Parents Beyond Breakup wins LiFE Award
Parents Beyond Breakup (PBB) has been awarded Suicide Prevention Australia’s NSW LiFE Award for Excellence in Suicide Prevention for Priority Populations, recognising the organisation’s leadership in saving more men from suicide.
“This award shines a light on the plight of fathers across Australia who are in distress through relationship breakdown,” said PBB CEO Gillian Hunt.
“We are honoured to receive this recognition of our lifesaving work and acknowledge that we stand on the shoulders of giants – those who have supported Dads in Distress for over 22 years.
“Our organisation is built on the tears and hopes of every father separated from their children and on the support and lived experience wisdom of dads who have been there themselves,” she said.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PARENTS BEYOND BREAKUP
In 2020, PBB took out the Australian Men’s Health Forum’s Significant Response to Covid-10 Award and also this year PBB won the GHP Social Care Award Best Family Mental Health Support Service.
PBB offers a National Helpline, in-person and online peer support groups, reporting that 95% of people who call the Helpline experience a dramatic decrease in stress levels and a heightened sense of connection.
Tony Miller, founder of PBB’s Dads in Distress, said the SPA award acknowledged the life-saving work of its volunteers.
“They are the heroes, they are the real lifesavers and for them, I am eternally grateful as I personally was the very first life they saved,” he said. “I was given an OAM from the Queen for my work, but my biggest award was from a 10-year-old girl who thanked me for giving her dad back. That is what it is all about.”
In 2020 PBB established a Virtual Verandah to continue its support for separated dads, after the Covid-19 pandemic ruled out face-to-face meetings.