UNHEARD and powerless sums up the feelings of youth, particularly with headlines around the country pointing to issues such as high unemployment, mental health issues, funding cuts to education and the housing affordability crisis.
Representing young people generation after generation, the YMCA has responded to all the negativity by launching a new campaign: ‘Why Not?’.
YMCA Rockingham is run by passionate 20-year-old Tia Sandhu, who is making strides with an issue close to her heart – mental health.
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READ NOW“There is a lot of work to do around mental health and I think we’re only starting to scrape the surface by talking about it now,” she said.
“I’m a huge advocate for trying to break down the taboo of talking about mental health in the workplace, and in the last year I’ve dealt with a lot of my own mental health battles as well as those close to me.”
YMCA WA chief executive Ross Kyrwood said giving young people space to be inspired was the key.
“Young people have and always will shape the future, but only when they are inspired, empowered and heard,” he said.
“We hope that through this campaign, YMCA can be the vehicle to highlight important issues that young people care deeply about.”
The campaign comes after insights gleaned from the YMCA Voice of Young People in Australia Report 2017.
It exposed an overwhelming consensus that today’s youth feel unheard and powerless. Issues such as youth unemployment ranked first at 87 per cent, marriage equality 86 per cent and mental health 80 per cent.
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