Third Link has proudly supported batyr since 2012, backing the organisation when it was a start-up with just three staff members and a handful of speakers. Today, batyr is a national leader in youth mental health education, reaching more than 450,000 young people across 400 high schools and 16 universities in five states.
Created by young people, for young people, batyr delivers peer-led programs that break down stigma, encourage help-seeking, and empower teens and young adults (aged 14–24) to take charge of their mental health, before crisis point. Their lived-experience storytelling and preventative approach have been recognised as global best practice.
This is Josh’s story
Josh, now 19, first saw a batyr program back in year 10 and is now a speaker with batyr, using his experience to help others.
Josh was only 17 when he first experienced mental health issues. He was going into year 12 as a school captain and felt incredibly stressed and overwhelmed.
I remember thinking back to when I saw a batyr program in year 10, I’d had no experiences with mental ill-health at the time,” says Josh. “My mindset then was that I would never be affected by it, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was so lucky I saw the program before my challenges occurred as it really impacted the way I talked to my friends about mental health and allowed me to have some amazing conversations.”
Although Josh’s mental ill-health impacted his life very negatively at the time, he’s learned to draw positives from the experience and batyr has been crucial in this process.
Not only has batyr been an important part of my recovery, it has given me an avenue to take charge of my mental health. The speaking that I do is so fulfilling as I’m using my own lived experience to help others who are going through their own struggles. It drives me to not let my mental health impact me negatively any more.”
For Josh another important lesson from batyr has been knowing the services out there and how to get help.
“It’s also really important people know how to support friends, and what to do if someone they know is struggling. Knowing how to approach the situation is so vital. And this is what batyr does.”
In his time of need, Josh was able to draw on what he learned from batyr, and this is why he understands just how crucial our work in prevention and early intervention is.
“I think if the kids going through school now can all leave having a really good understanding of mental health and how to reach out for support, then the adult population in a few years time will be so much better off. The way I see it is that every donation that goes to batyr, helps create more understanding and empathetic future generation, and I see that as a huge positive!!”
For more information, visit batyr
