New Blog Director, Same Community Focus

Hello to everyone reading, my name is Eva Cocks and am taking on the position of Blog Director for Activate Mental Health in 2026. As Blog Director, as a silent book club co-host, as another person with lived experience of mental health I would love to hear your stories. If you have a story about Activate as a volunteer, member or stakeholder please get in touch via the email at the end of the article as I would like the blog to reflect the myriad of experiences of our community.

As for my own story, I started with Activate Mental Health in May of 2023 as a volunteer co-host for one of the newer Silent Book Clubs. We only had one person come to our first meet up. Since then, the club has bloomed and we have sessions of up to fifteen people, with waitlists nearly equal in size. Having not been a previous member of Activate Mental Health, I am unsure what benefits being a part of this group could have. There were, in fact, many.

Having lived experience of mental ill-health myself, I have found the community created through Activate to be inclusive, welcoming and a monthly point to connect with others. We are all bookish and a diverse group but having a safe space to meet up and chat with each other. It has become a highlight of my month co-hosting the group with Mel, discussing books and thinking of even more creative ice breaker questions.

This silent book club with Activate also awoke my passion again, as I used to be a voracious reader but dropped off when I became unwell. In this way, the community took me back to the way I used to read and to be able to facilitate that for others as a volunteer is very moving. I aim to create a space that is supportive of those with lived experience yet offer people a respite from anything in the outside world that may be on their minds.

Being an Activate volunteer or activator also helped me to astronomically improve my skills in leading discussion and conversing with groups of people. My confidence has sky-rocketed and with each month I become more comfortable with leadership, public speaking and making sure everyone in the group is heard and can contribute in their own ways.

While these are only a few examples of the wonderful world of volunteering with Activate Mental Health, if you see yourself in these roles or want to build any of the skills mentioned above we’d love to hear from you! Our next activator intake is next month and the details are below on how to get involved.

Here is to another big, busy and uplifting year with Activate Mental Health.

Until next time,

Eva

Volunteer for Activate Mental Health 🙋‍♀️: Click here to find out more about volunteering for Activate Mental Health. Click here to sign up as an activator or social event host.

Share Your Stories Of Activate Mental Health 🙋‍♀️: Click here to express your interest and chat to our blog team.

Or if you would prefer to email the blog team directly, please reach us on: stories@activatemh.com.au

I am in the centre of the above photo of my first Silent Book Club meet up.