Trys’ Story
Trys left school at 14, following a diagnoses of Agoraphobia and OCD at 12. Dropping out of school proved to be bad for his Mental Health and he became a recluse for 10 years. A chance visit to Australia to see elderly relatives, became a turning point in his fight with mental health issues and gave him the sense of purpose he needed in his life. Going back to the UK, he decided he wanted to emigrate to Australia and so went on a 5 year journey of recovery.
In 2007, he got the opportunity to go back to Australia on a student visa, studying a Diploma in Community Work and then on completion he landed work in Employment Services.
Whilst working in the sector, he rose to become Site Manager of a new site in Rockingham where he worked hard to make the site one of the most successful in the organisation. He was introduced to the MHFA course as part of the company Professional Development Training.
In 2015 he became an accredited MHFA Instructor and in 2016 set up Passionate Lives Pty Ltd. in 2017 and 2018 he was successful in getting grants and worked with the City of Kwinana, Gosnells, Armadale and Cockburn as well as getting grants from WAPHA and Connect Groups. He ran courses for Woodside, Alcoa, Constable Care and Youthcare.
Alliance Against Depression
In 2017 Trys helped to set up the Kwinana AAD, the first of its kind in Australia and based on an initiative that started in Germany. The European Alliance successfully reduced suicidal behaviour by 24% over 2 years and was bought over as a trial by the WA Primary Health Alliance.
The Alliance framework used a 4-pillared approach to reducing suicidal behaviours. These included a Media campaign, Mental Health training, support groups for those at-risk and GP training.
The Launch at Darius Wells saw 80 people across Mental Health professionals, Survivors and Carers come together to workshop ways the Alliance could move forward. People shared their own lived experiences and a small committee was formed.
In 2018, Trys helped set up the Rockingham AAD. This time over 100 people came to the launch at the Ocean Clipper Inn. People shared their lived experiences and stories of suicide loss culminating in a special performance by Constable Care’s TRG performing a short play around isolation.
Since then other AAD’s have flourished in suburbs such as Fremantle, Kalamunda, Busselton and Belmont.
Songs of Hope CD Creation
In 2019, Passionate Lives funded the creation of the Songs of Hope CD. The concept was to identify 10 Singer / Songwriters with lived experiences of Mental Health issues and record an album with the bonus track being a collaberation track. The title of the CD was Shine Again. The launch at Rockingham Centre was covered by the ABC
In 2020 the MHFA Training stopped with the onset of the COVID pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Trys, all too aware of the heightened emotional distress in the community and the armadeddon language coming from the media, wanted to find a way to continue the conversation around Mental Health in a way that was lockdown proof and the concept of IPL Radio was born.
IPL started broadcasting on April 25th 2020 and moved into their new studio in Leghorn Street on the 1st July. The idea behind IPL was to broadcast responsible and evidence based information on Health and Wellbeing without an agenda.
IPL Radio have worked with a number of organizations including the City of Kwinana, Rockingham, Belmont, Fremantle and Mandurah as well as the Australia Day Council, Commonwealth Bank and Volunteering WA
IPL Radio
IPL is to many, a safe space where individuals can be themselves without fear of judgement, grow in confidence and skills and inspire others to follow their dream.