Page 24 - AYC Annual Report 2017 - 2018

"R U OK?" Day

The AYC team spent a rewarding day at Auburn Girls high School for R U OK Day. In
collaboration with the school’s student welfare team AYC staff delivered 10 sessions of a
mental health-based workshop to 258 young women in years 8 and 10. This involved 4 AYC
staff on the day. The concepts explored within this incredibly successful all-day program
included: “How to listen and what to do, if a friend tells you they are not okay?” and “self-talk
and internal dialogue.” Cultivating a space in which the young women were able to explore
their mental health in a safe and inclusive environment allowed for the day to be hugely
successful.
All the feedback from students and staff was extremely positive..

“Love bites”

The AYC team delivered two full day Lovebites programs of group work to year 10 students at Strathfield South and Auburn
Girls in 2017- 18. This involved working in partnership with the Woodville Alliance to provide 6 facilitators and 6 support workers
to run 6 different sessions throughout the day. Through these 2 programs we connected with over 250 young people.

Lovebites addresses themes around healthy relationships, domestic violence, sexual abuse and assault and consent and the
law. It is interactive, non-judgemental, engaging and sometimes
confronting for young people in its goal of raising awareness and
changing perceptions on what is acceptable under Australian law.
Creative expression is also a key part of the work completed in
this program. AYC is proud of our work in addressing a major issue in
the community. Schools have requested that we continue programs
in 2018-19.

Our school group work program allows AYC staff to engage with
young people and support them to brave challenges, learn new
skills, exist in a healthier mindset and to manage their relationships
in a more positive manner. Our work would not be possible without
the ongoing support and funding of the Department of Family and
Community Services who we thank and acknowledge. On behalf
of AYC we would also like to thank all the schools and partnering
organisations who have supported AYC in the deliverance of our
psycho-educational workshops.

Dean de Haas & Shafia Birem

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