Using creativity to combat bullying

Australian singer and actress Melissa Tkautz has joined with Sydney-based anti-bullying organisation The Community Brave Foundation to launch a new project which connects young people’s talents and skills with community organisations for projects and campaigns.

The philosophy behind the project is that young people who feel threatened or bullied can feel empowered by tapping into their own creative side.

“Whenever I’m feeling upset, angry or just a little stressed out, I grab a pen and paper and just start writing. It relieves my stress instantly and within minutes I’m singing away like I don’t have a care in the world,” said Tkautz.

“It works for me and that means it can work for other people. Releasing and working your natural creative flair and passion is such a wonderful thing to do. That’s why I love this campaign!”

Tkautz today launched a video explaining the aims of the project.

The Community Brave Foundation is looking for community organisations to send them project briefs that the young volunteers can contribute to. Project briefs from community organisations will be matched with the skills of young people based on their requirements, with Community Brave acting as the facilitator.

The foundation is looking for all creative young people from age 13 to 30, whether they are visual artists, writers, poets, musicians or any other aspect of the creative arts.

The young people involved not only get to contribute to community projects, they will receive references for their resumés and possibly payment, depending on the budgets of the organisations involved.

In 2013 the focus will be on building the Foundation’s volunteer training program, tailored to help teachers, counsellors and adult members of the community in gaining skills, tools and resources to deal with a variety of bullying situations, especially those experienced by young LGBTIQ youth.

"It has always been my firm belief that when we are stressed, the best antidote is to be creative,” Foundation founder and chairman, Rami Mandow said.

“Young people who are bullied suffer high levels of stress and anxiety and we hope that by using this platform, we can take some of that away.

“We’ve also built a rewards system that allows young people to be provided with a kick start to their careers and sometimes financial rewards too.

For more information go to thecommunitybravefoundation.org