Port Lincoln City Motors is sponsoring West Coast Youth and Community Support (WCYCS) with a new ISUZU MU-X at no cost for the Mentally Fit EP team.
The vehicle has been wrapped with signage to promote Mentally Fit EP, City Motors, WCYCS and its supporters Rotary and Bendigo Bank.
Mentally Fit EP’s team of Emma Gale and community development officer Lain Montgomerie received the keys in hand on Monday, May 13, at the City Motors office.
Ms Montgomerie said the plan was to take the car across Eyre Peninsula for podcast recording and events.
“We do a lot across the Eyre Peninsula and often we’re using our own car,” she said.
“This gives us the opportunity to be seen and spread the word, it’s another way to promote wellbeing by having it out and about.”
City Motors dealer principal Mark Venning said that the sponsorship was a “no-brainer” given the Mentally Fit EP cause to positively influence mental wellness in the Eyre Peninsula community.
“When we came to the agreement, we decided it would be an MU-X. For now, we’ll review the car in six months’ time, but I’d like to think this will be a long-term thing,” he said.
“The size of the vehicle just seemed to be a good fit for them, they need to be able to carry a lot of gear in the back and they’re great for fuel efficiency.
“When Narelle touched base I thought, ‘this sounds like a great idea, let’s hash this out’.”
WCYCS chief executive officer Narelle Biddell was grateful for the sponsorship and to see it come to fruition.
“We were at the Business Excellence Awards when I initially tapped him on the shoulder and said ‘hey’,” she laughed.
“We mentioned we needed a car for Mentally Fit EP, it was a great business proposal for someone to hopefully support.”
Nine months after that tap on the shoulder, the car was ready to roll for the Mentally Fit EP team, enabling it to further create conversations in the community about mental health and assist with its focus on community wellbeing.
The Mentally Fit EP program aims to educate, reduce stigma and up-skill community members through workshops, the MFEP+ME Podcast, community forums, guest speaking roles, courses, events and campaigns.
