Mental Health was the focus for the Grafton Chamber of Commerce July breakfast meeting, which was held on Wednesday last week at the Clocktower Hotel. Guest speakers at the meeting were Skye Sear, General Manager of the New School of Arts Neighbourhood Centre at South Grafton and Samantha Osborne from the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program [RAMHP]. Ms Sear gave a rundown of the services that the neighbourhood centres provide and what they do. Ms Sear told the meeting that with the significant spike in self harm and suicide in the area in recent times, a strong focus has been put on mental health issues. “Our key objectives are prevention and early intervention; not waiting until there is a crisis,” said Ms Sear. “We are hoping that the new ‘pop up’ [drop in] sites [to be set up around Grafton] along with training, workshops and conversations, will assist with early intervention.” RAMHP coordinator Ms Osborne gave an overview of the partnership between other local support agencies, to help facilitate better mental health outcomes by linking people in rural areas, to care. Ms Osborne encouraged more people to get involved in the many courses that were available, to gain knowledge and skills to assist in mental health issues within our community.