Behind The Seen

PLEASE HELP! When we started Behind The Seen (BTS) 3 years ago, we didn’t set out to simply run a few sessions with emergency services crews and their family members. Our vision was, and still is on a broader scale. 

We made a commitment to being a voice for front line emergency services personnel and their families specifically in the area of mental health and suicide prevention. That voice needs to extend to the public, to the mental health and suicide prevention sectors, to the academic world, and to emergency services organisations. Without awareness being raised in those sectors in addition to the small group sessions, change will not happen. 

We've stuck to our commitment, but it's happening at a personal cost to us. We don't mind giving our time for free - but some of the financial expenses have become too much for us to cover.  So this campaign is specifically to assist us with CONFERENCE AND SEMINAR EXPENSES. These are conferences and seminars which relate to the mental health and suicide prevention of emergency services responders. 

We have put in the work in our own time to submit proposals to present at relevant conferences, and have been successfully accepted as presenters, but we can no longer afford to cover the expenses associated with these sorts of presentations. 

Below are some of the questions we thought you might ask. If there are any questions you feel we haven't answered here, please send us an email on [email protected].

Thank you for your support!

Cheers

Rossco & Ronnie

WHAT ARE SOME OF  THE THINGS YOU'VE BEEN ACHIEVING?

Some key achievements:

• Winner of the 2015 ThMHS Award given in recognition of the achievement of excellence, innovation and best practice in Mental Health Service
• 2016 partnership between Behind The Seen, WA Department of Fire and Emergency Service and Black Dog Institute to research the efficacy of the face to face to sessions.
• Speakers at the Western Australian Fire and Emergency Services Conference 2014 delivering two sessions, 1 Basic, 1 Family. (collaboration with DFES Wellness Department)
• Speakers at the National Suicide Prevention Conference Hobart 2015
• Speakers at the Australia New Zealand TheMHS conference Canberra 2015
• Speakers at the National Mens Health Gathering NSW 2015
• Awarded Fire Awareness Special Incentive Award to bring Behind the Seen to Victoria in 2016
• Sponsored by Central Queensland University School of Medical and Applied Science and School of Human and Health Services twice in 2015: to present to paramedics students at CQU Rockhampton and to present an emergency services and mental health event on the Central Coast of NSW.
• Presented to the Australasian Paramedics Students Association
• Accreditation of the session as Continuing Professional Development by the Australian Association of Social Workers
• Over 40 group sessions have been presented to emergency services personnel and families in NSW, QLD and WA with additional requests nationwide. 

YOU’RE ONE OF THE PRESENTERS, DON’T YOU GET PAID FOR THAT?

No. Non-profit organisations generally run these conferences, so they need to recoup all associated costs. Despite there being an application/selection procedure which always involves writing an ‘abstract’ about what you’re intending to present, selected speakers at these sorts of conferences still have to pay registration fees. These fees range anywhere from $900 to $1500 per person depending on the conference. Additionally all travel and accommodation costs are also the responsibility of the presenters.

DON’T THEY HAVE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THESE EVENTS?

Some of the conferences offer ‘bursaries’ where some of the costs, e.g. registration fees are covered.  For example, Suicide Prevention Australia assisted us last year with flights to Hobart and covered the registration fees. Unfortunately bursary funds are generally low, and demand exceeds available funds, so this kind of support can never be expected on an annual or ongoing basis.

SEEMS EXPENSIVE FOR YOU TO JUST DELIVER ONE PRESENTATION, WHY DO IT?

Conferences are not just a place for us to deliver information about emergency services mental health. Conferences are also a the best place for finding out about current programs and research, a highly effective way to network and instigate collaborations with like-minded individuals, groups and organisations.

SO HOW DO SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE AFFORD TO GO TO CONFERENCES?

Others generally attend these sorts of conferences in their work time, therefore their employer pays for their time and all associated expenses. As BTS is comprised of only two individuals we endeavour to partake in these conferences in our own time for the benefit of our organisation, in the hopes we may continue to increase our impact and reach.

CAN’T YOU GET A GRANT?

We’ve received some small grants to cover the costs of some of the sessions we’ve delivered – for example ‘Iris Foundation for Suicide Prevention’ have sponsored numerous Central Coast sessions. We can’t have our networking and national speaking engagements impacting finances allocated to group sessions.

CAN I GET A RECEIPT TO CLAIM A TAX DEDUCTION FOR ANY CONTRIBUTION I MAKE?

We are not a registered charity so you will not be able to claim a contribution here as a donation. If you wish to donate a significant amount for which you do need a tax receipt, then please contact us to discuss this further. P.S. The reason we are not a registered charity is lack of time – our focus is on maintaining the traction we currently have with the sessions and working on the research project with Black Dog Institute. We do have several working partnerships with charities who auspice some of our work.

Funds raised in this campaign will go towards covering costs associated with attending conferences and seminars as speakers including conference registration fees, travel and accomodation.

If we reach our goal, this will allow us to attend at least one of the conferences for which we have already been accepted as presenters. The next one we are exceptionally keen to attend is the Suicide Prevention Australia National Conference in Canberra in July. Anything over the goal will go towards the annual TheMHS conference for which we have also already been accepted as presenters - this conference is in New Zealand at the end of August.