More than $500,000 has already been raised to fund PCYC's new mental health program and help roll it out across Orange and regional NSW, an initiative launched in conjunction with the Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation.
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The GRIT (Growth-mindset Resilience Intervention for Teenagers) program is being piloted at centres across regional NSW, including Orange, but continued fundraising will allow for it to be pushed out further and run for longer too.
Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation's $125,000 guaranteed the pilot program while the PCYC's Star Jump Challenge has raised almost $350,000 on top of that, and has been extended beyond its original cut-off date.
More than 1,100 people have been involved already and regional teams continue to jump on board every day, with Orange PCYC manager Jaime Wenban encouraging everyone to get involved.
"PCYC Orange have excitedly got involved in the Star Jump Challenge to raise funds for GRIT so that we can do more to provide much needed mental health and wellbeing programs to youth in our community," Ms Wenban said.
"It is extremely important to PCYC to provide mental health and well-being programs to the young people in our community to help them have strong mental health and resilience.
"To have a program like GRIT would really enable us to help them further."
PCYC NSW chief executive officer Dominic Teakle elaborated, explaining the program's specific targets and processes. He also highlighted its importance, considering statistics show one in four young Australians live with a mental illness.
"The GRIT program integrates specific mental resilience skills training, with nutrition education, and physical fitness. The GRIT program is being piloted amongst 12-18 year olds in 2021 and has been co-designed with young people and youth mental health matter experts," he said.
"Never before have so many teenagers, and pre-teenagers experienced anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges.
"By adding a mental wellness program into PCYCs across NSW, we will be able to help young people build resilience and grit, and an optimistic approach to daily life."
The project marks a milsetone for Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation too, it's the organisation's 500th project.
"Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation has a long-standing partnership with PCYC in Orange, the Central West and across regional NSW, in fact they were one of the first organisations to receive a grant from us 17 years ago," Jennifer Leslie, chair of the Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation board, said.
More details on the GRIT program and the extended Star Jump Challenge are available on the PCYC's website.
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