Welcome to Group 61
Group 61 enables people affected by mental health issues achieve their personal potential.
Group 61 is a non profit organization devoted to mental health.
The objects of Group 61 are:
- to support people affected by mental health issues living in the community.
- to collaborate with people affected by mental health issues in their journey of recovery.
- to promote spirituality as integral to sound mental health.
- to raise awareness of mental health issues in the community through training and education.
Group 61 supports "Australia's Symbol for Mental Health and Awareness" the Flannel Flower.
The Flannel Flower, an Australian native, is a national symbol to promote awareness of mental health.
Flannel Flower is commonly found growing wild in the Australian bush, which has a wonderful inherent beauty and strength and is known for its extremes of weather and landscape.
To survive the extremes of Australia’s climate the Flannel Flower has had to be adaptable, in the same way, all of us, regardless of our life circumstances, need to develop resilience and the ability to adapt to change, in order to strengthen and maintain our mental health.
The Flannel Flower, with its soft silky texture, encourages contact, and is thought to help people express their feelings verbally and to develop sensitivity.
Being open and empathetic to a person’s expression of distress can help not only the recovery of a person experiencing mental illness, but to change the negative attitudes of our society to mental illness.