INTERVIEW: CEO of Breakthrough Foundation, John Mannion

Published Oct 23, 2024, 12:20 PM

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So once you know, October is mental health month. A couple of weeks ago we spoke to John Meny and C of the Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation. We thought it's a good time two weeks on to catch up and talk more about the amazing work that he and his team are doing. John, Welcome back, Hi Leeth, how are you. I'm very well, thank you. I thought we should get you on talk about your programs, your collaborations, sort of the research outcomes and what you're doing in the mental health space. Can you explain to us please your impact report, the power of connection and the highlights of that. Yeah.

Sure. So every year as a foundation, and most foundations will do this, they'll actually compare the report root tell us the story of what's actually happened in the last year, you know. So as a foundation, as a charity, you know, we raise funds to invest into mental health research. So for our supporters and from an individual giver through to a corporates, you know, telling them the story of the impact their supports actually had. So this year we want to sort of like look at look at the theme that's sat around that and one of the things it became very very apparent from a breakthrough story is that the mental health narrative is a beautiful way to connect. You know, we spoke on the last show about the power of the mentalth conversation, but it isn't just about the conversation. It's about linking people together and from a breakthrough story that then sits with our individual givers, our corporate supporters, our grants that were successful with our philanthropic partnership, so ourselves and little heroes and how we come together then through to the community in which we invest. So that's our researcher so from professors to early research students, from PhDs through to bigger grants, et cetera. And then that wider partnership that then takes place on within our community, so our sporting clubs, through our mental health programs, through to our corporate world. That's starting to look at you know, what's how you develop a mentally healthy workplace and what's the support and you put into place and we support with that. So our impact report really takes people on a bit of a journey. So in the last twelve months, these are the sort of things that have happened and it shows around that the research investment that's taken place across with with Flinder's University and Uniessay and the Mind and Brain Center in Sydney and also across at Samary. Through to the mental health training we've been doing in the community, within the sports clubs, within workplaces, but also with an individual people coming forward wanting to learn more skills through to the power of that community connection. So how we're taking community programs out to the Apylands and look and the impact that's having there, through to the Little Heroes professor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health researcher Professor bride O Day and the incredible impact she's already having in the first twelve months. So it takes that story. So this is the way in which we share that narrative back with our community.

Can we talk about a couple of those narrowed down on you or work with the First Nations people and the Little Heroes if you can. So, what are the kind of things that you're doing first and foremost of the First Nations people.

Yes, So one of the things, as we've spoken before but but some of your listeners may not have heard before, is we have a program that's a children's mental health program called Big Talks for Little People. This is the primary school program that ourselves and the Little Heroes Foundation co invested into to develop, and this has been developed by Flinder's University. It's a program that's based around these beautiful animated characters called the Peeps and the Little Aliens, and then they have a shape that's around them called the field. So that's the emotion, and it's teaching children all about their thoughts, their feelings, and their behaviors. And so our thoughts and feelings and behaviors might not all act in the same way as they do for children, as they certainly do for us as adults, and so the program really is to get children to start the mental health conversation earlier, to know when things might not be going well for themselves, but also put plans into place and for a child that their first responder actually isn't the mom, the dad, or the teacher, it's the best friend. So what if we empowered young children to have the knowledge to look after each other as well and start those conversations. So the program that was developed then was so successful it actually showed a twenty five percent reduction in bullying in all the schools that it was actually rolled out into so bullying being one of the major causes for children to experience anxiety, depression, body image issues, etc. And so the work then we wanted to look at was we've developed this program. We've had aliens because we thought they were symbolic in that they were non gender, there were non race. But when we started to unpack them further and started to do some work with some of our schools that have a higher level of Indigenous community members and children, they were saying that the aliens are beautiful, but they don't look like me. So our aliens are purple and they were saying they're not dark enough. The characters. We have a beautiful character called brim Will then he just just wears a hat, and they said, I never wear a hat like that, but I do wear a Beanie. So we ended up developing a new character called Beanie where the children are interacting in different environments. So there's a beautiful activity where they're on a springboard in a swimming pool with some of our community members told us then that we don't have a swimming pool, but we do swim in the local lake. So we changed the environment of the pictures all very subtle that we hadn't sort of taken on board. So our aim then was that that was supported by the Medibank Foundation that they enabled to put a full cultural lens across the whole program. So we've now developed I think sixteen characters, all with different individual concepts and different stories that sit underneath them. So what we then looked at was we actually I was very fortunate to be invited to go to the Api Lands and I went with Dr John Brayley, who's South Australia's chief psychiatrist and Ian James, who's our Aboriginal mental health lead here in South Australia, and we went to sort of meet into the Apuiland community, very much in the far West, so we're out in Pipinnara, add into Free gone out into Kenwell Park and visited three different schools, very very different schools, so one school that only has eight students at Kemore Park through to Pipinnara which has around ninety to one hundred students that attend from the years to age of two up to eighteen years, so very diverse community. And the aim was really to start to talk about well if we were to develop big talks for Indigenous children, what might that look like? So the school in Pipinnara, Free Gone and out in Kemol Park all wants to be part of developing a purpose designed program that their children are actually part of designing. So our aim really is now to start to look at some new characters, to look at the stories that sit behind, Because what might be a trauma a challenge for a child that lives here in the metropolitan Adelaide is a very different story than if I live in the aplands, where there might be high levels of drug usage in my community, that might be high levels of domestic violence, that might be high levels of a socioeconomic risk, et cetera, which might not necessarily be correlated to what's happening here in metropolitan. So the stories need to alter and change, but be specific. But also the language that's used, so that a lot of language in narrow language is not the same as I use every day, especially in my very northern accents. So sometimes there aren't words for some of the emotions, So how do we grow that language that sits there. So it's a really exciting piece of work that we're trying to work on now and that will continue to grow with Flynner's University. We're still in the process of fundraising for that piece of work, so you know, so that that will take around one hundred thousand dollars to actually get that piece finalized, but the aim will be then that would be the next phase because we have big talks for little people. We've just started big Talks for little sports people and then this will be the third phase of the program. So really showing that you can utilize a whole program to drive really positive change for our children.

How amazing is that investment to get the kids involved that that would go such a long way. The complete oppositing that, I guess is your professorships because these are then I guess, will institute all of this change. Yeah.

So the piece of work that we've done with a good friend of yours, Chris mc dermott and the Little Heroes Foundation, we've co funded into the Little Heroes Professor for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research. It's a big name title, but we've got this most incredible professor, Professor Brady O'Day who's joined the team, and she she has incredible expertise around children, especially around high risk and suicidality. She has come from the Black Dog Institute, so the very well known institute here in Australia and now we've managed to pinch her to bring her to South Australia. She's developing a wider, much more structured, strategic approach to children's mental health research. And the work that's now already started to take place is she's just been successful in getting one of the NMHRC grants so, which was looking around supporting children who were waiting to get access into mental health services and starting their interventions while they're on a waiting list that when they present they're in a much stronger position to start to do their therapy. She is that early intervention focus, which is which is absolutely incredible. So the bringing breakthroughs work together under the heroes work together. All of a sudden, you've got two lots of dollars making a bigger dollar pot, which means we've actually funded this fellowship, this professor position for the next five years. It's the very first time this has happened. And when we met Brady, she was beautiful. She said to us, she says, why have you invested in me? And we explained you know why. That was important and she said, this doesn't happen in any other area, and it's vital because what we're able to do is then we're able to be more strategic and our approach would be able to bring people along with us. So Flynn's uni if CO invested, they're actually funding the PhD students that will sit underneath Bridy. All of a sudden, South Ausgradia has got a research strategy for young people and that will start to grow and our investment and our wishes to can you continue to grow that looking at areas around suicidality, around self harm, around depression, and then obviously around our indigenous communities as well.

Leading the way you've got to that's going to make you feel amazingly good. Tell us about the Men's Meal and Mental Health event, because these are the kind of events where people can get involved themselves as you say, oh yeah, let's go towards great causes.

Yeah. So, so we've had a community program called Mates Meals and Mental Health and it's around around around breaking down the stigma and discrimination for men to start to talk about mental health challenges. Now, we often have that conversation, you know, do men feel comfortable about talking? And you know that that block and that barrier. What we're finding is that men do want to talk, they just don't know where to go. All the previous experience I've had hasn't been very positive outcome, So then and they back back down again. You know that we've often spoken around that that first interaction can be very powerful to guide someone to get support or to back away again. So this year we decided what was if we took it to the next level, what opens if we partnered with a beautiful organization, which was the Adelaide Oval and we ended up bringing over six hundred men into one room. We were incredibly successful in bringing you think it was actually six hundred and eight people came about ten percent with women, which is fabulous because what the power of that was that some of the gents who arrived said, I wouldn't have come here if I hadn't been for my wife, and I wanted her to be next to me so we can learn together, and that itself is a beautiful thing. So we're incredibly grateful for everybody that did attend. But also it's based around the sharing of powerful personal stories and how powerful the story can be to drive change. So very fortunate here in South Australia, we had Travis Boch join us and to be interviewed by Mark Solis. Room that beautiful connectivity around well being, resilience and leadership, but also sharing those personal challenges around wishing to be successful and what was the driver behind that. And then Jess Adamson who's on our board, and Jess obviously is a beautiful interviewer. Very fortunate that she was able to interview Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and this was Grant's first sharing of what's happened in the last six months of his life. And his wife Emma was in the audience with us as a guest to share the narrative. Together. Six hundred men listened to every word that Grant said and you could have heard a pin drop in the room. It was absolutely or inspiring. It was a powerful emotional connectivity. Also that blend of Australian humor of how we use that to deflect, how we use that to cope, but also how we use that to grow. And then we did an activity where all six hundred men joined us on the Adelaide Oble for an activity called Step to the Line. This is a way in which we break down perceptions and misunderstandings about our own mental health and well being without saying a word. So basically we took over the whole east side of the ground. We're allowed to go on to the Adelaide over, which is absolutely incredible, And basically we make a statement. If you agree to the statement, you're facing someone, you just step towards them and then you step back out and we ask them to keep eye contacts. So if somebody steps forward, you can acknowledge it, you can smile, you can wink, and it starts off on very gentle things, you know, like you know, I'm from Adelaide, I've got the best bid, I'm the best looking person here today. So all six hundred stepped in for that. Moving into more confrontational questions around your mental health and your well being, around your upbringing, around your levels of privilege, through to body image questions, through to levels of questions around anxiety, etc. We ask a question around step to the line if you've ever felt lonely isolated, and twenty five percent of that group will step forward, and it's amazing how fast people drop the body armor and step in and own it. Through to you know, step to the line if you feel like the wild to be a better place without you, And about twenty percent of the group step in on that one, and then we finished the last question, step to the line if you feel like giving the man ahead of you a hug, And at that point the adelaide O will set off the lights show as six hundred men all came in for a hug, and then the conversation started because it just disarmed and that was just this most incredible thing. I think was more powerful for me I was I'd taken part in this. I thought sorry for the person opposite me. Probably there's probably three people people didn't want to stand opposite me being one, Grant Stevens being the other, and the health minister then the other. And when everyone was leaving, the amounts of people that came up and gave me a hug, I must have hugged about three hundred and fifty people on one night, and people just make it comments, thank you, I needed this. You don't know how powerful this was. I'd like to carry on the conversation. All those beautiful, powerful things. And the aim for the night, though obviously, was to normalize the mental health conversation, remote strong connection, get people to start to talk around things. You know, our sponsors came on board in such an incredible way. West End turned a big red tin purple for the night because that's our colors, and they put mental health messaging on the tin. James Podleyadsley and Rory Sloan developed a beautiful football, one of the face footballs.

If you bear with me, I go one.

This is what they developed. This is a football that's all in Breakthrough colors. It's developed to teach kids how to kick a ball, but for that on the night, this was actually developed for men and there's a little message on the top and it tells people to stop, to breathe and to believe. And the aim that every person attended on the night took one of these balls away with them and it was beautiful. The next hour was another fundraising event down by the beach and there was a young family kick in the purple football and so when other conversations moving on. The event was so successful. It was aim was to sisters to fund a new fellowship in suicide prevention for men, and the events has funded that for the next three years, which is incredible. The question is now how do we match that for makes Meals Mark two which we want to do with them next next year. And we're going to have just started those conversations working with the Adelaide Oval and our partners to look at how we can do that for next year.

You know what you're like, Guns N' Roses epitop for destruction. How do you bake that album? John? You can do it?

You've gone well, maybe it's maybe it's an abstentiling off the roof this year or.

Something like that. How do we get involved? How do people help you? What do we look forward to for next year?

Next year? To help us? We need help in lots of different ways. So we fundraised for a wide range of different things. So businesses and organizations and individuals doing incredible things. So for example, next week, I'm one of ten people that are going and taking part in the New York Marathon. We've got a group of people that all come together to run forty two kilometers together for Breakthrough and we will have raised around one hundred thousand dollars between the tenets, which is incredible. Now you don't have to do something as big as that. You can do a cake sale you can have a morning tea at your workplace. You can get behind us as a corporate partner. A lot of our corporate support generally comes in is that they make a donation to break Through and in return, we deliver a wide range of different training programs for people so that you're actually looking after your workforce and your mental health of that workforce. It could be that this Sunday you could join into the Breakthrough Bike Ride and fundraising. Go out for a beautiful bike ride and we have a fifty kilometer ride and one hundred kilometer ride. If you go on to Breakthrough Foundation dot org dot au, there's a page on there where you can show you all the different ways in which you can fundraise for us and all the techniques. So our EMIL objective is to make it as easy as possible for people to support us. But also you know those businesses that want to get behind us, that want to get involved in those the sort of the Men's Day or the golf events. We always have sponsorship package that will help us to deliver what we do. We're a not for profit organization. This year was the first time we'd received some funds from the government and that was specifically towards the sericide prevention work, but the rest of the work that we actually invest in has purely been fundraised by our community, which last year led to one point nine million dollars being reinvested back into mental health research across twenty nine different programs and then a wide range of training. So there's lots of different touch points. So you know, we just love people to go onto our website. We've got an information line if you want to drop us an email, if you want to catch up with for a coffee, if you've got any ideas on how you can fundraise and help us achieve our vision, which is to help create a life free of mental illness. We're always willing for those conversations. We've just finished a conversation with a gentleman Lenny. A couple of years ago he did a shareth on for us on Kangaro Island, an incredibly successful event and he did it for his friend who'd lost through suicide. Next week he sets off on his latest challenge. He's on one of those three wheelers sit down bikes and he's riding all around Australia to spread the word around the importance of the mental health conversation and fundraising for Breakthrough. So if you want to get behind him as a corporate you need support with water, with food, with places to stay, any connections there. They're all the different touch points we try and put into place.

Yeah, it is amazing work you and your team doing. Thanks for giving up me time. And it's been a busy month for you. Every month seems busy because it's never ending. But I guess on October we shine a light on the mental health keep out the great work John. Thanks again, Thanks very much.

Leeth really appreciate it and thanks for your listeners.

Breakthrough Foundation dot org dot au is the website if you want to find out more see the incredible work that the Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation are doing John Manyon and his team, and we will always be a vehicle for that on this show and on this station. If we can help out in any way, we will certainly let you know. John Mannon My Guest