Ride for Youth 2009

Youth suicide, depression and self harm are very real problems in our society but we don’t often hear the shocking statistics. Thankfully, Youth Focus is committed to helping young people and their families

Youth Focus is a Western Australian, non-profit organisation with expertise in providing practical and effective support for young people, 12-18 years of age who are showing early signs associated with suicide, depression and deliberate self-harm as well as providing support for their families.

Youth Focus has been established for well over a decade and operates within both metropolitan and regional areas, servicing more than 600 young people each year and supporting some 160 families. In the last two years there has been a significant increase in demand for these services. As a consequence, Youth Focus has been unable to offer assistance to an additional 240 young people each year who seek their help. It is believed that this number will continue to grow.

This Monday a group of men and women will set out on a five-day bike ride from Albany to Perth to raise funds for Youth Focus in the prevention of youth suicide, depression and deliberate self-harm. One of those cyclists, Stephen Carmody, joined me in the studio today to talk about what the ride will achieve.

Stephen says he got involved several years ago after a close experience with suicide.

Witnessing the tragedy, despair and impact from the suicide of son’s good friend five years ago lead me to want to do something to prevent any avoidable loss of our young people.

The value of services such as Youth Focus cannot be underestimated. The training, teamwork and demands of the fundraising and the ride have been so personally enriching – I’m getting older but feeling younger.

You can hear my conversation with Stephen about Youth Focus and the Ride for Youth by clicking the play button on the Audio Player at the bottom of this post.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR030309_1129.mp3]

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