New Mentor Support Network chair Shayne Connell urges Hunter businesses to help disadvantaged youth

In 1997, upon finishing a psychology degree at the University of Newcastle, he began working as a program coordinator for Lifeline's Suicide Intervention Program.

"My partner at the time had lost her brother to suicide then and was motivated to give back and I was too," Mr Connell says.

Then in April, 2018, his paramedic uncle Tony Jenkins took his own life.

The tragedy came barely a month before Mr Connell, a former Newcastle deputy mayor, was made redundant from his 12-year role as regional manager of the Hunter Central Coast region of Cancer Council NSW.

During his council stint, he was a senior coach delivering suicide intervention training for the US-founded LivingWorks. A chance meeting with its international president led to Mr O'Connell being offered the job as its Australian CEO.

Mr Connell has shifted LivingWorks Australia from a model that trains individuals to be trainers to a one that also provides training services via its 55 staff and 600-odd trainers nationwide. Demand for its services has doubled from traumas including bushfires, drought, recession and COVID-19.

"The system is strained and there's a realisation that community and peers need to play a role to keep people safe, and need to have skills to do that," he says.

Mr Connell is the newly appointed chairperson of the Mentor Support Network, a not-for-profit that provides training, professional development and networking for mentors and runs a scholarship and support program for students in financial need.

His decision to accept the role stems from a belief the network provides tangible help for youth, supporting their education and career goals: "You see the difference you make to their life."

He urged local businesses to financially support the network to help it offer more scholarships: "There is also an opportunity to link your business with mentoring, as a professional development tool for your staff," he said.

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