An initiative by two of Armidale Regional Council’s USU members to address the elephant in the room at some workplaces across Council, mental health.
Pictured above: Daniel Allen TradeMutt, Armidale Regional Council GM, James Roncon USU member, Josh Dederick USU member, Jerome Simpson USU member, and Ed Ross TradeMutt.
Josh Dederick and Jerome Simpson thought that this would be a great idea to enlighten the awareness of mental health issues here at Council, so Josh and Jerome put their idea of having workwear, that stood out to get people inquisitive, to Annie Harris, People & Culture Manager and James Roncon, General Manager. Annie and James thought it was a great idea, throwing both Council’s and their support behind it.
The idea for TradeMutt was born out of a personal tragedy when one of Daniel’s best mates took his own life. Following that tragedy the lads launched TradeMutt and so the idea of showing support and help in the workplace took off.
Well, it didn’t fall together like that in the first place but Daniel and Ed weren’t giving up and their persistence paid off. Following the success of the shirts Daniel and Ed founded TIACS a professional mental health chat, text and callback service provided for free same person counselling to the Australian Blue-Collar Community.
Although we are not trained Counsellors this is a way of showing that we are there to share a conversation and to be able to direct someone to help if required with the QR code on the shirts. The QR code means that anyone wearing a shirt has professional backup close at hand, so they can feel a bit more confident in having a chat and supporting people.
TradeMutt shirts are designed to be a light-hearted, colourful approach to an otherwise dark conversation.
Conversations about mental health don’t need to feel scary. These shirts are a simple icebreaker to help two people connect and relate to each other about the challenges we all experience day to day.
That’s why every shirt says, “This Is A Conversation Starter” across the back, because that’s exactly what they’re designed to do.”
All staff at Armidale Regional Council, both indoor and outdoor, have been issued with at least one shirt, support for wearing the shirts has been big and the message is now out there following the BBQ launch to all staff.
