Giving back to the local community for improving the lives of many young children.
Covid-19 played a major role in 2020, proving to be one of the toughest years in recent history. Melbourne’s lockdown forced many out of jobs and created difficult living conditions for many households. Overall, the mental health and wellbeing of Melbournians has been majorly affected through this process.
Jason McClintock, Jasco’s Director felt that the community had been negatively affected by the lockdown in many ways and wanted to try and help in any way possible.
Jason’s personal link to basketball was one way he knew he could help and thus wanted to start his positive mental health and wellbeing campaign in that industry.
The Eltham Wildcats Basketball Club is the largest in Australia and has over 5,700 players representing it. The club however had no programs to help players, staff, or parents who were suffering the effects of the harsh lockdowns and so the Wildcats Wellbeing program was born.
The program will help raise awareness within the local and greater community around the importance of mental health, and the overall wellbeing of people whilst also attempting to remove the stigma around mental health.
By placing an importance on mental health and wellbeing, the program will encourage players, parents, and staff to speak up about their mental health, creating a positive and safe environment around the club.
Staff within the club will also be trained to understand and successfully deal with the many aspects of mental health to ensure they can be a point of contact for any member of the club who feels they need assistance.