Train for thought - Melbourne

Saturday, 4 May 2013
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Item details

City: Melbourne, Victoria
Offer type: Sell
Price: $25

Contacts

Contact name Mel
Phone 0405982035

Item description

Fitness training tackling mental health issues

Imagine this - 2000 people, of all ages and fitness levels, participating in a group fitness session in the same place, at the same time, and doing it to improve the mental health and well-being of young people in our community. It sounds a dream, but this event is about to become a reality.

On Sunday, 19 May at 10am, Train for Thought, the largest
group outdoor fitness session will be held at Lakeside Stadium in Albert
Park.For a fee of $25, Victorians are being asked to put on their fitness shoes and bring along family, friends and colleagues to support headspace, the
National Youth Mental Health Foundation.And in the process, see just how much fun it is to be in the outdoors and enjoying a fitness session with 2000 other people.

The Train for Thought outdoor fitness session is the vision of Mel Hiatt, herself a fitness trainer and Step into Life business owner.It is being sponsored by Lakeside Stadium and Step into Life, and 200 fitness trainers will conduct the training session.“Our goal is to have a minimum of 2000 people with 200 trainers training together and raising awareness and funds for headspace.Our aim is to raise $50,000 to enable headspace to deliver Healthy Living and Exercise Programs to young people in headspace centres”.

In Australia, one in four young people live with a mental illness.75% of mental health problems emerge before the age of 25, and high suicide rates in early to mid-adulthood are related to untreated mental health problems in the late teenage and early adult years.

headspace is a world-first initiative that fills the gap in the mental health system by treating young people who have mild to moderate mental health issues.By catching problems early, headspace can help prevent them from becoming more serious and longer lasting.

Mel has seen first-hand the impact that mental health issues can have on a young person in what should be the best years of their lives.Mel’s sister was diagnosed with depression in her teenage years, and it was through her contact with headspace that her sister realised she wasn’t alone in dealing with this difficult time in her life.

“Knowing that there is an organization like headspace to help young people like my sister, made me want to make a personal contribution to raising awareness of mental illness in young people.So that’s how the idea of
Train for Thought came into being,” says Mel.

“Through my work, I’ve also seen the positive impact that outdoor fitness classes can have on people of all ages, both physically and mentally, so it made sense to me to put them both together”.

Mel also sees Train for Thought as a way for people to be involved in a community sporting and fundraising event without having to be an elite athlete.“Lots of people don’t want to do triathlons or endurance bike or running events, but they hopefully will love joining in the Train for Thought project to be inspired to enjoy the fresh air, do some exercise
and generally have some fun”.

Through her own experience, Mel has come to realize that mental health issues can affect any young person – your own children, grandchildren, brothers or sisters, nephews or nieces.Her vision is that together our
community can support young people by being part of Australia’s largest group fitness training session.

You can register yourself, or better still, your team for this great Train for Thought event at
httptrainforthought.gofundraise.com.au