The Phone Call Every Parent Fears, and What She Built From It | Leah Ashton - Hand in Hand

Content note: This episode includes discussion of suicide and mental health. Please listen with care. If you need support, Lifeline is available 24/7 on 13 11 14.

Some conversations change the way you see everything.

In this episode, Jules sits down with Leah Ashton, the founder of Hand in Hand in Ballarat, an organisation dedicated to supporting people experiencing mental health challenges and social isolation. The story behind Hand in Hand is one Leah tells here with extraordinary honesty and courage. It began with a chance conversation on a flight. Then, at the end of 2023, Leah's world fell apart. A phone call in the early hours of the morning. Her 21-year-old son, seven hours away in South Australia. Her husband overseas. What was first thought to be a car accident turned out to be something else entirely, and it was her son's best friend who finally told her the truth.

Out of that came a truth she now shares with every parent who will listen. You cannot fix your child. They do not want to be fixed. They want you to be present. Just sit with them, in it.

Jules and Leah talk about why mental health does not discriminate, why the conversations we are most afraid to have with our kids are the ones they most want to have, how loneliness and disconnection are quietly hurting communities, and the simple, small ways any of us can reach out to someone who might need it.

Connect with Leah Ashton and Hand in Hand:

Hand in Hand: https://www.handinhand.org.au/

Sebastian Foundation: https://www.sebastianfoundation.org/

If this episode raised anything for you:

Lifeline — 13 11 14 (24/7) — https://www.lifeline.org.au

Beyond Blue — 1300 22 4636 — https://www.beyondblue.org.au

Kids Helpline — 1800 55 1800 — https://kidshelpline.com.au