Hello fellow Grads and Colleagues,

In honour of many things, on Monday 24th July, the 2016 Grad Committee are hosting our final Volunteering and Fundraising event at Union Electric for Lifeline's Stress Down Day. The idea of Stress Down Day is to encourage recognition of stress and in turn ‘stressing down’ at home, work or school. Research shows that 90% of Australians need to stress less - with 74% of people reported being stressed from work. Not everyone can simply 'choose' to stress less, so days like Stress Down Day are important in acknowledgment of stress, but also a good reminder to consider yourself lucky if you have the conscious state of mind to be able to choose to stress less.

Staying on theme, the evening will be stress free, a simple opportunity to join us for a few drinks and a moment to enjoy the stress free moments in life and raise awareness and funds for the great and important work LifeLine do. There won't be formalities but we encourage you to come along and don't be shy having a dialogue about the things that get your stress on and what you do to stress less.

A bit of background, LifeLine are an organisation very close to my heart as they provide essential crisis support services for those in need. In late 2016, my younger sister Sophie lost her life in a road accident. The days preceding this tragic incident saw her relying on crisis support offered to those living rough. For the two years before her passing she battled with mental health challenges and addiction. Throughout this time, my sister and my family had many interactions with these kinds of support services and the broader healthcare system. Tragically, the lack of resources is systemic and rife with complex challenges making effective change very difficult to bring about. Sophie's whereabouts was unknown to her family in her final days on this planet and organisations like LifeLine not only provide a critical service for those in need but their loved ones too.

Many years ago my grandmother Joan was a member of the committee that established the LifeLine 24 Hour phone helpline that still exists today. Unbeknownst at the time, she would later lose her middle son, my uncle Dave, to addiction in the late 90s. Following this loss, Joan chose to funnel her energy into providing ongoing service to the community through drug education and support, and services to the aged and homeless, for which she was later awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2013. Remarkable woman.

These two instances of loss will stay with my family forever, but have taught us all the very valuable lesson of perspective and resilience. There's much to be thankful for but sometimes we can lose sight of what's important and get caught up in all that stresses us. Stress comes in many forms too and manifests in unique and different ways for us mere mortals. So please join us for Stress Down Day to stress a lil less.

The Details:
Monday 24th July
5.30pm - 8.00pm
Union Electric, 13 Heffernan Lane (off lt Bourke), Melbourne
It would be great to see you there.

Alternatively, you can make a donation via this page!

Thanks for your support.

Emily