GLENCOE Woolshed National Trust has received a $10,000 grant to assist with funding for the 2019 Blades of Glencoe shearing event, which will support mental health and suicide awareness in the region.
In the lead-up to the event, the National Trust has formed a partnership with the Wattle Range Council (WRC), Office of the Chief Psychiatrist and the Suicide Prevention Networks (SPN).
The Office of the Chief Psychiatrist applied for the funding earlier this year through its South Australian Suicide Prevention Community Grant Scheme and was successful.
Glencoe Woolshed National Trust committee member Laurie Dacy said the grant would be of huge assistance to the event, in particular for its publicity.
“We will make a decent video, which can be taken to meetings, put on social media and given to the media,” he said.
“We need print material, display material and signage.
“The Blades of Glencoe should be a big event for the district and underlying it all will take the stigma out of having suicidal thoughts – you are not alone and here is what you can do about it.
“That’s what we will be pushing.”
Mr Dacy added the Blades of Glencoe is expected to attract visitors from all over the country with shearers from England, Ireland and New Zealand already committing to the event.
“Glencoe Woolshed will use the suicide headline to get national publicity,” he said.
“We are going to make big news about it.”
Office of the Chief Psychiatrist senior project officer Dave Thompson said as shearing was a male-dominated profession, the collaboration between the networks was a “no brainer”.
“Being a male dominated profession and with men accounting for 78pc of all suicides, it sort of hit the target audience, which is what we are wanting to do,” he said.
“To look at basically bringing a few networks together because you have to have people from all over.
“It is sort of like a little bit of a joint enterprise to get suicide prevention out there, open and out.”
