YOU sense the promise of the place before you even walk through the doors.

A great splash of lime green panelling stands as a vivid signpost along the corridor that leads to the Border’s newest health centre for young people.

Make your way through the purple-hued doors and behold a space filled with colour, curves and a curious assortment of furniture and finishes.

Jigsaw-shaped ottomans in bright blue, yellow, green and orange sit invitingly, ready to be rearranged about the room.

Carved wood panels offer discreet screening while a trail of paper butterflies wends its way across the walls.

The wings flutter in the gentle breeze of the air-conditioning, poised as if to take flight.

Carried on those wings are the messages of hope, love and support that helped make this dream a reality.

This place represents a community united in a shared vision for a better future for our young people.

Welcome to headspace Albury-Wodonga.

And come Monday it’s open for business at the Gateway Health building in High Street, Wodonga.

It’s clear from the moment you walk through the doors this is no run-of-the-mill support service.

In the weeks leading up to Monday’s opening, headspace Albury-Wodonga manager Bek Nash-Webster could barely contain her excitement.

Such is her enthusiasm for what lies ahead.

At the same time Bek is keenly aware of the “huge expectations” that come with the arrival of a headspace on the Border.

“We are exceptionally aware of that — and we hope we’ve met those expectations,” she says.

“We’re not open yet so it’s a bit hard to judge…”

Bek’s first wish is that people will just come and check it all out.

“Come and visit us and see what’s it’s like,” she says.

“We wanted to create a place that’s inviting and that’s respectful to young people.”

Glancing around at the funky furnishings, discreetly screened consulting rooms, wide welcoming reception area and the bright, cheery colours, one can’t help but feel optimistic.

And as we settle down into comfy chairs in one of the six consulting rooms to talk about the realisation of a 10-month community campaign, Bek’s enthusiasm is infectious.

She explains that one of the key roles of headspace is to break down the barriers that make it hard for young people to get help.

In a survey of 98 disengaged young people from refuges and schools in the local area, one of the key themes to emerge when these youth were asked what they wanted from headspace was ease of access to services and support.

“They said make it easy for us to be here,” Bek says.

But what exactly is here? What can headspace do for young people?

Bek is quick to clarify that headspace is not just about mental health.

It is based on four pillars that address the health and wellbeing of young people aged 12 to 25 years.

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Those pillars include general health and wellbeing; mental health; alcohol and other drugs; and education, employment and training.

Within those pillars, headspace aims to provide a safe and confidential environment for young people and their families to access counselling, GPs or support to enter the workforce with skills like resume writing or interview techniques.

“It’s around how do we actually connect young people with services in our community so they can receive the best help possible,” Bek says.

“We are not the end service and don’t intend to be.”

Bek makes it quite clear that the young people who walk through these doors are the first priority.

What their specific needs are and where they need help most will emerge in the coming weeks and months.

“Honestly we don’t know who is going to walk through the door or for what issue,” Bek says.

“What we have been able to demonstrate as a community is that there is a huge need for headspace and we need to be as prepared as possible.”

There are many reasons a young person might visit headspace.

It can be family or relationship issues, not coping at school, work or uni, or just a feeling that “something’s not quite right”.

There is support for young people to get help with drinking and drug use, anger management, grief and loss, and depression and anxiety.

“What we know is that if young people feel safe, we can increase their self-help seeking in the community,” Bek says.

Helping deliver on this mandate is a hand-picked team whose backgrounds are as vast and varied as the community they represent, according to Bek, a social worker by trade.

“I have a strong vision for headspace Albury-Wodonga and strong expectations,” she says.

“In our team members I was looking for everything — a go-getter, someone with enthusiastic charm, who is dedicated to this cause and who will go that extra mile.

“Someone who actually cares about young people.”

These are the people charged with the task of smoothing the pathway to getting help, of making it easy when a young person walks through the door.

This takes the shape of two youth access workers, four intake workers and care co-ordinators who ensure a young person doesn’t have to tell their story over and over and over again.

“When a young person walks in, there is an initial needs identification, where we ask them what’s going on,” Bek explains.

“We try to be as brief as possible then we can help co-ordinate services from there.

“A young person may come in and just say everything sucks; I hate school, I hate my family...

“Staff are trained to work through the ‘crap that’s going on’ and help link them to appropriate services, and also work on strengthening support at school and home.

“If a young person is already linked to an existing service and they need further support or other services, we can do that too.”

And while Bek is quick to clarify maintaining privacy and confidentiality is paramount, she says headspace strongly encourages family support and connection.

“We know you can work with a young person until the cows come home but unless there is the support at home, it can be difficult,” she says.

That’s why making headspace a household name in the community is integral to its success.

Getting the headspace brand seen and heard is the role of community development worker Megan McGregor, who will work with local schools and develop community links.

Bek says schools are “very excited” about the arrival of headspace in their midst.

“We have been asked by many local schools to have a conversation with them about support systems available,” she says.

“Headspace national office has specific school support programs including a nationally co-ordinated post-vention suicide program.

“They can go into local schools and assist them with action planning and response training around suicide within the school community.”

Bek says this is one of the many reasons why it is vital headspace is strongly connected to schools.

“One thing we have already heard from our young people is that if there is a suicide or attempted suicide then often services go quiet,” she says.

“It’s really important that headspace Albury Wodonga has a clear action and communication plan about what it is we can do if there was a suicide or attempted to suicide.”

Keeping the lines of communication open with young people in the community is a top priority.

As part of this, a youth reference group run by the community support worker will help guide the direction of headspace Albury Wodonga.

“It’s not about old people saying what young people should be doing,” Bek says.

“The group will help us design programs, they will put on their headspace T-shirts and go out and tell everyone about us.”

Having said that, you don’t need an invitation to visit headspace and you don’t need to book an appointment.

“We have a very strong open door philosophy,” Bek says.

However she is also keen to point out that headspace is not a hang-out space.

“This is a support service — we don’t have beanbags for a reason,” she says.

“But we do want it to be inviting and we do want young people to come and check out the space and the services that are available from our affiliates.”

The services affiliated with headspace Albury Wodonga form part of a consortium charged with the task of delivering on the headspace promise.

They includes North East Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, Youth Emergency Services (YES), Albury-Wodonga Aboriginal Community Health, Junction and Medicare Local.

“Our consortium is very engaged with the process,” Bek says.

“They want this to work. 

“They have committed to providing their service from headspace one day a week and they have indicated they will be extremely flexible to fit our needs.”

The capacity to be flexible is one of the great strengths of headspace, according to Bek.

“Every headspace is different; there is not a one-size fits all, flat pack,” she says.

“They all look different and offer different services based on the consortium and who’s involved.”

Bek says headspace Albury-Wodonga will be tailored to fit the needs of its community.

“We currently have five GPs on standby at the clinic,” she says. 

“If we find we need 10 more GPs, I’ll get 10 more.

“At this stage we are opening 9am to 5pm weekdays but if young people aren’t coming in until 4 in the afternoon then why are we closing at 5?”

For now it’s a case of suck it and see.

“The reason why is we don’t know what our young people will need, what we do know is we need something, Bek says.

“The community campaigned exceptionally hard for this headspace so let’s see how we can make this work best for our community.

“And we will make it work.”

Clearly Bek expects to be very busy come Monday.

“I’ve envisaged in my head it’s going to be like one of those Myer Boxing Day sales where people come crushing through the door trampling me,” she laughs.

“Obviously I don’t want it to be like that but we have been speaking about the need for this for such a long time that I am envisaging a stampede.”

Ultimately, though, Bek says it will be the young people of this community who will direct what happens.

“I don’t run this service, I just picked the chairs,” she laughs.

“Oh, and p.s. they’re pretty cool!”