February Newsletter

Dear Satellite supporters and friends,

We can feel the change of seasons upon us and are taking time to enjoy the last of the warmer summer weather. Welcome to our February newsletter! This past month has seen us welcome new Observers to our Board, announce our partnership with Wellways in the Family and Carer-Led Centres initiative and host a wonderful Music for Mental Health Gig at Mamma Chen’s. We trialled our first Family Camp – read more about that below – and hosted a collage workshop with the wonderful Charli/Luna as facilitator. We also had a burst of ideas about what we want to do with young people from July 2023 to July 2024 in our recent planning meeting. What would you like to see in the Satellite space? What should we do more of? Let us know by emailing hello@satellitefoundation.org.au.

As always – stay connected, be creative and keep well ?

With thanks,
Rose and the Satellite team

We are in Perth This Week!

Our CEO Rose Cuff and our Community Engagement person Georgia Radford are in Perth this week, to participate in the 6th Annual Social and Emotional Wellbeing Forum – Rethinking and reshaping service delivery for an improved mental health sector. Rose is presenting at the Pre-Conference and is also participating in the Panel Discussion. We are thrilled to be representing Satellite on the other side of Australia and are so thankful for the opportunity.

Family and Carer-Led Centres Partnership

A workshop with five young people seated at a wooden desk with a plant in the top left corner

Satellite is super excited to announce that we’ll be working alongside Wellways Australia to co-design two of the eight new Family and Carer-led Centres that are opening across Victoria during 2023!

The opening of these Centres delivers on a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.

The Centres will be led by staff who have lived experience supporting someone with mental health challenges and will provide a warm and welcoming space available to families, carers and supporters of all ages, with no need for a referral.

Read more about the Family and Carer-led Centres here.

Welcome to our new Board Observers

Smiling headshot of Sarah Paterson, Rose Cuff and Hameed Kahn standing in front of a brick wall

Satellite is thrilled to welcome not one but two amazing young people as Observers to our Board for 2023 as we participate for the first time in the wonderful Observership Program!

We formally welcomed Sarah Paterson and Hameed Kahn to Satellite at the launch of the program in the beautiful Great Hall at the NVG in Melbourne on 15 February.

Find out more about Sarah, Hameed and The Observership Program here.

Reflections on our first Family Retreat

This past weekend Satellite successfully ran our very first Family Retreat Pilot at the beautiful Common Ground near Seymour. Bringing together young people and their families from neighbouring regions, we spent a wonderful three days talking together, being creative, immersing ourselves in nature and connecting over shared experiences. A huge thank you to the families who joined us on retreat and everyone who helped to make it happen, including our friends from FaPMI and Family Care. Watch this space for where we take this initiative next!

Big thanks for Joining us at Music for Mental Health!

Thanks so much to our awesome venue Mamma Chen’s, our amazing artists, and all you lovely people who joined us at Music For Mental Health on 3 February. It’s so powerful to be in public spaces, talking about mental health and highlighting the value of art in building strong communities. Now’s the time to keep up the conversation about vulnerability, community and creativity – keep an eye out for more events like this one coming soon!

What’s On This April


(We are jumping a month ahead, as April is jam-packed with workshops, and we don’t want anyone to miss out! Remember to check out our program calendar for more!)

Wednesday 12 April 2023
At Home with Satellite: Finding Balance – Mobiles workshop
Ages 8 -11 approx.
10:00am – 12:00pm via Zoom

Thursday 13 April 2023
At Home with Satellite: Finding Balance – Mobiles workshop
Ages 12 -14 approx.
1:00pm – 3:00pm via Zoom
Find out more about At Home with Satellite here.

Monday 13 April: Intro session
Satellite Connect

Program starts officially on Thursday 27 April 2023 (6 sessions over 6 weeks)
Ages 18 – 25 approx.
6:30 – 7:30pm via Zoom
Find out more about Satellite Connect here

Monday 17 April – Wednesday 19 April
Satellite Camp @ Urban Camp, Melbourne

*Primary school children ages 9 – 12 approx.
Find out more about Satellite Camps here

Create & Connect Workshop in Gippsland!
Saturday 22 April
10:00am – 4:00pm
The VRI, 19 – 20 Queens Parade, Traralgon, 3844
Ages 11 – 14 approx.

AND

Sunday 23 April
10:00am – 4:00pm
The Hub, 27 Dalmahoy Street, Bairnsdale, 3875
Ages 11 – 14 approx.
Find out more about Create & Connect workshops here

Leave us a Review

We would love to read your reviews of Satellite Foundation. If you have time, please do post your review to Google or Facebook. Thank you ?

News from our Friends

International Women’s Day Event at Tandem Carers

Writer, comedian, speaker Catherine Deveny, will be visiting Tandem for breakfast this International Women’s Day!

Catherine is the author of 10 books – including Mental: Everything You Never Knew You Needed to Know About Mental Health. She is bipolar and has managed mental health challenges her entire life – both her own those of loved ones. You must be a member of Tandem to attend this event.

When: 10am-12pm, Thursday 2 March 2023.
Where: Tandem, Wurundjeri Country, 70 Trenerry Crescent, Abbotsford. Find us on Google maps.
Information: https://tandemcarers.org.au/Web/Web/NewsEvents/Events/International-Women-s-Day-breakfast.aspx