“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”

And it was with this evocative imagery that Albury-Wodonga headspace manager Karina Kerr captured the heart of the youth organisation’s focus during a community forum on Wednesday.

The headspace team delivered a comprehensive “report card” to more than 60 people at the Albury Entertainment Centre. 

The three-hour session provided a snapshot of the young people who walk through its doors seeking help:

Perhaps not surprisingly, we learn 68.1 per cent present with mental health issues including depression and anxiety.

Problems with relationships, school and work are the next areas of importance.

Only 3 per cent of young people present with alcohol or other drug issues.

Overwhelmingly, young people describe “problems with how I feel” as the main reason for visiting headspace in the first place.

But Ms Kerr was quick to point out that mental health is just one, admittedly large, piece of the jigsaw.

She says it is through headspace’s four pillars of health that an “entire picture” of a young person’s life can be built:

With 60 active service providers on board, Ms Kerr says the focus is on early intervention, skills-building and empowering young people to seek help before a crisis hits.

That’s particularly important given 75 per cent of mental health problems emerge before the age of 25 years, the forum heard.

“We resource them, support them and sit back and watch them grow,” she says.

Everyone knows it’s not as simple as that.

That’s why headspace was keen to seek feedback from everyone attending the forum, which included representatives from councils, drug and alcohol services, child and adolesment mental health, Aboriginal support services, homelessness support agencies and employment providers.

​Conspicuously absent from Wednesday’s discussions was the voice of schools.

There are 63 primary schools, 30 secondary schools and more than 27,000 young people in the Albury, Wodonga, Greater Hume, Federation, Wangaratta, Indigo and Towong regions.

Not one student, teacher or staff member attended the event despite all schools receiving invitations.

That alone raises alarm bells about the need for greater awareness-raising and engagement with schools.

Focus groups made the point that mental first aid needs to be seen as equally important as physical first aid – in the classroom and the curriculum.

A telling example was the story of headspace posters “only” displayed in wellbeing units instead of “plastered everywhere” around the school environment.

Making headspace quite literally a household name is the catch-cry for future campaigns.

Together with GPs and other medical practioners, school teachers, counsellors and year co-ordinators need to have headspace more at the forefront of their minds when directing youth to help.

In the past year, the community development worker has presented in 21 schools and conducted 37 community events.

All agree the reach needs to be far greater.

Together with the efforts and enthusiasm of Youth Reference Group members, moves are afoot to enhance headspace’s presence in the community.

The YRG has already helped with events including The Big Shout anti-bullying campaign, headspace anniversary celebrations and an Albury-Wodonga Football Association Mental Health round. 

However for all the successes to date, the report card reveals “gaps” in the picture.

Accessibility is a critical stumbling block.

The fact 52.49 per cent of clients come from Wodonga and a negligible number from towns beyond Albury highlights location is a major barrier to seeking help.

Discussions have begun in earnest around solutions including the possibility of a dedicated bus service, pop-ups in outlying towns and a shop front in Albury.

Ideas and initiatives take money.

Thankfully, this community has embraced fundraising for the youth centre they campaigned long and hard to get here.

In the past year alone, headspace has received nearly $45,000 in donations.

Seriously fun events like The Big Splash do as much to reduce the stigma around mental health as they do to raise money.

That generosity has seen real benefits on the floor at headspace including two additional staff employed for 12 months and group projects run from The Hive Lavington.

Perhaps if you asked young people themselves about the support that stands out the most, their answer might surprise you ...

It may well lie in five very odd-shaped chairs guaranteed to soothe troubled souls.