This week's episode brings our bush-baked conversations tour to a close. For this ep we wrangled locals Pete Sinclair and Joe Briggs to kick off conversations with john. Our speakers come in with their hearts on their sleeve as they delve into struggles with addiction and how adopting good habits and the support of loved ones, helped foster a positive path forward. Pete encourages us to not ever have empty hands; ensure you fill your life with something and don't let it be empty. Our mate Chris reinforces the idea to not dwell on what's in the rearview mirror and to keep trucking on forward and kicking up the dust. We also go into the importance of paying this support forward - accepting help is just as important as passing that help onto another when you can see them struggling. In helping others, we help ourselves. We are grateful to all that came along and contributed to the conversation, chiming in and relaying their own experiences as they related to the speakers.

A big shout out to John Harper for putting his heart and soul into this important work and getting us on the road. Thank you again to The Department of Primary Industries and their Farm Business Resilience Program who have gotten behind the podcast.

We are stoked to bring you this episode and look forward to hearing your thoughts!

****The advice in this podcast is of a general nature, and not an excuse for not seeing your GP or medical professional. There’s some handy links over at the Mate helping Mate website to learn more about resources you can access. If you need to talk to someone right now give Lifeline a call on 13 11 14.

Our second recording out in the Temora Shire saw John joined by “old farts” as he calls them, but also old pals Fiona Raleigh, Andrew Lockley and Ron Stimson. It was great to welcome other local voices who took a seat in the audience and contributed their thoughts too. The chats honed in on the differing perspectives of oldies (Old Farts) versus youngens (Young Pups) and what may be learned through these differences, the benefits of a more open mental health dialogue today and how life for rural people has changed and why connection and community is more important than ever.

A big shout out to John Harper for putting his heart and soul into this important work and getting us on the road. Thank you again to The Department of Primary Industries and their Farm Business Resilience Program who have gotten behind the podcast.

We are stoked to bring you this episode and look forward to hearing your thoughts!

****The advice in this podcast is of a general nature, and not an excuse for not seeing your GP or medical professional. There’s some handy links over at the Mate helping Mate website to learn more about resources you can access. If you need to talk to someone right now give Lifeline a call on 13 11 14.

This episode of Mate Helping Mate found us in the village of Springdale, NSW. John was joined by “young pups”, agronomist Emma Robinson, and farmers Ben Kotzer and Michael Sinclair, along with a few locals who came along to listen in and be part of the chat. Folks took the mic to offer their personal perspectives about growing up, what wisdom we gain from our childhood and the positive changes we need to ensure the next generation is a more prepared to action these strategies addressing mental health and wellbeing - that you don't just pull your socks up, you need to talk to acknowledge the problem. Themes that came to the surface related to coping with intergenerational trauma and how the nature of farming has changed.

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A big shout out to John Harper for putting his heart and soul into this important work and getting us on the road. Thank you again to The Department of Primary Industries and their Farm Business Resilience Program who have gotten behind the podcast.

We are stoked to bring you this episode and look forward to hearing your thoughts!

****The advice in this podcast is of a general nature, and not an excuse for not seeing your GP or medical professional. There’s some handy links over at the Mate helping Mate website to learn more about resources you can access. If you need to talk to someone right now give Lifeline a call on 13 11 14.