October and November 2020 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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A Path To Follow News - Nov 2020
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Message From Kirstie
G'day APTFers, I suspect I am not alone in feeling like this has been both the slowest and fastest year of my life. In some ways COVID ISOs felt like forever and yet, here we are, at Xmas time yet again...
Over the last couple of months we have continued to experience an increased interest in our services, which has been awesome, but also sobering that so many young people and families still need support in a time the government is claiming a large investment in services. We thank both our clients and our sponsors/donors for their continued belief in us; it enables our service to continue.
Our big news includes our announcement to register as a Not For Profit. I was really in two minds about this, but at the end of the day it is a decision I felt needed to be made. I want to be able to support all people, regardless of their wallet size. To enable that I need larger pools of funding and I choose to not keep hitting up the same community minded families and businesses to do that.
So, this issue:
- We welcome Effie and Sarah as new members of our Youth Peer Support Program.
- We thank and acknowledge Bree from Sportscatch for her Sponsorship and championing of our services, as well as Anthony of ADC Insurance Brokers for his donation.
- We proudly launch our Donation Gift Cards and the second print run of Affirmation cards in time for the holiday period.
- And we share some great resources we have developed and/or discovered over the couple of months; all for your benefit.
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Youth News
Welcome to Effie, our brand new Volunteer Youth Mentor Coordinator. Effie comes to us with vast experience in supporting Youth Mental Health. She will be assisting in the supervision of our awesome peer mentors and I look forward to introducing her more to you in our next edition. This month Lachlan begins his first mentoring partnership. He is excited. We are excited. The mum of the mentee is excited. Is the mentee excited? Probably not yet, but he will be... Check back next month to see how they are going.
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Introducing Sarah, our newest Youth Mentor.
"My lived experience comes from supporting a number of family and friends with physical and mental illness, as well as coping with my own life challenges. Living with a family member with chronic illness has given me understanding of how much it can affect the person and the family. I’ve learnt that even though you can feel quite helpless watching someone you care about go through such a difficult time, being patient and understanding is still a help, even if it doesn’t feel like you are doing much..."
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Business
This month we celebrate and thank Sportscatch and ADC Insurance Brokers. Bree of Sportscatch and Anthony of ADC Insurance Brokers are both small business owners and have chosen to support A Path To Follow financially. We are extremely thankful they chose us. |
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Bree at Sports Catch SportsCatch is here to share their expertise and extensive experience, and relieve some of the administrative burden placed on volunteers within the sporting realm.
Why did you choose to support APTF? "APTF values and vision is very close to home for my family and working at community grass sports level I see every day how our young people are affected by Mental health issues. I believe there needs to be more resources and help available so decided to help support APTF to grow within the community to help more families in need." |
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Anthony of ADC Insurance
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ADC Insurance Brokers handle insurance programmes for large and small businesses and organisations. When we approached them for their Insurance services, they not only assisted us with an insurance programme that best fit our organisation, but they also supported us to help us get off the ground. Why did you choose to support APTF? “With our own staff who have young kids, we at ADC Insurance brokers recognise the benefits of the type of support that A Path To Follow provide for youth in the community who may struggle with depression and other adolescent challenges. We also recognise that early intervention and assistance is key to ensure that our young are prepared with good mindset skills to be able to cope with and handle these challenges as they move into their adult lives” – Anthony Ciancio - Owner Director
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Ride With Me 2020
My husband Anthony participated in the Love Me Love You #RWM20 and raised over $1000 for them. It is important to support other like minded organisations, where we can, especially those who have shown us amazing support, like Lance has. |
Join our Not For Profit Board.
I pondered on this decision since launching as a business last year. There are pros and cons. Pros win out; I get to collaborate with like minded community members to develop APTF and hopefully we can attract some grant funds. We would love you to consider joining us. |
Donation Gift Cards
Take a look at our NEW Mental Health Support Gift Cards. You simply choose which A Path To Follow program area you would like to support and nominate your gift amount. Simple, isn’t it?
Proceeds go directly to servicing our clients. |
With ultra talented artist, Linda, Ryan and Ben kept spreading messages of self care using the authentic voices of our youth. |
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Mental Health Professions explained.
There are so many different mental health professions and supports available to us. Read about them here. |
Kyle Introduced us to Stella.
Stella (of Hestor Hornbrook Academy) and Kyle chat about the differences between mainstream and alternative education settings and Stella’s role as Mental Well-being Team Leader. |
Outdoors Inc.
Out Doors Inc looks to better mental health for anyone above 16 years by getting them out the door and enjoying outdoor activities with like minded people. |
Second Print Run of Affirmation Cards
These cards are a great self care resource; written by the authentic voices of people with lived experience mental health challenges. Also a great Xmas Present... |
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Holiday Services.
Our service will close on 24/12/20. Our service between the 26/12 and the 31/12 will be available for limited phone supports only (yep, I need a break too). We will then reopen as per normal from the 2nd of January. There will be one additional week I will take off, but that will be recorded on my FB and Google business for your information.
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Charity Partner Wanted...
Inspired by another local small business owner who is a charity partner for an organisation who rescues underage sex workers, we are looking for a like minded business to partner with us. Let us know you are interested and we will give you a call to discuss.
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Have you got something you would like to share?
We warmly invite community members to share their journeys with us. If you have something you would like to contribute, we'd love to chat.
Don't forget, you can share this link with others to also join our community and ensure they don't miss our important updates.
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