Marathon Health’s online education program for people with type 2 diabetes is back in June. The program–Type 2 and You–is a free online education program for people who want to be actively involved in their diabetes management.

The program will be delivered online in two-hour sessions across two weeks, and will be presented by a dietitian and diabetes educator.

headspace Orange together with NSW Health Youth Drug and Alcohol, and Lives Lived Well, will be hosting a series of information sessions focusing on adolescent health and wellbeing over the coming months.  

The first session, held on Tuesday 8 June at Orange High School, will be a Q&A style session on vaping.

Winya Marang – a new diabetes support program by Marathon Health – supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and groups in Wellington NSW to break the intergenerational cycle of type 2 diabetes.

Indigenous Australians are three times more likely to develop diabetes than non-Indigenous Australians and are more likely to experience diabetes-related complications and hospitalisations. Winya Marang aims to change these statistics by providing a whole of family or group, stepped-care service delivery model to address diabetes management within whole families.

Image: Justine Summers (Chief Operations Officer), Ron Charlton (Chief Financial Officer) and Megan Callinan (Chief Executive Officer)

More than 116,000 Australians don’t have a safe or secure place to live – this includes an increasing number of young people and older women; with domestic violence the leading cause of homelessness.

In an effort to raise awareness of this often misunderstood and hidden issue, Megan Callinan, Marathon Health’s CEO, Justine Summers, Chief Operations Officer, and Ron Charlton, Chief Financial Officer, are participating in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout. 

Image: Todd, Marr  Amy Mines and Candice Edwards from headspace Dubbo

This June, our headspace centres are encouraging the local community to push for better mental health by completing 3,318 push ups in 25 days.

Free to register, participants will take on 3,318 push ups from 1–25 June, to highlight the tragic number of lives lost to suicide in 2019 as well as raising vital funds for critical mental health support services.

Image: local young people and Indigenous artist Sandon-Gibbs O’Neil from Burruguu Art painting the mural

In recognition of Reconciliation Week, headspace Orange are unveiling their new mural – painted on the centre by local Indigenous artist Sandon-Gibbs O’Neil from Burruguu Art.

Over 75 students from five local schools helped Mr O’Neil paint the mural, as part of an initiative to promote community and connection through artwork. Jessica Gostelow, headspace Orange Senior Youth Care Coordinator, said it’s important to create a safe place to explore identity. 

Image: Jess Brown (General Manager – Strategy and Growth) and Julie Cullenward (Practice Lead – Allied Health) at Parliamentary Inquiry

Jessica Brown's opening statement on behalf of Marathon Health, to the  parliamentary inquiry into health outcomes and access to health and hospital services in rural, regional and remote NSW:

"Committee members,

Thank you for inviting us to expand on our submission to your inquiry. Marathon Health is a regionally based not-for-profit organisation working in western NSW, the Murrumbidgee and the south east. We are passionate advocates for equal access to quality health services for people, wherever they choose to live.

Image: Isobelle Strickland, headspace Bathurst Community Engagement Officer and Abbie, member of headspace Bathurst's LGBTIQA+ social group Skittles

75% of LGBTIQA+ youth in Australia still experience homophobic abuse, resulting in significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety and self-harm, with these experiences being significantly worse for young people in regional and rural areas of Australia.

A recent report by Queer Out Here interviewed young people in regional and rural areas of Australia and found that country LGBTQIA+ youth face less acceptance within the communities, isolation and lack of education around different sexualities.