A FAREWELL, AND A WELCOME

We’re nearing the end of the first series of LIFEHACK. So, we’re making time to reflect on all of the amazing things that have happened so far, and how we can keep sharing, and growing all of the energy and momentum that you’ve all been part of.

Right now the video proposals prepared by the ten teams behind our ‘top ideas’, are being reviewed by a panel of professionals, and early next week we’ll be collating their thoughts on how they could be created – for real.

Then, over the next few months, we’re looking forward to helping some of these ideas to move on to the next stage; turning them into prototypes which have the potential to make a real difference to young people’s emotional wellbeing.

And, it’s now, as we move from the big dreaming, idea scheming stage of the LIFEHACK Weekends, and into a developing, building, start-up stage for the potential projects, that it’s time to shift gears.

Jason, our Chief Hustler, challenged the status quo, set the vision and inspired us all to get behind LIFEHACK. He led the project from whoa to go, in a matter of weeks, and created a whirlwind of energy, enthusiasm and fresh thinking.

But after reviewing where we’ve been, and thinking about what needs to come next, Jason is stepping away from LIFEHACK, and handing over to the innovative guys & gals at Enspiral to take the reins from here.

Enspiral is a network of creative change-makers, who work to put people and technology together, combining social and business outcomes. They run a super-collaborative model, and have developed cool products like Loomio, which supports collective decision making. Enspiral has a network of developers, designers, business brains, and socially minded peeps. Sounds pretty perfect for LIFEHACK right? Did we mention that they’ve done heaps of start-up tech for social good, including Chalkle, Bucky Box and Rabid?

The Enspiral network can see the opportunities LIFEHACK brings and shares MSD’s commitment to involving young people as much as possible in the next steps. They’ll be working with each of the teams selected to move on to the next stage, to set up a package of support for each project.

Enspiral will also be working with the LIFEHACK Team to map out where to from here. We’ll introduce you to the team over the next few weeks, and keep you in the loop as we develop the ideas and the approach for next year.

As we enter this next period of regeneration, it’s a good time to pause and say thank you – to everyone who has helped us along the way. We’re all a big family now. We’re all LIFEHACKERS!

To all the young people who have given us their precious weekends and all of their skills. To the mentors and supporters who also gave their own time and were so enthusiastic about this project. To the regional co-ordinators, our Camp-Mother Hilary, our creative comms team Curative, and of course to Jason for all his energy and ideas that helped LIFEHACK take off in such an exciting way.

It’s been amazing to meet so many of you and to hear your stories and your passion for this work.

We’ve learnt a lot along the way.

We’ve learnt that there is real commitment to young people’s mental health, and that we have to find ways to support this in a safe and aspirational way.

We’ve learnt that there are people who want to partner with us, who are doing this work, who share our vision. We need to respect what everyone brings and be open to new ideas and opportunities.

And we’ve learnt the power of giving young people the opportunity to find the answers for their own issues. The challenge is to follow through on our part of the deal and support those ideas to become reality.

We’re excited to see what unfolds from here, and look forward to sharing it all with you.

Elizabeth Goodwin, MSD & the LIFEHACK Team

PS: If you want to get in touch, you can reach us at hello@lifehackhq.co