The Reach Foundation (Reach) is a youth

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organisation established by

Jim Stynes James Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish-born footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), he went on to become o ...

OAM and film director Paul Currie in 1994. Reach was created from a desire to inspire every young person to believe in themselves and get the most out of life. Reach runs national school and community-based programs for young people aged 10 to 18 designed to promote their

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

and wellbeing. Programs are run by the young Reach "Crew" in over 500 metropolitan and regional schools and communities across Australia. The main focus is on prevention and early intervention. Programs aim to identify the underlying reasons for negative behaviour and enable young people to redirect their energy towards more positive outcomes.

Working with teachers and youth professionals

Reach works in partnership with The Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations ( DEEWR) to offer the Finding Heroes program to teachers, educators and youth professionals. Finding Heroes is based on the

positive psychology Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living, focusing on both individual and societal well-being. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions...it aims t ...

framework and aims to provide teachers, educators and youth professionals with the practical skills and resources to improve the emotional and social wellbeing of students.

Working with indigenous communities

Reach works in partnership with DEEWR with the aim of creating relationships with young people in indigenous communities to encourage them to voice their concerns and aspirations for their lives.

Locations

Reach programs are held at the Reach National Office ("The Dream Factory") in Collingwood (Victoria), Sydney, the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

(NSW), and in various other locations throughout Australia.

Leadership

Trisha Squires commenced as CEO from 14 September 2015, taking over from Sarah Davies, who took the position in 2011 when

fell ill with cancer. Anthony Klein began his role as chairman of the board in 2020.

Alumni

Reach Alumni include: *

Jules Lund Jules Lund (born 24 April 1979) is an Australian television presenter from Melbourne and founder of TR, BE. Early life Lund was born in Melbourne in 1979, where he attended De La Salle College, Malvern. Lund studied Graphic Design, Photography ...

, TV and radio personality * Trisha Silvers, 2006

Young Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

* Harley Webster aka

Phrase In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...

, Hip hop MC * Josh Schmidt

Twentysomething (TV series) ''Twentysomething'' is an Australian television comedy programme which premiered on 6 September 2011 on ABC2. The six-part comedy series was created by and starred Jess Harris and Josh Schmidt. It was based on a 2007 six-part RMITV supported s ...

, writer and actor * Saskia Hempele TV personality,

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'' * Jess Harris

, writer and actor * Kayne Tremills

ABC3 ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

, TV presenter * Jordiie Leigh, Filmmaker, ''What Would You Do Australia''

The Open Book Project

The Open Book Project was a national campaign launched by Reach in 2011 that endeavoured to show today's teenagers that they're not alone in their lives. Celebrities and members of the general public shared pages of their teenage diary revisiting the thoughts, feelings and ambitions they had as a teenager. Celebrity entries included

Hamish Blake Hamish Donald Blake (born 11 December 1981) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, actor and author. Since 2003, he has worked with Andy Lee as part of the comedy duo Hamish and Andy. The pair have performed live and on te ...

Cathy Freeman Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman (born 16 February 1973) is an Aboriginal Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set ...

Kerry Armstrong Kerry Michelle Armstrong (born 12 September 1958) is an Australian actress and author. She is one of only two actresses to win two Australian Film Institute Awards in the same year, winning Best Actress in a Leading Role for ''Lantana'' and Be ...

and

Jesse Martin Jesse Martin, OAM (born 26 August 1981) is a German-Australian sailor who in 1999 became the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop, and unassisted, Martin's journey in the S&S 34 sloop ''Lionheart-Mistral'' took approxima ...

References

External links

Reach website

Reach on Facebook

Reach on Twitter

The Open Book Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reach Foundation Children's charities based in Australia Organizations established in 1994