Bupa Foundation invests $250,000 in local programs focused on creating healthier communities

The Bupa Foundation has announced it has invested more than $250,000 to help support 26 community organisations across Australia and New Zealand running programs focused on sustainability and building mentally healthy and resilient communities.

The community organisations that will each receive around $10,000 were identified and nominated by Bupa’s people as part of the Bupa Foundation Community Grants Program which has been running since 2019.

Bupa Asia Pacific CEO, Hisham El-Ansary said the Foundation had doubled funding from last year to a total investment of more than $250,000 to recognise and support organisations doing great work in the communities where Bupa operates.

“Small grants that support local community groups are so important as they have the potential to make a real and immediate difference to people’s lives and community well-being.

“This year’s grant recipients are diverse in terms of their location, background and mission and were nominated by our people who see the positive impact of their work every day in their local communities,” Hisham said.

The full list of Bupa Foundation Community Grant recipients:

Australia

· OneWave’s ‘Free the Funk’ program promotes the importance of early intervention, connection and conversations to save lives, by educating young people on mental health and sharing tips and tools with kids that can be used throughout their lives.

· Australian Counselling Association will give First Nations peoples access to an AQF level 7 qualification that is explicitly designed to be undertaken by First Nations peoples to deliver mental health services for First Nations peoples.

· Batyr runs The Batyr@school program which aims to break down the stigma around mental health and empower young people to reach out for support when needed.

· Treeforce brings together passionate, environmentally driven volunteers who run targeted tree planting and re-vegetation projects in the Cairns Area that help revive endangered ecosystems and improve outdoor recreation areas for the Cairns community.

· Women’s’ Cottage runs groups for women who have experienced trauma and offers a supportive, safe, and predictable, fun environment to build resilience.

· Mantle Health will develop a new website that includes a comprehensive collection of evidence-based and men-specific mental health resources, from self-help programs through to direct access to therapists.

· Be Inspired Foundation aims to establish strong connections with allied health professionals to build lifelong independence for financially disadvantaged youth with major trauma, disability, chronic health conditions, or cancer.

· The Medical Benevolent Association of NSW will develop a new system to better support doctors who are in crisis for various reasons, the majority being mental health issues particularly due to COVID.

· Music Health will bring Music Health therapy to Baulkham Hills, and look at how music can support the broader community of dementia suffers.

· The Man Cave will run a program to provide workshops and teacher training to help support and provide boys in the Surf Coast with the critical emotional and social skills they need to lead flourishing lives for themselves, their relationships and their communities.

· The Veteran Surf Project will enable veterans and their families to come together, learn a new skill and aims to equip serving veterans with skills to enact positive mental health skills and strategies.

· Four Reasons Why aims to run a program that will enable disadvantaged children to participate in regular sporting and fun inclusion activities that are currently out of their financial reach, enhancing their ability to socialise and participate within the wider community.

· The Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia program aims to help today’s kids look beyond their front doors to the beautiful ocean and what lies beneath.

· National Homeless Collective school project aims to ensure the children experiencing homelessness, primarily due to domestic violence and family breakdown, can complete their education and participate in extra-curricular activities that are critical to their mental health and wellbeing.

· Borderline aims to change the way Youth Mental Health in Australia is seen by creating incredible experiences to help better teenagers’ mental health and educate others on how to assist someone struggling.

· Community College Gippsland Friends of the CCG pilot program aim to keep disadvantaged and vulnerable students connected, to maintain their support network, to journey with them in their ‘next steps’ after school.

· Compassionate Friends aims to provide an opportunity for grieving parents and families to come together as part of a sponsored walk, in memory of lost children.

· National Justice Project aims to promote diversity, accessibility and inclusion by providing resources specifically designed by and for minority communities that can be impacted by barriers and prejudice to improve resilience and wellbeing.

· The Pink Elephants helps fill the gap of information around miscarriage acting as a one-stop-shop of resources for women.

· Winter Solstice annual event aims to bring together the Albury community in commemoration of those who have died by suicide and provide a safe place to help educate, understand, and learn acceptance around mental ill health and suicide.

New Zealand

· Tauranga Women’s Refuge will provide local women with access to a safe space to share their experience of domestic violence and learn strategies towards living free from domestic violence.

· The Manurewa Marae project aims to promote Maori identity, culture and Te Reo language for the elderly in the wider Manurewa community.

· Skylight school based Mental Agility and Resilience Workshop helps strengthen and equip children and young people to navigate the challenges associated with change.

· The Upside Downs Education Trust aims to enable children with Down’s syndrome to access specialised speech-language therapy (SLT) programmes designed specifically for them with a strong emphasis on school readiness and transition.

· Graeme Dingle Foundation will deliver the Kiwi Can programme to 40 students at Finlayson Park School in Manurewa Auckland, equipping Kiwi kids with positive values and developing their mental and emotional strength and resilience.

· Big Brother Big Sister Rotorua (BBBS) will deliver a school and community-based mentoring program to tamariki aged 6 years plus, focused on safe, positive, and sustainable mentoring.