Program teaching kids resilience

A PROGRAM aiming to improve children’s mental health outcomes will be coming to Bendigo later this month.

Hugh van Cuylenburg, founder of The Resilience Project, spent time living in a village in northern India in 2008, and said he discovered three things he believed led to happiness: gratitude, empathy, and mindfulness.

Later, after returning to Australia, he founded the organisation, which takes mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing programs to schools, sports clubs, businesses, and other groups.

Presenting the event will be father of three, former teacher, assistant principal and AFL player, Martin Heppell, who has so far been the face of more than 1000 of the programs.

The Resilience Project founder and best-selling author, Hugh van Cuylenburg, said Mr Heppell was a great fit for the job.

“Kids have so many different challenges to navigate in today’s world and combine this with the difficulties of the last couple of years, it’s no wonder we are seeing such confronting statistics about our children’s mental health,” said Mr van Cuylenburg.

“Martin is unbelievable, there is no-one like him. I couldn’t think of anyone better to help kids and their parents understand how much fun they can have looking after their mental health.”

The most recent study on children’s mental health in Australia, the Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2013-14, one in seven Australian children aged four to seventeen were estimated to have experienced mental illness over a 12-month period.

A more recent study done during the COVID-19 pandemic published on JAMA Paediatrics drew on data from studies around the world, and estimated one in four young people were affected by depression and anxiety.

The program, 3 Happy Tricks, will be on at The Capital on Tuesday 26 September, and tickets can be purchased at theresilienceproject.com.au/kids-shows/ and livenation.com.au.