Community invited to have a bite with Tradies In Sight

Bruno Efoti visited Cobar on Friday to cook up a lamb feast for locals at the invitation of Cobar’s Wellness Coordinator Wendy Liu from the NSW Outback Divi- sion of General Practice.

“Bruno from Tradies In Sight, based in Dubbo, hosted a small community event where tradies, miners or any job alike, were able to socialize, enjoy a feast and have a conversation about mental health (or about themselves),” Wendy said.

“It is known that men don’t talk about their mental health much and this event was to raise awareness among males in town.”

Bruno has worked in the construction industry as a carpenter for over 20 years and has also been a business owner for 15 years.

Throughout that time he has observed many families struggling with the pressure of business during tough times.

I started Tradies In Sight simply because there was nothing else aimed specifically among tradespeople and men generally,” Bruno said.

I was spending my work time advocating for tradies who needed help and I realised the importance of just talking to people and with men, that can be difficult.

I realised there needed to be more education and support around mental health and well-being and I wanted to create links to services in our area for men who are often reluctant to talk about these issues.

I am passionate about creating safe spaces to learn new skills in dealing with the modern pressures tradespeople are under.

We don’t do feelings well in Australia and s well past time this changed,” Bruno said.

Wendy said the casual event over a shared meal allowed Bruno the opportunity to lead the conversation about speaking up and being able to talk about the stigma surrounding mental health.

A group of 16 attended Friday night’s event and there is a discussion now going on among local mental health support services about holding another one.