Business executive helps men build resilience

Passionate. Selfless. Dedicated

Business executive Bryan Coleman knows through experience that many men suffer mental illness in silence, not knowing how to speak about their anguish or how to seek help.

That’s why he and other volunteers set up the Banksia Project, a preventative organisation that provides a free, safe and supportive peer environment in which men can speak about their stress, anxiety and depression before they hit a crisis point.

“We aim to educate and provide skills that will empower an individual to manage their mental health and build resilience, on a general day-to-day basis,” says Bryan.

He says being voted as a Westfield Local Hero is a special experience. “It means so much to have the community recognise how important making mental health a priority for men is.”

The program operates in both metropolitan and rural areas and has reached thousands of men since it was launched. It offers two primary interventions: Garden Rooms and Growth Rooms.

Garden Rooms offer inspiring talks by business leaders and others who have overcome adversity. Growth Rooms provide a safe facilitator-led space for small groups of men to come together once a month to discuss their challenges and triumphs.

The project provides modules designed by clinical professionals which explain practical skills men can use to improve their health and wellness. This covers exercise, diet, hygiene, sleep, meditation, cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness.

Bryan and his colleagues chose the Banksia as a symbol because it is native to Australia, and Indigenous people used its sweet nectar for essential energy to survive. The Banksia has also withstood the ravages of bushfires, re-growing and thriving on scorched earth.

Westfield Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities, with the three top finalists per Westfield centre each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organisation. The project will use its grant to train sixty additional facilitators, who will lead thirty Growth Rooms and support an additional three-hundred men a month.

“Our growth rooms are designed so they can safely run in perpetuity. Mates supporting mates is at the heart of what we do,” says Bryan.

__For further information on the Westfield Local Heroes program, click here. __