Matt Hewson
Students at five Geelong schools are learning mental health strategies that could support their whole community.
More than 2000 students took part in four interactive presentations in April as part of a two-year program with The Resilience Project, delivered through a partnership between GMHBA and Geelong Football Club.
Kids from the Geelong East, Lara, Newcomb, and Whittington primary schools visited GMHBA Stadium for the first sessions, while Western Heights Secondary College hosted events.
The Resilience Project facilitator Martin Heppell presented the dynamic and energetic sessions, which also featured Geelong AFL and AFLW players.
Geelong footballer Tanner Bruhn said the Cats players were all “really keen and eager to be on board” to help the program combat the growing mental health crisis among young people.
“Mental health is such a big thing in society today, so we’re really looking forward to helping kids with strategies and trying to spread as much positive energy as we can,” Bruhn said.
Heppell, a former primary school assistant principal who played football at the AFL and SANFL level, said it was “massive” having Geelong footballers help deliver the program.
“First of all, it’s about trying to inspire the adults to model behaviours and strategies for the kids to adopt,” he said.
“When they have people who they look up to (and) respect model and talk about things that could benefit them, that’s quite often when we see movement with the kids.”
GMHBA chief executive David Greig hopes The Resilience Project could have a “network effect” on the Geelong community.
“The goal is actually to take the community on a bit of a journey, for the program to actually reach into the community through the schools,” he said.
“We hope it can create a broader environment within the community where people can be more resilient, practise these mental health skills…and together build a more resilient community.”
