Mental Health with Darren Bosley

THE LIVEWELL Hervey Bay podcast recently sat down with Darren Bosley, President of Fraser Coast Mates.

The focus of this podcast was around Mental Health and the support within our community.

Fraser Coast Mates was formed by a group of men coming together through tragic circumstances.

Their focus is on raising awareness about mental health and providing support to the community during times of need, embracing those who are struggling with compassion and understanding.

Over the past few years, Australia has seen an increase in the daily number of suicides, moving from eight to nine per day.“People are still very afraid of speaking up and we want to get rid of that stigma”, Darren Bosely said.

“Fraser Coast Mates is driven from the tragic passing of a good friend, that we later found out was struggling with mental health.”

“The day after his passing eight vulnerable men came together wondering why and how we didn’t see the signs.”

“Some of the questions during that meeting; What do I do? Where do I go if I’m not feeling well? Who do I speak with? Who do I call? How do you know if you’re not feeling well?”.

As a result, Fraser Coast Mates was formed.

“We have the ability to offer free counselling for people of urgent need, but our ultimate goal is about people speaking up and reaching out for help.”

“The whole concept of Fraser Coast Mates was let’s do something that’s just for the people of Fraser Coast”.

“It’s all about mateship, you only really need one good friend you can talk to”.

“A single conversation has the power to change your life”.

“Sometimes people just generally want to talk to somebody, they could be new to town, lost a family member or they don’t any friends here. We help put them in contact with other local groups to be able to do so.”

“We have people in their 50’s coming forward who have now realised that they’ve struggled their whole life with mental health, as a result of childhood trauma”.

“There are many aspects to mental health whether it be family, financial, youth, isolation etc, Fraser Coast Mates is working to try and help cover them all.”

“When someone makes contact with Fraser Coast Mates and we feel and they feel like they need urgent help, we will get them in with a counsellor within 72 hours.”

“Resources can be a challenge here on the Fraser Coast but we have some fantastic organisations onboard.”

“Everything remains private and confidential it’s a vault.”

“Same as if a friend was to reach out to you personally, they have confidently spoke to you about their circumstances, you should honour that and it remains confidential.”

“Our counselling session are completely free of charge.”

“To help with the cost of covering these sessions we hold events like The Fraser Coast Mates Golf Days, Flourish, Tennis Nights and the Annual Pink Dinner event.”

“Our very first golf day we welcomed approximately 80 guys and together we managed to raise over $15,000.”

“Since then, the event has grown on a massive scale. It now includes Flourish for the women while majority of the men are out playing golf.”

“We have also now branched out into Maryborough with both Golf Days and Flourish happening out there, with great success.”

“Reaching out to us is very straightforward and designed to ensure your enquiries and concerns are addressed promptly and efficiently.”

“The simplest method would be through our website. There you will find a contact form, upon filling out this form it will be sent directly to our team, allowing us to respond to your needs as quickly as possible.”

“Alternatively, for those who prefer social media platforms for communication, sending us a direct message through our Facebook page is equally effective.”