BCHS Annual Report 2025 - Report - Page 33
Individual Placement &
Support Program
Over the past 昀椀nancial year, the
Work & Study team has supported
71 young people through the
Individual Placement & Support
program. During this period,
they successfully secured 20
employment placements and 11
education placements.
They have provided extensive
support in key areas such as
resume and cover letter writing,
interview preparation, guided tours
of educational institutions, careerfocused site visits aligned with
young people's aspirations and
facilitated meetings between young
people and potential employers,
totalling 624 occasions of service.
Young people have also engaged
with Vocational Peer Support during
this time.
Alex’s road to headspace
“Here I am, sitting at my desk
trying to 昀椀gure out how to condense
10 years into a single post,”
writes Alex. As a result of my own
mental ill health challenges, I left
school halfway through year 12. I
completed a bridging course called
the Tertiary Enabling Program
and begun studying a Bachelor of
Business majoring in Marketing and
Event Management.
“At 21 I got my 昀椀rst job, and by 24 I
was working in middle management
at a supermarket. At 26 I 昀椀nally
completed my degree, to prove a
point more than anything else. At
26 I was also 昀椀nally diagnosed with
ADHD.
HEY Diversity worker Maree with sta昀昀 from BCHS
at Bendigo’s Pride in the Park festival.
HEY, we’ve had a big year!
“At 27 I realised I hated my job, so
I made the decision to resign and
return to studying.
“I knew I wanted to help people,
but I didn’t know what that could
look like, so I decided to enrol in the
Diploma of Community Services
at Bendigo TAFE. As part of my
Diploma, I completed 400 hours of
student placement, half of which
was spent here at headspace,
supporting the amazing work
done by our HEY Diversity and
Community Engagement Worker.
During this placement I was able
to see 昀椀rsthand the direct impact
I could make in the lives of young
people and how by stepping out of
my comfort zone and sharing my
lived experiences, I could become a
beacon of hope.
“The universe must have been
listening as not long before my
placement at headspace 昀椀nished,
a position at headspace had been
advertised, and now here we are.”
Renovations complete!
August 2024 was an exciting month as we o昀케cially showed o昀昀 our
newly-renovated o昀케ce space in Pall Mall. headspace Bendigo would like
to acknowledge that these works would not have been possible without
a “Waitlist & Demand Management”’ grant from the Commonwealth
Government and Murray PHN. Special mention to Agnico Eagle Australia
Community Partnership Program (right with headspace Bendigo sta昀昀)
for providing us with additional funds which have allowed us to build
bigger and better than our original plans.
We have created a space to allow for more clinical placements, which
in turn will grow the mental health workforce in central Victoria. We are
excited to welcome more students into our centre that will de昀椀nitely
appreciate the wonderful space that the team from BLR Provincial
Construction has created.
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We have had a wonderful year in the HEY
Diversity Program. Our diversity groups
are still running weekly, and this year we
introduced our new POND group for 12-14
year olds.
For the 昀椀nancial year, our diversity worker
facilitated a massive 111 diversity groups
with 950 occasions of service. This
demonstrates the need to provide these
groups for our LGBTQIA+ young people,
providing them opportunities to connect with
others on a similar journey.
Our support group for parents/carers of
trans and gender diverse young people has
now been running for just over eight years. It
is a pleasure to work with not only our young
people but also their parents. We have also
been working collaboratively with Bendigo
Health’s Carer Support Services to deliver the
LGBTI Carers Project, now in its fourth year.
Over the 12 months we have worked
collaboratively with other organisations/
services to provide amazing events for our
LGBTIQA+ young people, including Pride
in the Park, Wear It Purple Day, IDAHOBIT
Day, Fruit Punch Dive in Movie, HEY Day, and
a gender a昀케rming make up session. We are
excited to see what we can do in the next 12
months.
