It has been a very busy year at Youthbeyondblue and we’d like to share with you some of the exciting things that are happening!

Indigenous Hip Hop Projects

In partnership with beyondblue, Indigenous Hip Hop Projects (IHHP), a group of talented hip hop artists, have visited over 40 communities this year. IHHP run week-long hip hop workshops in schools across Australia, raising awareness of depression and anxiety and promoting the benefits of physical activity for mental health.

The crew encourages their workshop participants to learn Youthbeyondblue’s key youth messages of: Look, Listen, Talk and Seek Help together.

While in Wyndham Western Australia, a young workshop participant, Dallas was invited to participate in the IHHP’s  communities’ tour.

IHHP was impressed by Dallas’s talents, his natural leadership skills and commitment. The Wunan Foundation, an Aboriginal development organisation in the East Kimberley, heard Dallas’s story and nominated him for the East Kimberley Aboriginal Achievement Award. Congratulations Dallas and the IHHP Crew!

Wakakirri

Wakakirri is a national performing and visual arts festival for primary school children. This year, Youthbeyondblue is supporting the Wakakirri National Story Telling competition. The competition includes elements of the Outback, Country and City. The Wakakirri finals will be held around Australia over the next two months. For more info on the finals in your state, or to view some of the imaginative stories from young people from across Australia, check out www.wakakirri.com

Rock Eisteddfod Challenge

beyondblue has again teamed up with Global Rock Challenge to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety in young people, their parents and teachers. The Rock Eisteddfod heats are now over and state Grand Finals have begun. The remaining Grand Finals were recently held in Sydney (9 - 11 September) at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and are happening in Melbourne (16 - 18 September) at Hisense Arena.

Congratulations to all of the young people involved in the choreography, organisation, sets and performances. The crew at Youthbeyondblue attended some of the finals and was impressed by the commitment and talent of all the participants.

“The performances have just been amazing!” beyondblue CEO, Leonie Young said. “Every one of the 30,000 students taking part this year should be congratulated for getting involved in such a positive event.”

For more information on the finals and to check out how it’s all going, visit www.rockchallenge.com.au.

Vibe Alive

Four out of the five Vibe Alive festivals have come and gone and Weipa is the last stop on the Vibe Alive tour. Youthbeyondblue attended the Vibe Alive festival in Mildura in July and it was such a fun, interesting and educational experience. Indigenous Hip Hop Projects ran interactive dance and hip hop workshops at all of Vibe Alive events to encourage pride and confidence in young people attending. The dance moves that we saw were unique and a few Youthbeyondblue crew members were very tempted to join in and bust a move! For more information on Vibe, including the coming Deadly Awards, please visit www.vibe.com.au

Anxiety and Depression Awareness Month

beyondblue has taken over October with Anxiety and Depression Awareness (ADA) month! For an entire month, thousands of people all around the country do their bit to raise awareness of depression and anxiety, and beyondblue.

There are plenty of ways that you can get involved - including talking to your teachers about having a ‘Wear Blue’ day at school or by getting on to the ‘order stuff’ section on this site and ordering wristbands, factsheets and even Youth ADA kits.

It could be something as simple as wearing a wristband for the whole month or reading the factsheets and then talking to your friends about depression and anxiety and what mental health means to you.

That’s it for now! The team at Youthbeyondblue has really enjoyed these projects and seeing the great stuff that young people are doing all around the country to raise awareness of depression and anxiety - and looking after themselves and their mates’ mental health.

Take care,

Youthbeyondblue