Summary / Most Important Things

• Mental Health Week chaos

• Care packages went out!

• Unfiltered launch

• Albany is confirmed

• Lots of upcoming events

• Website update and plenty of resources

• Rachael named Australian Association for Adolescent Health’s Rising Star award winner

  
  

Hello and welcome to our October newsletter. Oh my, what a month it has been!

Integrity Initiative has continued to grow and connect with the world around it in ways I never thought possible… and it has been a lot of hard work with more than its fair share of advocacy woes along the way.

October was Mental Health Month, which brought the delivery of our pilot care packages through a public youth mental health ward. I’ve been out and about - presenting and meeting with the Mental Health Commission, local councils, peak bodies, and more.

It’s been challenging, and there have been many mornings that I’ve had to consciously remind myself why I do this… but it’s also been full of learning and deepening understanding.

Understanding the differences between Lived Experience and Lived Experience Expertise.

Understanding how much I don’t know.

And understanding that there are things I will never understand.

But without further ado, here’s the October wrap-up:

NEWS:

On the 30th of October, the Australian Association for Adolescent Health (AAAH) hosted Youth Health Matters: A Parliamentary Event Showcasing Research and Impact - Hosted by AAAH - Online Attendance

At this event, there was a presentation of two award categories - the Rising Star Award and the Outstanding Contribution to Youth Health Award.

I was named the winner of the Rising Star Award, which was created in 2023 to “recognise excellence in youth health and recognise individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to youth health.”

Stay tuned for more details!

I was also recognised at the WA Mental Health Awards on October 10th in the Lived Experience Impact and Inspiration awards.

PROGRAM UPDATE: Caring With Integrity

https://www.whynot.org.au/news/youth-led-mental-health-dignity/

We delivered our first round of care packages! Oh my goodness! In our last newsletter, we shared that we’d dropped off our care packages… now we are thrilled to share that they have started going out. The initial distribution aligned with Mental Health Day (everyone in the ward received a pack) and will continue until packages run out - we anticipate at least three months! Stay tuned for our future deliveries and ongoing work!

If you know or work within a service that would be keen to receive a delivery of care packages, express interest through this form! Receive care packages through Caring With Integrity – Fill in form

PROGRAM UPDATE: Workshops

I spent a (significant) amount of time this past weekend refining some of the workshop modules and updating the workshop handbook. These modules are well underway in their development!

To learn more about what hosting a workshop might look like: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18hGqGi7AZbGz_pSSFmtgZ_SU_sruiPAL/view?usp=sharing

Workshops landing page: https://integrityinitiative.com.au/workshops

Workshop handbook (updated): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e3355GlKargU4IXfoG-LH-_vm69dKqVc/view?usp=drive_link

To book a workshop from our pre-existing selection: Host an existing workshop – Fill in form

To customise or design your own personalised workshop: Customise your workshop – Fill in form

PROGRAM UPDATE: Community engagement

Past Events

Unfiltered premiered on October 5th at The Backlot Perth. It was a fantastic event which truly celebrated community, connection and the Peer workforce. You can read more about it here.

“It’s All In Your Head” was a short presentation combined with a panel discussion - featuring the incredible Jake DeVisser, Bri Toy, Renai Buchanan and Charles Foster. Commissioned by the City of Cockburn for Mental Health Week, it invited city staff to explore language in mental health contexts and learn to navigate what is and what is not respectful practice.

On October 9th, I presented Integrity Initiative at the Mental Health Commission and shared some of our work to date. It was fantastic to have such a great turnout and to form some really meaningful and important connections, as well as to see and connect with some familiar faces.

Upcoming Events

Bun Intended is a cheeky comedy night centering bad jokes and good burgers. It will happen at Grill’d Applecross, 6:00 - 8:30pm. We will have burger-themed prizes, quiz questions, and even some competitive (but fun) creative activities!

There is no entry fee - you can order a fundraising burger and chips, $10 of which will go directly to us. We will also have a raffle and chance to donate (similarly - if you have any prizes to donate we would be happy to eager to receive them!).

Express your interest, learn more, and get your free tickets here

Unfiltered is screening on December 13th at The Hub Bentley for IDPwD, supported by a grant through Developmental Disability WA. We will be screening our film and will also have some creative disability pride themed activities, have a panel discussion with the crew of Unfiltered, have catering and a popcorn bar, and welcome Lily Galton to launch her book, Blossom. For more details and to get tickets, see here.

It is also an entirely free event (though you are welcome to donate!).

Here is the link to get your tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/unfiltered-panel-discussion-and-film-screening-tickets-1795346954069?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

Read For Rights is a pre-loved (and some brand new) books, toys and games store in celebration of Pride month. It is a collaboration between Integrity Initiative, Maeson’s Soapbox and Pride WA that aims to unite and connect community over stories, games, and creativity. It is a pay-what-you-feel style stall, giving you the opportunity to buy all your Christmas presents sustainably and at a price that works for you!

Here is the link to learn more and to express your interest: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/1507770906369?aff=oddtdtcreator

Here is our website page: https://integrityinitiative.com.au/read-for-rights

All profits from Read For Rights will go towards our regional trip, ‘Word Travels’, which we hope to bring to life next May.

Grinchmas is our upcoming Christmas celebration - one that welcomes nuance and acknowledges that Christmas can be difficult for many reasons, AND that also does not have to mean it’s spent alone and unhappy. Grinchmas will have some grinchy games, a phenomenal panel discussion, some crafty activities and an opportunity to write letters to the Grinch (which will ALL get a response, sent via a scheduled email on Christmas Day). The official dates of our Grinchmas events are:

In person: Friday 19th December, 5:30 doors open, 6:00 event starts, 9:30 doors close.

Here is the link to the EventBrite to get your tickets for in-person Grinchmas

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/in-person-grinchmas-tickets-1919245979389?aff=oddtdtcreator

Online: Sunday 21st December, 1:30 - 3:30 pm AWST and 4:30pm - 6:30pm AESD

Here is the link to register for and learn more about our digital Grinchmas: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/1810054845769?aff=oddtdtcreator. Stay tuned for announcements about our (potential) in-person Grinchmas!

Grants and funding

We secured some funding for our trip to Albany! Which means that we finally have confirmation that this trip can come to life. For context, this trip has been in planning for months now, but has previously had no funding to actualise it. This month, that changed.

• Acting as our Regional Engagement Pilot, Albany will be a benchmark for our team that will allow us to learn, explore and draw from the wisdom of regional communities.

• We have a total of 14 planned engagements over the course of the week we will be there (yes… that’s two per day and we know how ambitious it is!). Stay tuned for plenty of updates, and if you are in Albany, we would LOVE to see you there!

Current involvement opportunities/ calls for help

• Donate to Read For Rights - we are still collecting any books, toys, games, crafts etc. that you might not be using. Send me a message and we can arrange a time to collect!

• Print Read For Rights posters and display them! We have the links to printable posters on the Read For Rights page of our website - help us spread the word by printing and displaying them around and about! https://integrityinitiative.com.au/read-for-rights

• Spread the word about all of our upcoming events and our work - talking about us really does help!

Partners

• We have been busy chatting with various people and places, all of whom have shown us such incredible support. A special shout-out to Helping Minds, the Town of Victoria Park, the City of Cockburn, the City of Melville, and Alike.

Resources

• New updated resources have been made! I have spent some time ensuring consistency across all of our promotional and informational resources and have also developed a few new ones. Here is one that overviews Integrity Initiative:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Kjn4-Yzj-t_XjoMmSEXgoZm6SKWK2EI/view?usp=drive_link

• I have also developed a pre-partnership information package to give a bit more guidance to any organisations or services that might like to partner with us but are unsure what that might look like. You can see it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vDOvuZN0h6jQt68ciH7qCe39P6XWDiFU/view?usp=sharing

• Sneak peek of our language guide zine - this was a part of our “It’s all in your head” work with the City of Cockburn

Team spotlight

Lexi is one of the newer members of our team, but also a long-time friend of mine. Lexi has been beyond helpful and has really helped make some of our recent events - particularly our screening of Unfiltered - run smoothly. Thank you Lexi, your kindness and encouragement is seen, felt and appreciated.

Slay Takeaways

Burrowing frogs spend dry times lying in wait up to a metre deep under the soil. They can stay there for years until a good soaking of rain softens the ground enough for them to move to the surface to breed 🐸

Another BONUS slay takeaway is that all of our events from here on will have a frog on duty! Their job? To look swell and pose for photos (and give you all shoutouts when you post with them). Check out the Eventbrite pages to catch a sneak peek.

Learn more on the @frogs_of_integrity Instagram https://www.instagram.com/frogs_of_integrity/

Take care froglets,

Rachael and the Integrity Army