Health & wellbeing
The Gruyere team participated in the LIVINWell workshop during the Gold Industry Group’s national tour in 2019.
THE GOLD INDUSTRY GROUP PARTNERED WITH NON-PROFIT ORGANISATION LIVIN TO BRING MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT SERVICES TO GOLD MINES AND OFFICES ACROSS AUSTRALIA. SAFE TO WORK SPEAKS WITH FORMER MINE WORKER AND LIVIN CO-FOUNDER CASEY LYONS ABOUT THE LIVINWELL PROGRAM.
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he fear of judgment has driven people who live with mental illness to remain silent. Statistics show that approximately one out of every two Australians experience a mental health challenge during their lifetime, with many struggling to deal with their issues alone. Casey Lyons, co-founder and chief executive of non-profit organisation LIVIN, says there are plenty of service providers, but the stigma, particularly self-stigma around mental illness keeps people quiet. When Lyons lost his friend to suicide in 2013, he decided to help lead people back to a healthy, joyful life.
He can also relate, being a mine worker himself over a period of three years previously. “I can relate to it first-hand,” Lyons tells Safe to Work. “I worked in mine sites before co-founding LIVIN. I was isolated from family members, friends and milestone events, and there was irregular communication with my support networks that slowly gave way to insecurity and declining self-worth. “You wonder what your partner is doing and where she/he is; you’re not able to do what you want, when you want it and that’s difficult.” With this first-hand knowledge, LIVIN, a chosen Gold Industry Group
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community partner, delivered more than 50 LIVINWell workshops across Australian mine sites on a national tour in 2019. LIVIN has grown from a team of two co-founders to 26 facilitators across Australia and plans to expand further to almost 50 facilitators by mid 2021. The team already had the capacity to deliver 20 sessions on a Western Australian mine site in a week as of 2018, with up to 500 people in attendance including those at management levels. “When we talked to an employee assistance program provider on that mine site, she told us about the number
Credit: Gold Fields/Gold Road Resources/Gold Industry Group.
A simple way to support mental health