‘Hat Day’ is a nation-wide initiative of  Australian Rotary Health with residents encouraged to wear a hat to school or work and make a donation to raise funds for mental health research.

Rotary Club of Scone rotarian and Scone High School principal Lindy Hunt said this was the first year the Scone club had taken up the cause.

“With one in five people in Australia affected by mental health issues in some way over the course of their lifetime it is so important to raise awareness across the community. 

“Unfortunately, it is also something we are seeing so much more of in young people.

“That is why the club decided to get behind the initiative and help raise funds for vital research,” she said. 

Upper Hunter Shire youth mentor Mary Spora said the Upper Hunter Youth Council were also getting behind the initiative this year. 

“It is so important for young people to talk about mental health,” she said.

“It is a difficult conversation, but a necessary conversation that we need to have.

“The more we bring mental health to the front of our thinking and include it as part of our everyday life the easier it is for young people to understand and accept in ourselves and in others.”

Dozens of Scone businesses got behind ‘Hat Day’ on Friday with several thousand dollars raised to support the initiative.