Central Victorian youth mobile mental health service Keep in Touch (KIT) will remain on the road, thanks to support from Agnico Eagle’s Community Partnership Program, ensuring critical outreach to the region’s young people.
The KIT Project, an Anglicare Victoria run service, has travelled throughout the Loddon Campaspe region to areas where mental health support can be hard to access for young people aged 12 to 25, attending schools, community groups, and local events since its beginnings in 2021.
Tim McCormick, Anglicare Victoria Youth and Community Services Program Manager, said Agnico Eagle’s Community Partnership Program sponsorship meant the much-needed project could continue for another 12 months.
“We know that young people living across rural and regional Victoria face significant mental health challenges and their rates of self-harm and suicide are higher than those in the city,” Mr McCormick said.
“This funding boost means we’re able to keep KIT’s presence up and support in Loddon-Campaspe and reach these young people who need mental health support most.”
The KIT project was originally created by local young people in response to a growing need for youth mental health support in Victoria.
As demand for such services in the state, particularly in regional areas, remains high, Agnico Eagle’s Community Partnership Program has pledged to invest in KIT until mid-2025.
Felicia Binks, Director of Environment and Government Relations at Agnico Eagle Australia, said the company was proud to continue its support.
“We’re very pleased to continue to partner with Anglicare Victoria and support the valuable service the KIT program provides to youth in our region,” Ms Binks said.
“We know ongoing support is imperative as it ensures organisations can continue to build capacity for the longer term. Fostering partnerships with key organisations in our region, such as Anglicare Victoria, is in line with AE’s commitment to supporting the communities where we operate.”
The renewed sponsorship in 2024 follows three years of support from the mining company, which has made it possible for the project to go from strength to strength; from the redesign and repurpose of KIT through and after the pandemic years, to the recruitment of a youth worker to drive the project and, more recently, employing young people as KIT Youth Champions.
Mr McCormick said developing the program’s Youth Champions, young people with knowledge and lived experience of mental ill-health who help guide the direction of the project and support the KIT van at events, was a major focus in the year ahead.
“Over the next 12 months we’ll continue growing the skillset of and recruit new Youth Champions, as well as promote the service and deliver that vital mental health education to young people across the region,” Mr McCormick said.
“We’re excited to be able to reach even more young people over the next 12 months to open up those important, sometimes life-saving, conversations about their mental health.”
- To have the KIT team visit your school or community event, please email Van@anglicarevic.org.au
For an interview or photo opportunity with an Anglicare Victoria spokesperson, or to discuss a possible case study, please contact Anglicare Media on 0419 035 117 or email media@anglicarevic.org.au.
