Mitchell Raises Awareness on Suicide Prevention in Wheatbelt

Date: July 10, 2012 / Posted by control

Merredin Wheatbelt Mercury, 10 July 2012 –

A Large crowd attended OneLife’s most recent suicide prevention awareness education session in Bencubbin on July 3 with guest speaker Glenn Mitchell, a former ABC sports broadcaster and media personality.

The night was hosted by the Central Wheatbelt Football League, with the first session held at the Trayning Sports Club followed by a second session at the Bencubbin Recreation Centre.

During the session, Mr Mitchell reflected on his years commentating on Olympic, Commonwealth, AFL and WAFL games and then shared his personal journey with depression and the steps he had taken on his journey back.

Over the past seven months, many towns in the Wheatbelt have hosted an OneLife Suicide Prevention Strategy session for their local community.

Wheatbelt assistant network co-ordinator Jane Mouritz said the next step was to build a group of people who have accredited applied suicide intervention skills training to form a community wellness and support group.

She said they hoped to host more forums with other keynote speakers including Olympics gold medallist swimmer Petria Thomas and Paralympian and 2009 Young Australian of the Year Kurt Fearnley.

OneLife were also involved with the ‘staying solid with safe yarning’ program for the local Noongar community.