A local sporting club has stepped up for mental health recently, with a group of their members going through a training program for Mental Health First Aid.
Fernree Gully Eagles Football and Netball Club has had a complement of members who have recently undergone training with The Mental Health Initiative.
“Over the past two weeks, Liv, Leah, Darren and Max completed a training program with The Mental Health Initiative.
We’d like to congratulate them on becoming certified Mental Health First Aid Officers. If you ever need a friendly face to chat to, don’t hesitate to reach out to them. Congratulations!” read the club’s social media on 27 November.
Wellbeing advocate at the club, Darren, said that he did the training to add to his toolkit, going through online training and in-person modules with The Mental Health Initiative over two weeks.
“It was a fair bit of work, but there are really good just processes on how to approach people, and how to recognise that something might be an issue in their lives,” he said.
The Mental Health Initiative aims to develop and equip Mental Health First Aid officers across Victoria, building the capacity and confidence of individuals and communities to have meaningful conversations around mental health.
Along with other members, Liv, Leah and Max, the quartet were given ways to approach people who were going through significant issues in their lives.
Darren said even though he has some background in mental health, working the programme in a group meant they could diversify as a group to work in their own little pockets in the club and support each other as well.
“There was a nurturing, non-judgmental approach to it – I gained a lot out of it,” said Darren.
“It will definitely benefit the club – we can also bounce off each other as well,” he said.
Self-care for anyone giving mental health issues was also touched on, and Darren said it can be a heavy role being in a supportive space for someone experiencing a mental health issue or emergency.
“We can approach everything, ask the questions, you know, and touch on the suicide stuff as well – making sure we don’t avoid those subjects,” he said.
“It even feels better for me, being that that role is now diversified, and there are more people out there – especially the young ones.”
Having younger members participate in the training is also a boon to the club, and Darren said mental health is quickly becoming a necessity on a community level.
“I think I’m really excited by them being there, especially the young ones, the next generation is going okay, you know, we recognise mental health as an issue, and we want to help where we can,” he said.
