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Canberra Today 14°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Canberra Confidential / Ruby and the power of love

Promoting mental health awareness at St Clare's... social justice committee members, from left, back row: Temarie Rose-Banister, Catherine Langron, Cat Ringrose and Lucy Kibble. Front row: Emily Macaulay, Clem Wraith, Angie Lu, R U OK? Day organiser Ruby Sykes and Beth Horton.
Promoting mental health awareness at St Clare’s… social justice committee members, from left, back row: Temarie Rose-Banister, Catherine Langron, Cat Ringrose and Lucy Kibble. Front row: Emily Macaulay, Clem Wraith, Angie Lu, R U OK? Day organiser Ruby Sykes and Beth Horton.
“WE can’t cure cancer, but we can stop people from committing suicide simply with love, acceptance and support,” says year 12 student Ruby Sykes, of St Clare’s College.

Ruby is very passionate about mental health awareness. So much so, she’s organising R U OK? Day at the school on September 10, as she has since 2013.

“When I was about 14, I experienced some of my own mental health issues and I felt very alone, I didn’t want to be alive and I want people to understand that mental illness is a real issue and we need to start talking about it,” she says.

“Being supported and understood by my wonderful school, family, friends and partner has made me realise that it is okay to have a mental illness and has made me a lot happier and I am now coping a lot better with life!

“I want others with mental health issues to be accepted and get the help they need before it’s too late.

“Because mental illness is such a big issue for many teenagers, St Clare’s aims to raise awareness for R U OK? Day and organisations like Lifeline, especially in a high-school environment.

“When you feel vulnerable, it is very important to be supportive of each other and talk to others about how they are feeling and how you are feeling if you aren’t okay!

“This year we are having a Lifeline speaker, girls talking about their own experiences, a bake sale, yellow ribbons, trying to break a world record for hopping or head patting, stress-less tea and a drawing wall where girls colour-in nice messages to promote mental-health awareness.”

On a radical track

“THE huge community backlash and significant sums of money being spent as every day passes without the authority of the voting public, means we need to do something and do something radical now!” trumpets Russ Morison, in the recent newsletter of anti-tram group the Canberra Public Transport Alliance.

Something radical? Chairman Russ is mounting a petition for a moratorium on light rail and a guarantee that no contracts are signed until after the 2016 ACT election.

While Russ has buckleys of derailing the government, he notes that over the past 27 years only seven per cent of Canberrans have used ACTION buses and “even that service cost us annually a whopping $100m of our money”.

He says the group, which recently held a public meeting in Calwell, deep in anti-tram Tuggers, is apolitical.

“This is the biggest spend in the Territory’s future, yet our autocratic government have shunned and alienated voters and in doing so brought utter shame on themselves which will likely cost government at the next election,” Russ thunders.

Meanwhile, the shameless Minister for Capital Metro Simon Corbell continues to spruik the miraculous benefits of the tram, telling a Heart Foundation seminar on active living that walking to the tram stop puts light rail on the front line in the battle against obesity.

“The ACT Government’s commitment to active transport initiatives, including the delivery of a city-wide light rail network, will ensure the continued health and wellbeing of our city,” he opines.

March of the pay TV boxes

AS we discover the ad-free freedom of cheaper, streamed television services such as Netflix, subscription TV broadcaster Foxtel would seem to be feeling the effects locally.

A southern snout, surrendering his pay-TV box, reports from the Tuggeranong post office that he was told by staff that the number of daily returns of boxes has been “unbelievable”.

“The PO lady said she had also cancelled hers and described the same weird phone call I had with Foxtel when I cancelled,” writes our streaming snout.

“They have obviously been trained to do anything to keep you on the line and trick you into staying with them, to the point where, after 15 minutes, I had to say: ‘I know you’re just doing your job, but please, I’m begging you,  just cancel my account – this is getting really awkward’.”

Shirley wants you!

Shirley Pipitone, founding president of Open Gardens Canberra, says the newly incorporated group will be opening at least 10 gardens to the public this season, the first later this month.

Open Gardens Canberra has been formed by local garden lovers to fill the gap left when Open Gardens Australia decided suddenly to bury itself earlier this year.

“As a new not-for-profit organisation, Open Gardens Canberra needs members now to cover basic costs such as printing signs to direct visitors to open gardens,” says Shirley.

So, for $25 members will enjoy free entry to all open gardens for a season, while public visitors are up for $8 for each garden.

More information at opengardenscanberra.org.au or contact Shirley on info@opengardenscanberra.org.au

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