Migrants asked "R U OK?"

Members of Bunbury’s migrant community gathered at the South Bunbury Church of Christ last week to embrace the inclusivity message of R U OK? Day.

R U OK Day, aimed at encouraging conversations to prevent suicide and combat mental health issues, celebrated its fifth anniversary nationally on Thursday.

The Supporting Migrants in Learning English (SMILE) group met to ask each other the question and learn about support services in the South West.

“I think it is definitely true that isolation is an issue for migrants, so coming together and trying to integrate people who are new to Bunbury and Australia into the local community is important,” SMILE coordinator Esther Schipp said.

“Some of the services we’ve talked about are things like RuralLink, South West Mental Health, Parentsline and Kids Helpline.”

The SMILE group includes migrants from all over the world and meets once a week to socialise while learning English.

“Primarily this group is focused on mums and young children and we have people from a wide range of backgrounds — China, the Philippines, South Korea, Mexico, Chile and Africa,” Mrs Schipp said.

For more information about the SMILE group, or other multicultural services in the South West, call 9791 5281.