The Western Bulldogs Community Foundation, in collaboration with youth mental health organisation Orygen, hosted a Youth Fest in the West expo in August.
The event, targeted at Melbourne’s young people, gave the 300 guests in attendance an opportunity to hear from inspiring young leaders, learn about issues facing youth, engage and network with community organisations and meet like-minded young people.
The event was planned with the Community Foundation’s Bark for Youth advisory group – a committee of former program participants which works together to develop and deliver projects that aim to address a range of topics, including gender equity, mental health, social inclusion, intercultural understanding, environmental sustainability and popular culture and its effects.
The Youth Fest event featured over 40 stalls from community organisations, as well as student and teacher networking opportunities.
A moderated panel discussion was also staged, with the focus centred on raising awareness and decreasing stigmas of mental health among youth.
The panel included Deputy Chief Lifesaver at Life Saving Victoria, Calden Lyons, CEO of the Australian School of Entrepreneurship, Jahin Tanvir, former Bulldogs player and Foundation ambassador Tom Boyd, and the Head of Performance at Everperform and peer worker coordinator for Orygen digital, Shona Louis.
