We know it can be hard to get access to the support you need when you need it.

The Interface Councils and the Inspire Foundation want to hear your stories about accessing support – what works, what doesn’t and what really needs to improve.

Your stories will help the Interface Councils advocate to the Victorian and Federal Governments for improved services for young people living in outer urban Melbourne.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?
Click on the appropriate link below (young person if you’re aged under 25, service provider if you work with young people or parent/guardian). This link will take you to a page where you’ll be asked to ‘tell a story.’ Your story can be about you, a friend, someone you care for, or even someone you know. It’s up to you.

Try to make sure your story is about real experiences. And because they will be read by others, and we want the information to be confidential please do not use real names for people or places.
Write as much as you think is needed for someone else to understand this experience.

After you’ve told your story, you’ll be asked a series of questions about your story. These questions will help us to ‘make sense’ of your story. Some of the other questions will tell us a bit about your background. This helps us make sure that we are capturing stories from people from a broad range of backgrounds.

WHY STORIES? WHY NOT JUST A TRADITIONAL SURVEY?
This project is using a technique known as narrative research that has been developed by a company called Cognitive Edge. It allows people to share their stories and also tell something about what those stories mean to you. It gives much more important information than traditional surveys.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THESE STORIES?
Once everyone has had a chance to write their stories and submit them online, we’ll be holding two workshops where we will bring together young people and well as those people who work with young people or care for them to look at all of the stories and ‘make sense’ of them. This means that they will look at what themes stand out from these stories and why the authors might have chosen to write them.

Because we haven’t asked you for your name, telephone number or address your stories are anonymous. No-one will know they are your stories.

CONFUSED? NEED TO KNOW MORE?
You can contact Michelle Blanchard at the Inspire Foundation on 0403171989 or email
michelle@inspire.org.au