SLES Promote Mental Health Awareness

Understanding mental health and breaking down the societal stigma’s around it, is an important cause close to the hearts of many Affordian’s.

With Men’s Health Week taking place from the 14th to the 20th of June, our School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES) sites at Caboolture and Ipswich, got into the right frame of mind by hosting a mind, body and soul event, with a particular focus on mental health.

“As a SLES trainer, I want to normalise discussions about mental health, anxiety and depression. I want our SLES trainees to know the importance of asking for help when we are struggling,”  said SLES trainer, Taniel Eising.

David and Korban, our two trainees from Caboolture, attended on the day and trainee Monique from Ipswich joined virtually via video link.

The team was joined by Craig R Jones from the Caboolture community counselling services. He connected with the trainees on youth struggling with life issues, mental health, study, work, health, and overall well-being.

Ensuring that our youth, especially young men, feel comfortable discussing these topics is a fantastic initiative to start breaking down the barriers surrounding men’s health.

Introducing our SLES trainees to a male mental health professional was also an excellent opportunity for them to be introduced to a positive role model who is proactively breaking down the stigma around men’s health.

“Craig was great and quirky. He made the presentation fun and kept our trainees engaged the entire way through by asking them questions and making them feel involved,”  continued Taniel.

SLES trainees were also provided with information packs containing handouts about the health organisations in the available area if they ever need to access them.

At the end of the session, as always, the team practiced their positive affirmations where they announce three things they love about themselves or things they are grateful for.

“My trainees have hearts of gold, and I know that the world can be cruel, so it has been my mission to prepare them. I want them to feel comfortable voicing their feelings and seeking help when they need it,”  said Taniel.

Find out more about our SLES service and how trainers are preparing school leavers for the workforce.