A Town Helps People with Mental Health

By Violette Storm

ABC South West Vic

Topic: Mental Health

Thu 11 Jun 2026 at 5:25am

Maddi Cram and Peter Taylor want to help their community. They want to teach people about mental health.

In short:

People in Portland are raising money to learn about stopping suicides.

The project is led by people who have experienced suicide. They want to help their community.

What's next?

The project wants to reach 10% of adults in the area by 2029.

Peter Taylor's nephew died by suicide. This made Peter want to learn about mental health.

Portland is a town in Victoria. The suicide rate there is higher than in other parts of the state.

Peter Taylor wants to train 1,500 people in suicide prevention by 2029.

Peter Taylor wants to talk about mental health.

Could a conversation save a life?

Peter's nephew was 46 when he died. He left behind a wife and two daughters.

Peter knew his nephew was struggling. But he didn't know how to talk to him about it.

If you need help:

After learning about suicide prevention, Peter wondered if he could have saved his nephew.

Peter would ask his nephew if he was thinking of suicide.

His nephew would try to avoid the question.

Now Peter knows how to ask the question and get an answer.

A life-changing workshop

Peter didn't know about mental health services in his area. So he looked for help.

He is now the chair of the Mental Health Committee.

After his nephew's funeral, Peter wanted to do something to help.

He went to a workshop in Ballarat to learn about suicide prevention.

The workshop was very helpful.

The workshop taught people how to talk about suicide and where to get help.

The first two workshops were fully booked.

Within four months, Peter had raised money to hold more workshops.

Both workshops were booked out quickly.

A quest to train 1,500 people

The community raised $32,000 to hold more workshops.

The government gave some money, but not much.

Since 2024, they have trained 170 people.

About 20,000 people live in the area. Half of them live in Portland.

The goal is to reach 10% of the adult population.

They want to create a support network.

If someone looks like they're struggling, the trained people can talk to them.

Each workshop is free or paid for by local businesses.

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The race is on

It used to cost a lot to train people. Now it's cheaper.

They appointed local instructors to save money.

The local instructors will start teaching in July.

The workshops will be quicker and cheaper.

Maddi Cram says the workshops teach people how to get help.

There's a waiting list for the workshops.

The government was asked to fund suicide prevention programs.

The Victorian government has a 10-year plan to prevent suicides.

Peter Taylor wants to keep teaching people about suicide prevention.

People come up to him after the workshops and say they can relate.

Thu 11 Jun 2026 at 5:25am

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