SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY is a registered not-for-profit that works to promote positive mental health and prevent suicide by raising awareness, breaking down stigma and encouraging help-seeking and helping action in our communities.
Founded by Mitch McPherson in 2013 after the suicide death of his brother, Stay ChatTY has become an integral part of changing the way we understand, speak about, and respond to mental health and suicide in Tasmania. Since then, Stay ChatTY has reached more than 65,000 Tasmanians through our Schools Program, Workplace and Community Program, Sports Program and through Mitch sharing his lived experience.
Because of SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY, Tasmanians are speaking up about their mental health and reaching out for support. Families and friends are having the tough conversations to support their loved ones who are struggling. Schools, workplaces, and sporting clubs are coming together to make mental health visible for their communities. Students are raising funds to bring mental health education into their schools. Workplaces are putting employee wellbeing front and centre.
There have been so many examples of how our community is changing, and Stay ChatTY is proud to play a key part. We are proudly partnered with Relationships Australia Tasmania, who help us with our day-to-day operations and governance, allowing us to engage with more communities and individuals across Tasmania. For more information about SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY visit www.staychatty.com.au
Our Values and Goals
These are the values that guide us and drive the way we work in the community. We believe in showing up for our community in any way we can to help promote positive messages around mental health, help-seeking and helping, because we know it is the small, consistent activities every day that can make the biggest difference. We believe in the power of lived experience to drive change. Wherever we can we seek to highlight lived experiences of mental health and suicide so we can help break down the stigma and normalise the conversation. We hope that by doing these things we can stop the stigma that surrounds mental health and suicide, and create communities where it’s safe to talk about mental health and suicide, communities know how to support each other, and it’s ok to not be ok.
Our work in the community
The Stay ChatTY team organise community events, fundraisers and presentations to community groups, workplaces, sporting clubs and schools to promote the SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY message. The team travels throughout Tasmania and Australia to raise awareness about mental health and suicide, and share that it’s OK to not be OK, where to find help, and how we can support each other in tough times.
The sticker that started a movement!
The car sticker was the first component of SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY, and since 2013 it has been a consistent visual reminder to check in on yourself and your loved ones. We have distributed almost 100,000 stickers across Australia and that number keeps going up every day.
For more information about SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY visit www.staychatty.com.au
