Local News

Nov 30, 2021 Update:

Mood Swing Golf raises over $10,000 for youth mental health!

On Nov 19th, Highland Pacific Golf held their inaugural Mood Swing Golf Fundraiser, to raise money for CMHA Victoria’s mental health youth programs. It was a massively successful event, fundraising over $10,000 (and counting!). CMHA Victoria is very grateful to Highland Pacific Golf and especially to Jeff Palmer (pictured), who is the General Manager, for organizing such an impactful event. Funds raised will go towards CMHA Victoria’s upcoming HEADSTRONG Youth Summit, which you can read more about here.

 

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Fundraiser Details

Name: Mood Swing Golf Invitational

Hosted by: Highland Pacific Golf 

Date: November 19th, 2021

Time: 10:30am – 5:30pm

Location: 450 Creed Rd, Victoria (Highland Pacific Golf course)

Registration: $140 green fee (to register and pay please email jeff@highlandpacificgolf.com)

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We are happy to share the Highland Pacific Golf course will be hosting their 1st Annual Mood Swing Golf event to support CMHA Victoria. They will be hosting rounds of golf, an auction, barbeque, and a short presentation with prizes given away all to help raise funds for local mental health programs and services.

All funds raised will be going towards supporting youth mental health programs, services, and events in the local Victoria area. CMHA Victoria is a proud deliverer of Living Life to the Full for Youth, the HEADSTRONG Anti-Stigma Youth Summit, and the promotion of positive youth mental health resources.

There is a $140 per person fee, which includes the green fee, cart fee, dinner, and prizes. To register, pay, or inquire further please contact Jeff Palmer at jeff@highlandpacificgolf.com.

Victoria-based roller skater Andrea Boyes has joined in a movement to change a roller dance move named crazy legs, to silly legs. Words matter, and the Canadian Mental Health Commission says describing things as crazy perpetuates stigma, and stigma remains the number one reason people don’t seek treatment for mental illness. Boyes is using the hashtag #sillylegs to bring awareness to this on her Instagram page @skaterboyes and is also selling t-shirts designed by fellow Canadian roller skater Michka from @groovecityapparel to raise funds for the Victoria Canadian Mental Health Association.

Boyes was motivated to take action for a few reasons. She was able to overcome stigma and get treated for generalized anxiety disorder which she still manages today with medication. Boyes then attended Royal Roads University for her MA in Professional Communication and focused her research on representations of mental illness in media and how they can contribute to stigma. She learned that words matter, and how choosing other words such as silly instead of crazy can make a difference. This year she took a Canadian Mental Health Commission first aid course at her workplace and was again reminded that using words such as crazy can contribute to stigma and be triggering to those with mental illness. Meanwhile, this move had become her signature roller dance move and she was teaching it to others in Victoria and around the world online.

She knew then she had to do something.

“Based on my own experiences and learnings along the way I had to join the effort to use a different word to describe this move. I will continue to teach my students this move as Silly Legs and also work on taking the word crazy out of my vocabulary when I could use a less stigmatizing word to describe something. If something so simple as a name change will make people with mental illness feel less shame, and also change perspectives, why wouldn’t you do it? I am grateful have an opportunity to use my Instagram platform for good and also raise funds for an organization doing great work for mental health in our community”.

Her roller skate school Roller Skate Victoria has now adopted the name Silly Legs to describe this dance move, and other skaters are joining in. You can get your own #SillyLegs t-shirt here: https://rollerskatevictoria.com/sillylegs-tshirt/

This past winter, Berwick Retirement Communities had seven of their sites raise funds for their local CMHA Branches. It all started when one resident expressed the interest to raise funds for mental health services and programs.

Here in Victoria, we were fortunate to receive funds from Berwick House and Berwick Royal Bay. With these funds, CMHA Victoria will be able to help support services and programs that target older adults and seniors. In total, Berwick Retirement Community raised $1905.50 for the Canadian Mental Health Association. The breakdown of funds to CMHA sites is as follows:

CMHA Port Alberni $713

CMHA Mid Island (Nanaimo) $376

CMHA Kamloops $190

CMHA Victoria $625.50

 

We express our gratitude to Berwick, and wish them a safe and sunny springtime.

You can check out your local Berwick Retirement Community here: https://www.berwickretirement.com/

Find them on Facebook @berwickrc

Find them on Instagram @berwickrc

The Canadian Mental Health Association – Victoria Office invites you to attend our Ride Don’t Hide 2019 Launch Event Tuesday, May 7th

The event will feature local mayors and community leaders riding a multi-person cycling vehicle (called the Rolling Barrel) leaving from Government and Yates at approximately 11:45 am and riding to Government and Pandora to Centennial Square.

Arriving in Centennial Square the delegation will then kick off the 7th annual Ride Don’t Hide 2019 cycling event with an official launch from local community leaders.

Last year’s Ride Don’t Hide had 450 riders and raised more than $122, 000 for local mental health programs.

Photo and interview opportunities are available.

For more information about our event please contact Niki Scarfo @ 778-350-6746 niki.scarfo@cmha.bc.ca or Jocelyn de Montmorency @ 250-514-2717 jocelyn.demontmorency@cmha.bc.ca

Are you ready for Mental Health Week, May 6-12?

It’s the 68th year of this Canadian tradition, and we’ve got what you need to get loud – and clear. Because we’re not just getting loud, we’re getting loud about what mental health really is.

So, what is mental health really? Simply put, it is a state of well-being, and we all have it. We might have a mental illness, and we might not. Either way, we can all feel well. We can all feel good about ourselves, whatever life’s ups and downs.

With the right supports in place, we can be well, stay well and get out in front of illness. They call it “mental health promotion” and it happens in schools, at work, at home and in communities. It’s never too late, or too early, to start promoting mental health.

This year, we’re helping teachers start early! Stay tuned for our Mental Health Week School Toolkit.

This Mental Health Week, we will also be unveiling a new policy paper to help Canada get out in front of mental illness the other 51 weeks of the year.

Be ready to #GetLoud with us, starting May 6. Visit mentalhealthweek.ca.

We are saddened by the loss of mental health champion and former mayor of Oak Bay, Nils Jensen.

Known by many as the heart of the community, Nils Jensen began as a councillor in Oak Bay in 1996, going on to serve two terms as mayor from 2011 to 2018.

Nils was a dear friend to CMHA, participating in our Ride Don’t Hide community bike rides in Victoria for the past four years. In 2016, he joined our call for better mental health and addiction care in BC, endorsing the B4stage4 manifesto with his signature.

We are thankful for his friendship and support for mental health in BC, and know his legacy will live on in the community.

Our hearts go out to his family, friends and community for their loss.