By Emily-Rose Toohey
A community consultation event took place at STARS last week to expand the centre’s programs designed to assist with mental health in the Granite Belt region.
STARS, which stands for Stanthorpe Therapeutic Arts and Recovery Space, is an NGO that has been active for 18 months and strives to deliver artistic programs and support through art therapy.
STARS’ Trevor Horsnell said the goal of the community consultation was to find out what the community wants.
“How are we able to provide a service if we don’t know what the people would like to participate in?” Trevor said.
“Our vision is to provide a platform for community members to learn, create, and grow in a holistic, non-judgemental space.
“We seek to offer collaborative community programs, creative art workshops, an interactive youth space, and a community gallery space and exhibition program.”
Furthermore, STARS’ Rachel Whieldon said the organisation has been conducting a survey to see what types of issues are most pressing in the community that need to be addressed, including support for domestic and family violence.
“There’s a lot of need in the community,” Rachel said.
Of the people in attendance last Wednesday, a variety of program ideas – predominantly aimed at young people – were suggested and discussed.
These ideas included video and media technology, fine arts, digital arts, music, graphic design, graffiti/mural art, social media safety, story books, free barbeques, and drama games.
Rachel said these programs would be designed to directly engage the community.
“Essentially, we’re trying to help young people, and those older, fight stress with arts,” she said.
However, Trevor said to have the art gallery space opened more frequently and during the day, STARS needs more volunteers.
“In the past, we had a 14 week project funded by the Regional Arts Development Fund, and we have partnerships with the likes of Headspace,” he said.
“Stanthorpe doesn’t have a lot mental health support, and we know this is a big challenge to undertake, but it’s much needed.”
STARS community space is located at 97a Folkestone Road, Stanthorpe.
