Young people of Live4Life lead the way in National Volunteer Week 19–25 May
Image description - Screenshots from Crew4Life’s National Volunteer Week video
Young mental health volunteers in Live4Life ‘Crew’ and ‘Crew4Life’ programs are celebrating National Volunteer Week 2025 as outstanding examples of the power of volunteering to bring people together — and in particular this year’s theme ‘Connecting Communities’.
Fresh off nominations in the 7News Young Achiever Awards this month as finalists in the ‘Group Achievement in the Community’ and ‘Connecting Communities’ categories, young volunteers in the 12 Live4Life Crews and members of the alumni group Crew4Life are leading a packed program of mental health awareness activities in Victoria and Tasmania.
Crews in the shires of Ballarat, Baw Baw, Benalla, Central Goldfields, Glenelg, Hepburn, Latrobe, Macedon Ranges, Southern Grampians, South Gippsland, Wellington and Break O’Day, Tasmania have had a busy year already, devising and planning a range of mental health activities, as well as launching their themes for the year.
At their induction in March, Break O’Day Crew member Lachlan spoke about the satisfaction of volunteering: “It’s good to be able to help others with mental health problems and if they are struggling,”
Members of Crew4Life are releasing videos encouraging young people to embrace the achievements, rewards and community connection of volunteering (video 1 here and video 2 here). Crew4Life members represent the voices of young people themselves and have delivered numerous presentations this year in communities, at fundraising events and recently at the TheMHS Forum in Sydney in April.
The role of these young people in their communities has never been more needed. The annual prevalence of mental ill health in young people aged 16–24 years has increased by more than 50% in the last 15 years. 75% of people with mental ill health have their first episode during adolescence. Suicide is the leading cause of death in young Australians — and the suicide rate is more than 50% higher in rural and regional communities.
“Community participation and social connectedness are critical protective factors for young people in rural areas. By volunteering in our programs, young people gain immense benefits, positively impacting their mental health and creating lasting friendships.” Live4Life Deputy CEO and Director of Strategy and Impact, Jeremy Wiggins
Live4Life is an award-winning youth mental health and suicide prevention initiative centred on young people themselves. It is the only model of its kind designed specifically to bring rural and regional communities together, delivering evidence-based mental health education in schools and the wider community, and relying on young volunteers in Years 9 and 10 to lead as Mental Health Ambassadors.
In 2024, through Live4Life, over 8,900 young people living in rural and regional communities received evidence-based mental health education — improving their mental health literacy and ability to offer and seek help, while reducing stigma. The total number of young people reached since Live4Life began in 2010 is now 29,991. Last year, 289 young people joined Live4Life Crews and were trained and mentored to support their peers as Mental Health Ambassadors. In total, 1,452 young people have joined a Live4Life Crew.
In 2025, all across regional Victoria (and now in Tasmania too) a new cohort of Crew volunteers from more than 70 secondary schools are undertaking a yearly program of events and activities to improve understanding of mental health among their peers and in their communities. The Live4LIfe program not only brings together student volunteers from different schools, it connects communities more broadly with partnerships between those schools, local organisations and government to involve everyone in conversations about improving youth mental health and reducing suicide.
Over 40 former Crew members have gone on as older teens or young adults to volunteer in Crew4Life in 2025. Crew4Life is a community of young people passionate about mental health who use the advocacy and leadership skills they have developed in the Live4Life program to drive change — further expanding their expertise as young Mental Health Ambassadors, supporting community Crew events and activities, and participating in training, storytelling and mentorship programs.
"We don’t have access to the same mental health advice and info that a lot of city kids do. It’s important to bring that into regional communities and find a place for it and involve everyone, as there’s no way to improve mental health without us fighting the stigma and reassuring people that it’s completely normal and okay to face these things — but you need to face them with other people." Crew4Life member Bella