WHAT Steve Bracks perceives as how an ideal mental health system could look will be a key feature put on the table for breakfast next week.
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The former Victorian premier and St Patrick's College old boy is set to headline the first Chris Yeung Fund MENtal Breakky in three years hosted in partnership with St Pat's.
MENtal Breakky chairman Simon Dwyer said to have a speaker like Mr Bracks offered a much-needed boost to the event's live return, both in supporting the fund's work and in raising mental health awareness.
Mr Dwyer, who served with Mr Bracks on the Ballarat Base Hospital community consultative committee, said Mr Bracks would offer great governance insight on how the state can best improve mental health support to meet future needs.
The Chris Yeung Fund supports parents whose mental health diagnosis is preventing them from working. Mr Dwyer said in focusing on parents, this should in turn benefit students.
After a couple of lean fundraising years during the pandemic, Mr Dwyer said funds were "drying up" but the foundation was still supporting about five boys at St Pat's.
Mr Dwyer said this was about a bigger community, and support was not limited to St Pat's families, because the aim was about breaking barriers to mental health for all.
"The fund is in honour of Chris [Yeung], who completed suicide in 2015 and we want to destigmatise and normalise that as much as possible," Mr Dwyer said.
"The thing about why we do it is to remind people to think about what they are leaving behind - there are still really good people always left behind asking why."
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Mr Dwyer also hoped the breakfast event would entice people to continue re-engaging with the wider community and "get back into life" one year on from pandemic lockdowns.
MENtal Health Breakky is at Ballarat Golf Club on October 21 from 7am. Book: trybooking.com.
For crisis support: Lifeline 13 11 14; Mensline: 1300 789 978.
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