“I lost one of my closest friends, James ‘Jimmy’ Moore, to suicide several years ago. Jimmy inspired me with his passion for travel and adventure, his love and compassion for all people, and his determination to live each and every day to its fullest. I am an Inspire Ambassador because, like Inspire, I believe all young people should have the chance to turn their dreams into reality, and that no life should ever be wasted.” – Steve Crombie

Steve is an official Ambassador of the Inspire Foundation, an Australian non-profit organisation with a mission to help millions of young people lead happier lives.

By working directly with young people aged 14-25 years, Inspire delivers innovative and practical online programs that prevent youth suicide and improve young people’s mental health and wellbeing. These programs target protective factors known to promote positive mental health, such as reducing stigma, increasing help-seeking, increasing social connectedness and civic engagement.

Two of these programs are Reach Out and ActNow – Reach Out helps young people get through tough times, and ActNow connects young people to issues they care about and provides opportunities for them to create change in their own world, in their own way.

Over the past 11 years, youth suicide rates have declined by 56%, and we believe that our programs have contributed to that decrease. Over the same period, however, the number of young people aged 16-25 experiencing high to very high psychological stress has increased by 60%, with one in five suffering from depression and one in thirty attempting suicide. Most importantly, less than one in three of them seek professional help.

Inspire’s 2020 vision is to make a global contribution to young people’s mental health and wellbeing, with every young Australian knowing, trusting and using Inspire’s programs when they need to.

For more info on Inspire, visit www.inspire.org.au