By Ewen McRae
A new event focusing on mental health among young people is set to spark a conversation this week.
The Moorabool Youth Action Group (YAG) youth expo will take over the Bacchus Marsh Town Hall on Friday, raising awareness and highlighting the importance of good mental health.
The group was successful in obtaining funding through the state government’s “Pick My Project” initiative to run the expo.
Former Western Bulldogs premiership star Tom Boyd – who retired from the AFL in part due to his own battles with mental health – will be the key speaker on the day.
The event has been designed by young people for Moorabool young people aged 12 to 25 years, and one of the organisers, Corey, said it was an important event for the area.
“It’s obviously an area that has been highlighted as a need for local young people,” he said. “It’s great to get someone like Tom Boyd come down and tell his story. Hopefully that brings a few more people through the door and we can grow this. We’d like to see this become an annual event.”
Another organiser, Josh, will MC the event. “It’s definitely something that the community needed, to have an event like this,” he said. “Mental health is a problem nowadays within Australian youth, and it probably isn’t spoken about as often as it should be.”
