Hobart’s casino has lit up red, white and blue tonight to celebrate 10 years of Tasmanian mental health charity SPEAK UP Stay ChatTy.
Founder Mitch McPherson says he could “never have envisioned” where Stay ChatTY would be 10 years on from that simple yet significant moment of drawing a sticker.
The Stay ChatTY logo design pays tribute to Mitch’s brother, Ty, who took his life in 2013.
From an original print run of just 1000, almost 90,000 Stay ChatTY stickers are now in circulations on cars, work vehicles and machinery right across the state (and across the country).
A sticker that has sparked a movement – a community reminder to check in on someone you care about.
“The mental health landscape has changed dramatically since 2013 when I lost my little brother,” Mr McPherson said.
“I used to beat down doors to have an organisation let me in to share my story, but as the years went on Stay ChatTY started to received organic requests from every corner of the community asking us to come into their workplace, their school or their club and share in conversation about mental health and suicide prevention,” he said.
On average, Stay ChatTY’s team now share in around 300 sessions – engaging more than 6500 people, every single year”.
