YRG Projects

 2025 Project – “Looking Forward” Zine 

The 2025 project, Looking Forward, is a youth-designed Zine created by the headspace Echuca YRG. This project celebrates creativity, resilience, and identity through art, writing, and storytelling contributed by young people across the Campaspe region. The Zine centres on “looking forward” after years of floods, COVID-19 impacts, and community recovery.

To produce a youth-led, community-driven Zine that showcases local talent and amplifies the voices of young people. The project aims to highlight themes of hope, identity, culture, and future aspirations while providing young people with a safe platform to express themselves and feel represented.

The Zine has now been published and distributed across schools, services, and community organisations. It has strengthened youth visibility in the region, celebrated creative expression, and expanded the impact of the YRG’s ongoing advocacy work.

If you would like a copy of the Zine, you can grab one from the headspace table at community events, drop into the centre, or contact headspace Echuca to organise a copy.

Acknowledgement
This project was supported by the Campaspe Shire Council through the Youth GO! Grant program, with funding from the Victorian State Government’s Engage! program. We also acknowledge the support of the Campaspe Youth Action Group in making this project possible.

 2024 Project – Positive Postcard Project

 In 2024, the YRG created the Positive Postcard Project a peer-to-peer initiative designed to bring hope, comfort, and encouragement to young people beginning their mental-health journey at headspace Echuca. The project connects lived experience to remind new clients that they are not alone.

 The object is to invite young people finishing their journey at headspace Echuca to write a short, uplifting message that would be passed on to someone just starting out. These messages acknowledge the fears, nerves, and uncertainty that often accompany a first appointment, while offering reassurance from someone who has already taken those steps toward support.

 The project strengthened connection, hope, and a sense of shared experience within the centre. Young people felt empowered by supporting someone else’s journey, and new clients shared that receiving a postcard eased their anxiety and gave them a sense of hope.

2023 Project – Street Library

In 2023, the headspace Echuca YRG launched the Street Library project to promote community connection, creativity, and literacy among young people. The idea was simple but powerful: create a free, accessible space where anyone can “take a book, give a book, share a book,” reducing barriers to reading and strengthening community trust.

 The objective is to build an inviting, youth-friendly Street Library that encourages reading, sharing, and connection by providing young people and community members with a safe and accessible space to exchange books. The project aimed to foster belonging, reduce social isolation, and brighten the everyday experience of visitors to headspace Echuca.

 The Street Library became a vibrant part of the centre’s outdoor space, regularly used by young people, families, and the broader community. It created a low-pressure way for visitors to engage with headspace Echuca and strengthened the YRG’s role in shaping inclusive, youth-led community initiatives.