yarra ranges' young citizen of the year

It was a great privilege to award the Yarra Ranges Young Citizen of the Year award to Kallista resident, Fiona Bilton, at the awards ceremony at Mont De Lancy in Wandin.


























Fiona has a great passion to help children and young people who have a parent with a mental illness. She works tirelessly to create greater awareness of mental health issues for young people, parents and families.

She has contributed to a number of projects and activities specifically around mental health. Fiona has provided peer leadership to children and young people through a range of programs including
- mental health week activities
- Council’s Paying Attention to Self (PATS) Program
- the Vic Champs program with Eastern Health and
- the Looking Out for You program with the Austin Hospital.

But that’s not enough for Fiona, as well as her passion for this work she is a member of the Kallista-The Patch CFA Junior Brigade, attends dance classes once a week, works in a local café as a waitress and has just successfully completed year 9.

She is an inspiration, a wonderful volunteer and a great example of young people making a difference in our community, our future is looking bright. My congratulations to Fiona and her family.

I was impressed with the quality of work at tonight’s launch of State Of Mind - The Sunny Side of Mental Health exhibition at Burrinja as part of the Shire’s activities for Mental Health Week.

The photography exhibition is the work of members of the Shire’s Paying Attention To Self (PATS) and Traction programs.

The main aim of the exhibition is to show positive images created by young people whose lives have been affected by mental health issues in some way. The work was impressive and rich in the diversity of subject matter covered and techniques used and I’m sure we will see more artistic endeavours from these budding artists in the future.
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Participating Artists received certificates
in recognition of their involvement.

Me at tonight's launch, the exhibition runs till October 12th, I encourage you to get along and have a look for yourself.

The PATS and Traction programs are run by the Shire for young people who are coping with a range of mental health issues.