Youths Champs for Mental Health is the only youth group in Fiji that has taken a bold stand to promote mental health issues among the young generation.
YC4MH spokesperson Sailosi Toganivalu said youths were most vulnerable to mental health issues.
"We feel that a most effective way of reaching out and educating young people is by using young people themselves as educators, a 'youth for youth' approach. "Young people relate best to their peers and know how best to encourage them.
"The Champs are a passionate and dynamic group drawn from other youth and cultural affiliations who constantly think 'outside of the box'. They are multi-talented and use their creative abilities to develop effective ways of disseminating messages about mental health," he said.
The group grew out of a national youth forum on the creation of a National Suicide Prevention policy in February last year and has inspired hundreds of youths around the country to change their attitude and behaviour for their own good health and for the betterment of the community.
It has worked with a number of government, private and non government organisations to promote what it believes in.
Mr Toganivalu said establishing YC4MH has been a rewarding and humbling experience.
"We see some of the impact that we have made when young people come back to us and say how they have taken what we have provided and used it positively in their own lives.
"They see the importance of making a positive impact in their communities and they see how self-empowering and fun it can be through a creative approach," he said.
