Activate Mental Health Turns 10!
- Eva C
- Jun 15
- 3 min read
On June 1st, Activate Mental Health celebrated its 10th birthday at Victoria Park Community Centre. Around sixty people attended including members of the organisation, volunteers, stakeholders and board members. This is my recount of the joy and community felt at the event.
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When was the last time you saw a party hat? For me, as I gleefully put on my yellow party hat at Activate Mental Health’s 10th Birthday party, I could not remember the last time I wore one. I felt like a kid again. Looking around the Victoria Park Community Centre, I saw many adults wearing party hats. I knew it was going to be a great party.
These adults in party hats were the community of Activate that has grown over the past ten years. It seemed knots of conversation were forming around regular meet-up groups and I quickly found mine – the Vic Park Community Space silent book club. We chatted about our monthly session the day before and some of my regulars thanked me for being a co-host. It felt so special to hear their gratitude and to also see it grow on the post-it note gratitude wall throughout the party.
All of these connections create a web that extends around the room. There are many new connections being made too as people catch up, introduce themselves and make tea. My partner and I tried the brownies from the generous morning tea spread – we are still talking about how good they were. We take our seats with our food and the friends we have made from book club.
The centre of this community and web of connections stands for his speech, perfectly timed and completely vulnerable: Rahul, the Founder of Activate Mental Health. From one simple idea in 2016 to bring social connection and fun to those living with mental ill-health to now having 8354 members and 3228 facilitated events, Rahul has used the decade to grow Activate Mental Health into a community of connection, belonging and support. His 10th birthday speech spoke to these numbers, the incredible statistics which celebrate his accounting background. More than that though, I was struck by Rahul’s vulnerable honesty as he opened up about serious periods of ill-health that disrupted his work with Activate and were almost impossible to come back from. Even in a space that understands and supports mental health, Rahul’s brave speech really blew me away and I was proud that he is the dynamic centre of this incredible community. While Rahul spoke I looked around the room at all the lives brought together by his idea, because he acted to create something that he couldn’t see.
We then played bingo although we are not retired and took part in the quiz even though we are not experts with Activate stats like Rahul. We tried our best and laughed our way through, snacking on fruit and lollies at our table. These activities introduced to the community, our new directors: Michael Bush, Mike Fuller and Naomi Carter. The new board seemed caring, outgoing and switched on, ready to take our community to new heights.
Presence seems to be the present we continually give each other through Activate Mental Health and that makes every meet-up, every cup of tea and every games night a very happy occasion indeed. This party seemed to be an epitome of the social connection and community that Activate provides. A day in which we can come together to remember the journey, celebrate the growth and really appreciate making it to double digits now as a registered charity.
As I left the 10th birthday party after packing away, I didn’t realise that I still had my yellow party hat on. It felt symbolic – I am entering the outside world with the positivity, community and connection from Activate Mental Health. When I realised that I had emerged from the Community Centre with my party hat still on, I took it off sheepishly but I know that Activate has given me more than a party, a hat or really good brownies. It has given me hope.
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– Eva Cocks is the Blog Director for Activate Mental Health, having joined the organisation in 2023 as a Silent Book Club Co-Host. From her studies at UWA, Eva is passionate about the intersection of mental health and English. She sees this blog as a way to celebrate the stories of the Activate community as she cares about its mission and hopes to see it grow in the future.
(Pictured is Eva wearing her AMH party hat.)
Links below for more ways to support Activate Mental Health for the next ten years and beyond!
