Bathurst Youth Council and headspace collaborate to support mental health

The initiative was developed by the Bathurst Youth Council, with the aim of helping any young locals who may have questions around mental health.

Bathurst Youth Mayor Harvey Lew said addressing mental health in the community is important to him, and he hopes the initiative helps anyone who may be struggling with their mental wellbeing.

"I've always had a passion in supporting not only just young people but anyone suffering with a mental health condition," Harvey said.

"So for mental health month in October, the Youth Council wanted to put up some coping strategies and just ways that we can not only support our own mental health and positive wellbeing but also all the people around us. Our mates, our family members, everyone we care about."

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The initiative involved members of headspace Bathurst taking over the Youth Council's Instagram page for the day on Friday, October 28, and answer any questions sent through via the social media platform.

The names of those asking questions were anonymous but the answers were posted to the Youth Council Instagram story for others to read.

Harvey said Bathurst is lucky to have an organisation like headspace, that works heavily with supporting the youth in the community.

"headspace Bathurst are an awesome organisation that target helping young people around the Bathurst community and target youth mental health as well as sexual health, having support from GPs and just a lot of other things that young people find important in their daily lives."

Bathurst mayor Robert Taylor said the council fully supports the initiative and credited the members of the Youth Council for their innovation.

"The Youth Council, to their credit, have brought this to the forefront because it is an issue that they feel is necessary to bring out into the open," Cr Taylor said.

"The social environment these days is a lot different to when I was growing up, and I think the youth today need this facility and the initiative of the Youth Council to be able to come and discuss their problems, work out their problems, and get to know ways they can work through it."

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