Isaac’s Mayor’s ball raises more than $100k for mental health support in Central Qld

A sellout charity event has been the major fundraiser for more than $300k worth of support for a range of initiatives across the region.

Tricia Hughes, Mayor Anne Baker and Nicole Money at the 2021 Mayor's Charity Ball, Moranbah.

A sellout annual community event has helped raise more than $100,000 to support mental health initiatives across Central Queensland.

The funds were raised at the 2021 Mayor’s Charity Ball under the stars at Moranbah Town Square, a major fundraising event for the Isaac Regional Charity Fund, supporting a range of initiatives including those targeting mental health.

Isaac Regional Council Mayor Anne Baker, the chairman of the fund, said many courageous people from all walks of life were speaking openly of their challenges with mental illness.

“As a region, we continue to face our share of tragedy and adversity in this Covid world we find ourselves in,” she said.

“It is evident from the community to the coalface that there is a willingness to engage in a genuine conversation about our state of mind.

“It is no longer simply a case of harden up, move on or deal with it. It is unhealthy and unsafe to have people shielding their pain, grief, anxiety and fear behind a strained smile or a stiff upper lip.

“We need to talk, support and engage in genuine self-reflection.”

Between 2014 and 2019, the Isaac Regional Charity Fund has raised more than $330,000 for different causes, particularly mental health initiatives.

One of the initiatives included funding a nationally-recognised mental health foundation – headspace – to provide a series of workshops to help bolster teaching staff across Isaac.

Based in Mackay and covering the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac regions, the Youth and Community Engagement Team from headspace Mackay toured Middlemount, Clermont, Dysart, Glenden and Moranbah secondary schools to give a helping hand.

The headspace-hosted sessions focused on giving school staff the essential tools to help students cope with difficult situations.

Mrs Baker said the funds raised from the 2021 event would continue to support mental health initiatives for people of all ages across Isaac.

“We all have a level of responsibility to be aware of our own mental health and that of family members, work mates and community members,” she said.

“Let us all continue to empower the conversation about mental health.”

To find out more about sponsorship or pledge opportunities, email [e-mail] or call the Office of the Mayor on [phone].

The Isaac Regional Charity Fund can receive tax-deductible gifts.

Click here to see more photos from the event.