New Zealand and NRL legend Clinton Toopi recently visited Wee Waa as he teamed up with The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia’s Joe-Ann Parker to deliver the State of Mind program across the region.
The four-day tour included school visits in Wee Waa, Burren Junction, Rowena and Pilliga, as well as a community event in Wee Waa at the House on Rose.
Toopi, who played more than 150 NRL games for the New Zealand Warriors and Gold Coast Titans and featured in the 2002 NRL grand final for the Warriors against the Sydney Roosters, is the NRL’s State of Mind project manager and has been a part of the program since 2018.
The State of Mind Program includes workshops that are equipped to provide communities with the skills and confidence to provide support to a person experiencing mental health problems, and to help them to access appropriate support if needed.
The program aims to increase knowledge of mental health difficulties, increase confidence to support people going through a difficult time, stimulate help-seeking behaviours, connect local mental health services and normalise healthy conversations and relationships, and also to assist people in becoming leaders in creating mentally healthy and resilient communities.
Toopi told the Wee Waa News that he enjoyed the four days in the local region, delivering an important program to people of all ages.
“We’ve had a collaboration with The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia for a couple of years now, going out to regional and remote NSW, and this time round we did a bit of a blitz through Wee Waa. We got in Sunday (October 19) and flew out Thursday afternoon (October 23),” Toopi said.
“Joe-Ann from The Healthy Communities is from Collarenebri, a couple of hours from Wee Waa, and we were there to offer our mental health and wellbeing program.
“We deliver an inspired program that is geared toward our Year 3 to Year 6 in primary schools. We talk to them about important values that help our health and wellbeing like resilience and building a good support team.
“We also offer a high school program, which is a Get In The Game program that shows how we can get in the game with our mental health and wellbeing, and how we can normalise healthy behaviours and encourage leaders.
“It was really good to visit some smaller schools in Burren Junction, Pilliga and Rowena.
“We also did Wee Waa Public School, Wee Waa High School, St Joseph’s Primary School and Namoi Valley Christian School.
“It was great that we got to visit so many schools and meet so many kids.
“We also got to meet people of all ages at the community event at House on Rose.
“We like to broaden our reach, so we opened it up so our adults, because in regional and remote communities we can have that hardened exterior to us.
“I think we had about 30 people turn up. It was a nice, intimate connection.
“At the NRL, we’re not experts by any means, but that’s where that partnership with The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia comes hand in hand. They are the experts, and they are the local outreach, and we come together.”
A statement from The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia said: “Together we’re working to create safer, stronger, more connected communities – because every life matters.”
“Thanks to our partnership with the NRL, we deliver mental wellbeing education in schools and communities through the State of Mind Program.
“Our recent visit to schools at Wee Waa, Burren Junction, Rowena and Pilliga was successful, with very good engagement and interaction between the students and NRL manager Clinton Toopi and Joe Parker (THCFA) during workshop presentation.
“Students were engaged with activities that enforced the mental wellbeing message.”
If you or anyone you know needs help: Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
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