Cubbaroo Polocrosse Club kick-starts an important conversation

Cubbaroo polocrosse players are on a mission to improve the community’s mental health and wellbeing by urging people to start a conversation and check in with friends, family, and locals.

At the club’s recent Wee Waa carnival, players proudly wore shirts made by TradeMutt – a social impact workwear brand created by two Australian tradies, who wanted to spark more comfortable discussions about mental health awareness and issues.

The brand is well-known for its colourful and eye-catching shirts that aim ‘to make an invisible issue impossible to ignore’ and encourage people to talk more about how their feeling, especially in blue-collar communities.

TradeMutt helps fund the not-for-profit mental health support service TIACS, an acronym for – This Is A Conversation Starter.

And this year, the Cubbaroo Polocrosse Club decided to raise money for the service at its carnival by promoting TIACS at the event as well as on the club’s social media pages, and by collecting community donations to support the important cause.

The Cubbaroo team played in TradeMutt’s navy space weave shirts with a colourful pattern on the side, the pockets feature the letters YNWA – You Never Walk Alone, and the written on the back of the shirts is phrase – ‘This Is A Conversation Starter’.

“Our main reason for getting behind Trademutt and TIACS is the availability of support for remote areas, such as Wee Waa,” said Cubbaroo member Emily Brodigan.

“As mental health is a subject very close to Cubbaroo members, we have made it a goal to help raise awareness and to eliminate the stigma surrounding it.

“In recent years, we have made contributions to Black Dog Institute and Beyond Blue.

“And wearing the Trademutt shirts was something that we were all proud to do.

“Over the weekend, we had a great response to our fancy home game shirts, and it really did start some important conversations with both the polocrosse community as well as the spectators.

“We are hoping to make it a tradition to play in Trademutt shirts at our home carnival every year.”

As well as enjoying the winter sunshine and delicious Lions Club barbecue, spectators at the carnival also showed their support for the worthy cause and Cubbaroo’s mental health awareness campaign.

TIACS is a free and confidential counselling service for ‘truckies, tradies, rural and blue-collar workers, and those who care about them’.

The TIACS clinical team consists of experienced counsellors and mental health professionals.

The service said people can talk to counsellors about anything that’s troubling them, with the most common reasons including issues such as relationship troubles, family problems, grief and loss, substance use, depression, anxiety, and loneliness.

TIACS also understands some people need more time before they’re ready to talk, so on its website, there’s access to information and resources about mental health and wellbeing, known as the ‘TIACS toolbox’.

The text and call service provides access to mental health help in what’s been described as a free and user-friendly manner, helping to remove the physical and financial barriers that prevent so many Australians from reaching out for help when they need it.

TIACS – www.tiacs.org. Support Line 0488 846 988 Text at any time or call Mon-Fri | 8am-10pm AEST. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger or at risk of harm, please call 000. For crisis support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.