FRIENDS of India Network\u2019s 2022 charity cricket match and black-tie gala dinner have been successful in raising funds for the Ballarat and District Suicide Prevention Network.<\/p>\n
The FIN community and their guests generated $75,000 this year which will benefit Ballarat Youth Services-led mental health program Live4Life, expected to reach 20,000 young people in schools over five years.<\/p>\n
BDSPN chair Des Hudson was presented with FIN\u2019s cheque on Monday at Town Hall and said their aim with Live4Life is to create generational change.<\/p>\n
\u201cLive4Life adolescent and teen programs will be respectively delivered to year 8 and year 10 students over a series of three and five sessions, at schools across Ballarat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe training model is designed to give them an understanding of mental health, positive and negative, and the intervention strategies available, that they can use on their lifelong journey, as a friend and as a work colleague.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project will help them gain the confidence to ask others if they are okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
FIN\u2019s donation will fund the training of 30 hands-on facilitators who will deliver the mental health program.<\/p>\n
Network president Sanjay Sharma said members of the group are pleased their support will boost the health and wellbeing of the next generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about putting something back into the community that\u2019s worthwhile, and helping young people to learn some resilience strategies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
From 2023, half of the city\u2019s local schools will be part of the program, before the rest join in the following year.<\/p>\n
Live4Life has already been rolled out in the Macedon Ranges, Surf Coast, Glenelg, and Moyne shires, but the Ballarat program is set to be the largest so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FRIENDS of India Network\u2019s 2022 charity cricket match and black-tie gala dinner have been successful in raising funds for the Ballarat and District Suicide Prevention Network. The FIN community and their guests generated $75,000 this year which will benefit Ballarat Youth Services-led mental health program Live4Life, expected to reach 20,000 young people in schools over […]<\/p>\n