Volunteers and staff at youth mental health services provider Headspace Bendigo hope more funding in the future will allow them to expand their programs.
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Headspace celebrated its eighth year in Bendigo yesterday with a barbecue lunch and live music at its headquarters in Pall Mall.
Volunteer and headspace youth reference group member Shannon Appleby said more funding and support was needed to help the number of young people coming in access services.
"The amount of young people that come here and seek support from headspace or want to get involved is bigger than people are aware of," he said.
"There should always be more funding and support because young people are still coming in and are unable to access the services straight away."
There's a lot we can learn from young people and (headspace) is a centre that encourages it.
- Peter Richardson
Mr Appleby said basic counselling was one of the main reasons people visited headspace.
"A lot of young people like to attend (one of our) diversity groups to begin with," he said. "It lets them see the space and meet other people.
"We have 61 members in two diversity groups, that shows there is a high need for (programs) and that young people are getting stuff out of them. The diversity groups...enable (young people) to have conversations, move forward and get support."
Bendigo Community Health Services executive director Peter Richardson said the growth of headspace in the eight years it has been in Bendigo has resulted from public awareness of mental health issues.
"What really has changed is there is more public awareness and acceptance that it is okay to speak up and say where you are struggling with certain issues," he said.
Mr Richardson said the youth who volunteer and work for headspace showed a great deal of awareness.
"The programs we run here show there is much greater awareness in young people amongst themselves (when it comes to) diversity and differences," he said.
"They are learning to live together and taking a different approach to life. There's a lot we can learn from young people and this is a centre that encourages it."
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