Star trio Blaire Evans, Greg Hire and Scott Griffiths in Pilbara for mental health yarn with local kids

An Olympian, a hip hop star and a basketballer travelled to the Pilbara to talk to children in Wickham and Karratha about the importance of mental health awareness.

Two-time Olympian Blaire Evans, Downsyde’s Scott Griffiths and former Wildcats vice captain Greg Hire visited Karratha and Wickham as part of a four-day visit that began on November 3.

The visit by the members of charity group A Stitch in Time was aimed at promoting the importance and practice of self-care, encouraging support-seeking behaviour and resourcing and steps towards positive changes in well-being.

As part of the trip, the trio visited schools in the region and held basketball skills clinics at the local youth centre, the Youth Shed.

A Stitch in Time founder Greg Hire said he had been privileged to have had a connection to Karratha and the surrounding communities at Roebourne and Wickham since his time at the Perth Wildcats.

“Now retired and heavily focused in the mental health space and really specifically targeting the youth sector, there was opportunity to partner with like-minded organisations such as City of Karratha, Northern Spirit Basketball and FMG that are trying to make an impact in that space,” he said.

“So obviously just that connection allowed us to come up here and have a different lens when we’re talking about mental health education or resilience and all those sort of nice things.”

Hire said the skills clinics the group put on during their visit were focused on having fun and encouraging the kids to play.

“For a kid that may have been scared to touch a basketball, if they can come on the court that’s a win for me,” he said.

As part of the visit, the trio spoke to schoolchildren about mental health challenges and their own experiences of facing them.

“Mental health is unique, it’s exposed to individuals of all different personalities, backgrounds, beliefs,” Hire said.

“So we are a bit different in our approach where we’ve got role models whether it’s an Olympian like Blaire Evans, or a renowned hip hop artist like Scott Griffiths or an athlete like myself.

“We share lived experience of the ability of preaching evidence-based approach, right. For us, it’s just trying to normalise conversation around mental health.”