Basketball New South Wales is excited to announce a newly formed collaboration with Australian Red Cross after being successful in the NSW Office of Sport Mental Health Fund grant.
The Mental Health Sports Fund provides NSW-based sporting bodies with funding for sport led mental health, social and emotional wellbeing initiatives in regional NSW.
BNSW was successful in securing funding at the back end of 2019, which will help see 14 programs rolled out in across 10 regional and rural basketball communities over the next few months. All the courses will be suitably amended to be sport specific, and it will give the participants the tools and knowledge to not only assist themselves in a time of need, but to also identify any red flags and help others within their community.
Basketball NSW, CEO, Maria Nordstrom expressed her gratitude to the OOS, and Red Cross to help empower our communities to support mental health and wellbeing.
“As part of our commitment to supporting our rural basketball communities deal with the uncertainty of the current climate, we are pleased to share this grant opportunity from the Office of Sport to directly target young people across our state and promote the need for mental health support,” Nordstrom said.
“Our associations have ever increasing strong ties to our community and act as a liaison between social inclusion and personal development, and having the opportunity to share with our regional associations the Mental Health Matters short courses will go a long way in promoting mental health in order to start those important conversations.”
Australian Red Cross, Head of First Aid & Mental Health, Wendy Greenhalf has welcomed the partnership and hopes for a larger awareness of the need for mental health check-ins.
“Supporting safer and healthier communities is what we do at Red Cross First Aid & Mental Health,” Greenhalf said.
“During these uncertain and challenging times, we understand the importance, more than ever, for organisations such as Basketball NSW to continue to provide a mentally healthy environment for staff and members. We are proud to have been chosen as the organisation to deliver these important services and look forward to working together.”
The NSW Government has made $1.2 million available under this fund for programs in regional areas. This program is a partnership between the NSW Ministry of Health and the NSW Office of Sport.
For further information please visit the Office of Sport NSW website.
For further information about Australian Red Cross First Aid & Mental Health – redcross.org.au/firstaid
COVID-10: Red Cross is here to help. Red Cross has developed tips and information to help you cope with the impacts of COVID-19. Find out more here