Written by Krystal Gordon
Edited by Rachel Harding
Around 50 people are giving up coffee for an entire month to help break the isolation of mental illness.
The Coffee Break Project is an annual challenge that encourages people to ‘get talking about mental health’ by donating their coffee money to non profit organisation Group61.
Founder of Group61 John Fox and Roselee Jencke at the event. Photo by CTD photography and Design (@ClaireTamsin, @m4m_quips). Used with permission of Claire Tamsin Davies.
Mission Queensland Firebirds Coach and Coffee Break Ambassador Roselee Jencke said she hopes the coffee break project will lead the conversation about mental health and keep the conversation going.
Group61 Coordinator Sharon Munn said the charity has volunteers that meet weekly with a person experiencing mental illness to chat over coffee and develop a friendship.
“They just have that conversation over coffee and over a few weeks, over a few months, they form that really close relationship and that’s the support that we’re offering friends that feel very isolated,” Ms Munn said.
Sharon said the highest proportion of volunteers and people experiencing mental illness are in their early twenties and mid-forties.
Rebecca Pini and friend at the Coffee Break Rooftop Soiree. Photo by CTD photography and Design (@ClaireTamsin, @m4m_quips). Used with permission of Claire Tamsin Davies.
Event organiser Rebecca Pini said she believes that people aged between 18 and 25 are fairly open about their mental health compared to people over 30.
“Young people are the messengers…. they are very comfortable with talking about mental illness in every spectrum which is depression, schizophrenia, bipolar and anxiety,” Mrs Pini said.
Coffee Break Ambassador Roselee Jencke said it’s important for young people to look after their physical and mental health.
“It’s a balancing act, I think that it’s really important that they are looking after their health and that’s making sure that they’re physically active, they’re eating well, they’re not doing drugs and that’s really important because that does have a huge impact on your mental health,” Ms Jencke said.
She said young people who are not feeling great should go and talk to their Doctor because early intervention is important.
“There are a lot of demands on young people to be successful, to be achieving, and they are wanting to pack everything into their lives and really it can be quite overwhelming and when you feel overwhelmed when all those pressures come on, you need to make sure that you can go and do an activity or something that you are passionate about that’s going to give you that break away from that other area of your life,” she said.
Ben Zabel and his mother, Margaret Parkhill at the Coffee Break Project Rooftop Soirée last night. Photo by Krystal Gordon.
Former Big Brother Contestant and Coffee Break Ambassador Ben Zabel (@BenFromBrisbane) said mental health is close to his heart.
“I was a flight attendant for 10 years and as soon as they found out (the airline that I work with) that I was taking sick days because of depression and anxiety, I was made to feel very unwelcome at the company and they managed to get me out of the company six months before my long service leave,” Mr Zabel said.
Ben said to manage his mental health he tried a range of alternative therapies as well as medication.
Courier Mail Journalist and Ambassador Belinda Seeney (@BelindaSeeney) said young people need to find that person they trust to help share the burden.
“If you can find someone who is non-judgemental and who is just happy to listen you can just offload to them, it’s just such a relief,” Ms Seeney said.
“Everything you are going through, there is someone going through the exact same thing.”
Espresso Martinis at the event. Photo by CTD photography and Design (@ClaireTamsin, @m4m_quips). Used with permission of Claire Tamsin Davies.
Coffee Break Project (@CoffeeBreakOct) held a Rooftop Soirée last night to launch the challenge where attendees enjoyed canapés, espresso martinis and jazz music.
The challenge runs for the month of October as part of national mental health month.
Group61 Secretary Amanda Goddard said giving up coffee will be a struggle but if going without means she is helping people with a mental illness then she is more than happy to participate.
“It’s the worst month of my life but I do it to raise awareness of mental illness in our community because I feel very passionate about it,” Miss Goddard said.
Group61 Coordinator Sharon Munn said they have just started networking events for volunteers in their twenties to encourage more young people to volunteer.
For more information about the Coffee Break Project or volunteering for Group61 click on these links.
Disclaimer: The Coffee Break Project provided Krystal Gordon a free ticket valued at $85 to attend the event for the purpose of writing the story.
Last updated 17/10/14
Talkin' About Mental Health 