A group of 20 high profile Australians will ride into Maitland on motorbikes to raise awareness of headspace and the services it provides to young people going through a tough time.
The epic Rock N Ride tour, in its second year, will visit six headspace centres over five days as the group make its way from the Gold Coast to the Melbourne Big Day Out.
Led by Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamieson, the group of musicians, TV personalities and sportspeople will stop to meet young people and families, perform a few songs and get involved with local activities run by the headspace centre.
The entourage joining Phil and Chris includes most of the riders from the 2013 journey, including MTV host Kate Peck, Rugby League legend Nathan Hindmarsh and Big Day Out CEO Adam Zammit, along with some new recruits including band members from Art Vs Science and Kingswood.
headspace CEO Chris Tanti, who will join the ride for the first time, said Rock N Ride is unique way of putting mental health on the agenda.
“We want to improve the lives of young Australians, so we need to make sure they know there’s youth friendly support available for them and their friends. This ride will help to raise the profile of our headspace centres and how they can help,” Chris said.
The headspace Maitland Rock N Ride event is a free community event, which will be held at Maitland Public School from 9am- 12pm, on 21 January 2014. The Riders are anticipated to arrive at approximately 9:40am. The event will include a free BBQ breakfast, performances from local young artists including ‘The End of The Line’, ‘TeeJay’, and ‘DJ F3RGO’.
Acting Clinical Services and Integration Manger for headspace Maitland, Liz Vause, said they are thrilled to be one of the Rock N Ride pit stops.
“Rock N Ride is important to the local community because it highlights the support available from services like headspace Maitland,” Liz said.
Local non-profit, the Samaritans Foundation, is the lead agency for headspace Maitland which offers youth friendly services to 12-25 year olds, including:
- Mental health support and counselling
- General and sexual health services
- Alcohol and other drug services
- Education and employment support
