Wentworth Falls Country Club hosted a fundraising event on Friday, December 4 to assist Mountain Youth Services Team (MYST) with their Project 460.
Kim Scanlon, Manager of MYST spoke at the event, saying the service has seen a 50 percent increase in complex mental health issues in young people over the last 12 months.
"Young people are saying they feel less hopeful about the future. MYST has therefore made a commitment, with the support of Wentworth Falls Country Club to raise $30,000 to support 460 students in year 10 across the four state schools to train in Teen Mental Health First Aid in 2021."
Winton Evers, Treasurer of the Wentworth Falls Country Club, added that the youth mental health first aid course would help students to identify when peers were struggling and provide the tools to manage those situations towards positive well-being.
He confirmed the club's commitment to support MYST to raise the $30,000 needed and that fundraising activities had commenced with Sunday-on-the-deck barbecues for members and visiting golfing groups. He said the club wished to use its facilities and attractive surrounds to reach out to community to help address local social issues. He thanked the Blue Mountains City Council for providing catering, security and a community bus for the event.
Macquarie MP Susan Templeman, Ward 2 councillors Romola Hollywood and Chris Van der Kley attended to support the event, with an apology from Blue Mountains MP Trish Doyle who had parliamentary duties.
"This is an incredibly practical project to help young people. Young people having the confidence to support each other, particularly in knowing how to respond to a friend's crisis, is a powerful tool and projects like this can be life-saving," said Susan Templeman.
"I am pleased to announce that MYST will be one of two Blue Mountains recipients of my annual Christmas donations, which I do in lieu of Christmas cards. They'll receive $400 towards their $30,000 target - a small but hopefully helpful contribution."
Jo Davies from Blackheath Neighbourhood Centre spoke about the use of art and creativity to facilitate well-being and connection among youth.
Helping to reduce social isolation for youth, the night saw the launch of local band Safire Palms' first EP. The band members include Nic Macken (keyboards), Rory Wilson (guitar), Riley Johns (bass) and Bailey Brown (drums). They brought a tremendous energy to the clubhouse and were applauded enthusiastically by their fans and guests.
Total monies received for the night towards Project 460 totalled more than $1600.
