A click that would make a change
Last year, Wesley College Glen Waverley student, Peter Sun, was working together with students across the City of Monash, as founding members of the Pinewood Community Bank Young Leaders’ Board, with the aim of promoting positive social change through important youth issues. The board identified mental health as a top concern for young people and their first project, Project Echo, is campaigning for a Headspace youth mental hub to open in the City of Monash (currently the closest one is in Knox, an hour’s public transport trip away). The project was launched recently with a music event, other social media and has now led to an online petition.
As Headspace centres are federally funded, community support is desperately needed so that Peter, together with the Young Leaders’ Board, can demonstrate the need and desire for a more local service. The project is especially close to Peter’s heart after a friend from overseas came to Australia and showed several signs of mental health issues, but Peter found it incredibly hard to help due to lack of local resources. Having a local youth counselling service network nearby would have been beneficial to Peter’s friend and, if the Monash centre gets the go ahead, will advantage hundreds, if not thousands, of young people in the future.
Many Wesley students and staff have already showed support by signing the petition and the College wishes Peter and his fellow leaders all the best with their project.
