Mental health boost

Inaugural Close 2 Home Festival hands over $6000 in funding for four local community groups

Organisers of the inaugural Close 2 Home Festival have handed over the $6000 the event raised for local mental health and suicide prevention.

The final tally was thanks to the musical talent willing to grace the two stages in operation on the day as well as the generous support of Mental health boost Inaugural Close 2 Home Festival hands over $6000 in funding for four local community groups local business and the community with the event just as committed to not just raising funds but also awareness of mental health issues.

The Close 2 Home committee worked hard for the eight months leading into the October festival to coordinate this inaugural event, garnering amazing support from local businesses with numerous donations of goods and services through to financial funding from the State Government – Music Development office and the See it Live Grants and a community grant from OneFortyOne.

The main goal of the festival was raising essential funds for mental health and suicide prevention for the Limestone Coast region, with the funds split between four local groups – Headspace Mount Gambier, Four Reasons Why, Mount Gambier & Districts Suicide Prevention Group and the SE Junction ensuring that all the funds raised stay within the region. Artists from across Australia, traveling from Perth, Sydney and Adelaide and Geelong, and of course some of Mount Gambier’s best musicians converged on the stages at the Mount Gambier Bowls Club and its versatile covered green.

Close 2 Home Festival chairperson Natasha Little said there were people across the whole venue throughout the whole nine hours of the event with more than 300 attendees throughout the day, which included all the volunteers and artists.

Local muso Michael ‘Willo’ Wilson was a key driver of the event given it started with his own campaign to raise funds for mental health awareness Organisers left the donation link open until the end of October, which was Mental Health Awareness Month, and were able to hand over a share of the $6000 final tally to each of the four Limestone Coast providers.

The Close 2 Home Festival committee is starting to organise next year’s event with performers from the 2022 event keen to return. Keep an eye on their social media platforms for further information, including a confirmed 2023 date which is set to be announced in the coming weeks.

MENTAL HEALTH DONATIONS:

Close 2 Home Festival organiser Natasha Little with Mel from the Mount Gambier & District Suicide Prevention Group; Natasha Little with Nick McInerney from headspace Mount Gambier and Natasha Littled with Four Reasons Why founder Trudi Shelton.