Diesel fitter, Amy Liddle, is a mental health and anti-bullying advocate with more than 40,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram, and she’s just been awarded a $10,000 grant from her employer Komatsu to help her continue her important work on bullying and suicide prevention.
Liddle will receive the grant plus volunteer assistance from Komatsu team members as part of the business’s Live Your Dream program. She will use her prize to help her deliver Dolly’s Dream workshops to school students. The workshops are named in honour of teenager Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett, who took her own life in 2018.
Liddle lost three of her own close friends to suicide in 2020 and seeing similar stories shared across her social media news feeds, Amy says she felt compelled to take action.
“Mental health struggles can impact everyone, at any age. I feel passionate about this issue and use my channels to reinforce this and create a safe place for people to share their struggles.
“I remind people that it’s okay not to be okay – it’s a bad day, not a bad life, and things will get better.”
According to research from The Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health (CRRMH), suicide rates are 50 per cent higher in rural communities than in major cities.
Dolly’s Dream is committed to changing the culture of bullying by increasing understanding of the impact of bullying, anxiety, depression and youth suicide and by providing support to parents.
The organisation delivers anti-bullying programs known as Dolly’s Dream workshops, educating students, teachers and parents about online safety through their Connect program. Their e-safety programs teach young people good internet behaviour, and importantly, helps them learn how to deal with bad behaviour.
In November, Amy Liddle will begin visiting local schools within her regional Queensland community of Mackay and surrounds to assist the charity to deliver their workshops. She will be attending Sarina State High School, Mirani State High School and Calen District State College, and also plans to visit Moranbah State High School in the new year.
“By being granted the $10,000 to support Dolly’s Dream, I’m able to support kids, adults and their families and communities in the hard times,” Liddle said.
“This will provide so many people with the resources they need to gain more knowledge on the impact of bullying and mental health issues. It will give people a safe space to talk to someone.”
By the time she completes all her workshops, Liddle, with Komatsu’s support, will have helped Dolly’s Dream spread their message to more than 3,000 students.
About Komatsu
Komatsu develops and supplies technologies, equipment and services for the construction, mining, forklift, industrial and forestry markets. For a century, the company has been creating value for its customers through manufacturing and technology innovation, partnering with others to empower a sustainable future where people, business and the planet thrive together. Front-line industries worldwide use Komatsu solutions to develop modern infrastructure, extract fundamental minerals, maintain forests and create consumer products. The company’s global service and distributor networks support customer operations to enhance safety and productivity while optimising performance.