Pauline Carrigan co-founder of Where there's a Will (WTAW) retold her family's story of the death by suicide of their son Will on Christmas Day in 2015 at the age of 24.
It is a story she has been retelling since that fateful day and it is the reason she and her husband Hilton established WTAW to harness support for their campaign to raise awareness about mental health and to build resilience in young people through educational programs.
Pauline likes to compare the success of the Slip Slop Slap skin cancer awareness campaign and the failure of our mental health education and training. One in four young Australians aged 16-24 years has a mental health issue.
She has become an advocate for positive education as a way to better tackle youth suicide and mental health in general.The charity uses the PERMA model of positive education designed by Martin Seligman based on five core elements of psychological well-being and happiness.
Thanks to support from organisations including Glencore she said 23 schools and seven preschools throughout the Upper Hunter are now actively engaged in positive learning in their school community.
It has not always been easy to garner support especially in the early days of the charity when government officials and some politicians did not want to listen to the Pauline and Hilton. She thanked Glencore who to date have funded $200,000 for WTAW's positive education programs and mental health first aid. "Glencore opened the door and let us in and have supported WTAW since day one and I can't thank them enough," she said. "Their continuing support will enable us to grow and offer positive education programs in more schools."
In addition to community grants funding Glencore's Ravensworth operationsponsored $1 from every load carried by one of their dump trucks painted in the WTAW logo for 12 months through 2018 to raise $20,000.
The company's Mangoola mine workforce also donated $6500 to WTAW.
If you or anyone you know needs help:
Lifeline on 13 11 14
Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
Headspace on 1800 650 890