Advocacy, Articles & Resources
We hope to build this space into a hub where you can find meaningful, practical, and grounded content. In the coming weeks and months, you will find:
Mental Health Advocacy: Insights and open discussions on living with and recovering from PTSD, burnout, and service-related trauma.
Support Programs & Initiatives: Direct links and spotlights on grass-roots programs, peer-support networks, and wellbeing tools tailored for emergency service workers, defense personnel, and their families.
Need Support Now?
If you or someone you know is struggling, going through a tough time, or in distress, please reach out to one of the trusted support services below. You do not have to carry the weight alone.
⚠️ IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY If you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call 000 for Police, Fire, or Ambulance services straight away.
24/7 Crisis & Specialist Helplines
Lifeline Australia
Call: 13 11 14
Web:lifeline.org.au
Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling
Call: 1800 011 046
Web:openarms.gov.au
Beyond Blue
Call: 1300 224 636
ride to resilience
City of North Vancouver Firefighter and professional mountain biker Steve Vanerhoek stars in this full length feature film by Geoff Livingstone.
What initially started as a film showcasing Steve’s amazing mounting biking skills transformed into documentry about the struggles faced by Steve and other first responders as they navigate trauma and the weight inflicted on them by the job.
In 2017 I was fortunate to be able to participate in an international Firefighter exchange for 12 months with the District of North Vancouver Fire Department.
Set up differently than Australian Fire Services, the City and District were 2 completely separate neighboring departments and while I didn’t ever cross paths with Steve I did respond to many incidents with his department over that 12 month period and worked with many faces within this film.
If your a fan of mountain biking or just adventure sports in general I think you’ll enjoy the action side to the film but it goes a lot deeper. I found it quite heavy in parts and almost hard to watch. It took me a few bites to watch it in full but it was well worth it.
the 2 main messages I took from this film.
Check-in on your mates! simple as that. look for those signs that perhaps they’re not as OK as they say.
Find something that you love to do. What ever that is but studies have shown, participating in healthy, social and vigorous activities can be one of the most effective strategies for achieving good mental health. Hoping to write more about that in future post’s
In the meantime I highly reccomend checking out the full film below. Its a full 2hrs but well worth the watch
Scott
my first post
Welcome to my first post.
When I decided to start my own business after finishing up my career in the fire service I though it’d also be a great way to get some info out there regarding the mental health space. I know there’s lots of information online, we hear it all over social media and we have probably all sat through countless workplace sessions on how to best look after yourself and others, what signs to look for and where to seek help- some of this helpful, some not so.
What can you expect here? Well it’ll be honest, raw, maybe fun and hopefully helpful. I plan to write and journal from the heart, In only my own words. My promise - no AI produced essays, just bad gramma and spelling and sentences that waffle on too long, but it’ll be my words.
I want to share some of my experiences and what I’ve learned from others along the way. I hope to add links to articles and posts that I feel might be helpful and information on support services and activities that I find.
But most of all, this will be a space to help me on my journey and if I can help a few people along the way - well, that’s an added bonus.
Scott
