On Wednesday, 7 October, the Rockhampton Mental Health Promotions Committee held a Stress Less Day at Riverside Park. This event coincided with Mental Health Week which ran from 4 - 10 October in 2009.  At its peak, approximately 170 people attended the riverbank venue, particularly to take advantage of a free barbecue lunch, with surplus food donated to a local hostel...
CQ Uni booth 

To help promote Mental Health Week, CQUniversity organised stalls both at Rockhampton campus and down at the Riverside Park venue. Staff from the university's Health and Safety unit operated a lunchtime stall at the campus while at the park the university was represented by staff from the Institute for Health and Social Science Research (IHSSR). Staff gave away a variety of promotional materials as well as important information regarding research being undertaken both at the university in general and at the Institute in particular. The university co-sponsored the hire of tables and chairs down at the Riverside Park and provided a marquee...  

A number of organisations contributed resources and assistance for use at the park on the day including: the Capricornia Division of General Practice, Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centre, CQ Dispute Resolution Centre, Girls Time Out, Keppel Community Care, Ozcare, Peter Boodles Meats, Red Cross, The Public Trustee, Wahroonga Counselling and Women's Health. Other organisations represented at the event included ATODS (Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Services), Centacare, Lifeline, and Rockhampton Regional Council.

Apart from the riverside barbecue, attendees were entertained by theatrical performances from local Jacienta Hinton, while the 5-minute Fairy offered discounted corporate massages and late afternoon entertainment was provided by the Adult Consumer Advisory Group in the form of local band Therapeutic Paradox...  

Mental Health Week is an annual national event which coincides with World Mental Health Day and National Stress Less Day. The aim is to raise awareness of the importance of emotional health and wellbeing. Locally this event intends to stimulate, educate and engage Queenslanders regarding mental health issues.

Written by Angie Jones-Field (Capricornia Division of General Practice) and James Douglas (IHSSR).