The State Government has opened voting for the Pick My Project campaign.
The campaign is offering $1 million in funding to the Bendigo region with a public vote to decide the three most worthy projects in the Bendigo region.
Our project aims to create a Suicide Prevention Action Plan with the Bendigo community.
The plan will focus on a community-based education to enable people to recognise signs that someone is at risk and start a potentially life-saving discussion to provide them with the right information to seek help. Our project will work with large Bendigo employers to support training in the workplace. About 3000 people take their own life in Australia each year – a figure that far exceeds the national road toll. For every death, around 25 individuals will attempt suicide – that’s 70,000 people. We are confident this project will reduce the impact of suicide in the Bendigo community by building and skilling a network of ‘helpers’ in our community that can respond to people in distress. The action plan will be guided by the Black Dog Institute’s suicide prevention Lifespan approach.
To vote for our Pick My Project visit www.pickmyproject.vic.gov.au and search for Bendigo project. You will find us in the bunch with many other very worthy projects.
Please share with anyone you think can help us too!
Thank you to everyone who supports our work and this campaign from the bottom of our hearts – you will be making a difference!
IMPORTANT VOTING INFORMATION ...
To protect the integrity of the voting process you will need to create a Pick My Project account to submit one vote for each of the three Bendigo projects you think are most worthy. We realise the impost but ask that you support us by following the prompts given the importance of the issue. To create an account you will need to give an active email address, mobile phone number to receive a verification SMS and a street address and postcode to prove your Victorian residential status.
SPAN Central Victoria organising committee features representatives from many community organisations including Bendigo Community Health Services, Lifeline Central Victoria and Mallee, headspaceBendigo, City of Greater Bendigo, Catherine McAuley College and La Trobe University, Bendigo.