Who we are:

Chasing Change  is a volunteer organisation that continuously works to prevent suicide in our communities and more broadly, through the promotion of community collaboration and conversation. 

Chasing Change was founded in January 2017 by a small team of diverse yet like-minded individuals who share the desire to make a change in our community and do what we  can to prevent the tragedy of suicide. With many of the founding members being personally impacted by suicide, Chasing Change promotes a sensitive, understanding and thoughtful approach to suicide prevention and life promotion.

Our Vision

Chasing Change’s vision is to prevent suicide through Community, Collaboration and Conversation.

Our Mission

We believe that suicide is preventable. To achieve suicide prevention, an inclusive approach is required. 

Hence our mission is:

To engage with the community, providing opportunities to be part of the change through community focused events and programs.

What do we do:

Chasing Change works to prevent suicide.

We believe there are  three core pillars central to achieving our goal: Community, Conversation and Collaboration.

We strive to include these three core approaches in everything we do.

We strongly believe that bringing the community together, collaborating with other like-minded people and organisations and fostering conversations, will bring us closer to our goal of suicide prevention.

How we do it

Chasing Change employs a variety of strategies that aim to complement each other in our pursuit for suicide prevention.

These strategies are all created with our core values of Community, Conversation and Collaboration in mind.

Our key strategies are summarised below.

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Events:

As Chasing Change has grown over time, running community events has become a  genuine area of expertise and passion for the team.

We split our events strategies into two components; events Chasing Change leads and runs, and events Chasing Change supports.

Our own events:

Chasing Change runs various community-based events throughout the year. Two of the major events on the annual calendar are the Walk for Suicide Prevention and Blue Christmas.

Both of these events encourage community members to come together to support one another during difficult times. By doing this we aim to provide a supportive environment for community members to come and embrace the fact they are not alone in their mental health and suicide bereavement journeys.

These events have grown into large community gatherings, with the Walk for Suicide Prevention bringing together over a thousand people in 2019. These large attendances are testament to the growing awareness of suicide within the community. This overwhelming support from community members is a reminder that events which bring together communities and offer a safe and supportive place to foster conversations are deeply valued.

Your events:

Collaboration is a core value of Chasing Change because we believe it is essential to the effort to prevent suicide.

This is why we actively look to support other not-for-profit organisations however we can.

Because of our experience in running events, we love the opportunity to give guidance and advice whilst having a collaborative presence at each other’s events.

The more we can we help other groups effectively achieve their goals the greater chance we all have of success in preventing suicide in our community and in Australia.

So whether you want to collaborate and run an event together, you are a new group looking for guidance, or if you want to engage Chasing Change to attend one of your events, we believe we are all in this together and are proud to work with you.

To have a look at the events we run and support click through to our events page here.

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Resources & Campaigns:

Another one of our strategies is to create and distribute accurate and educational resources and campaigns.

By doing this, we hope to provide people with the knowledge and confidence to have tough conversations with themselves, the ones they love, and the wider community.

We use campaigns to inform people on topics such as using safe  language when talking about suicide and mental health. Campaigns like this don’t just focus on what people shouldn’t do, they also provide an opportunity to educate people on best practice. 

We also invest time into creating practical resources people may need to start conversations they may not have known how to otherwise.

Our Chasing Change Constant Companion  is a resource that is practical. You can carry the Constant Companion with you daily, and it provides guidance on  where to seek help and how to start difficult conversations.

Producing campaigns and resources like this are essential in providing the community with the knowledge and skills they need to be able to start the conversations, use safe language, and ultimately support those that they care about.

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Training:

Providing official suicide prevention training is another strategy integral to the success of our mission.

The presence of people who are qualified in mental health first aid and official suicide prevention training is not high enough.

Often, when people need help the most they are busy living through their day to day lives. This is why we are committed to supporting the training as community members in official mental health and suicide prevention courses.

By doing this, we hope to create a vast network of people in workplaces, sporting clubs and an array of other community groups that have the ability and knowledge to support  those who may be experiencing a suicidal crisis.

The more people that are trained, the more lives that will be saved; we truly do believe this.

Where we do it

Chasing Change is an organisation based across Frankston and Mornington Peninsula. Whilst we are still establishing ourselves, we focus many of our activities in our home  region, however we are always open to collaborating our efforts with stakeholders across Victoria and Australia.

We have a network of like minded groups that spans the country.

Why we do it

Our motivation is simple, we believe someone needs to do the work we do, and so we started doing it! 

Our team consists of people from all walks of life, but most of our group has been personally impacted by suicide. This drives us to do the work we do and keeps pushing us to reach our goal of preventing suicide.