The community pharmacy network is fundraising for Gidget Foundation Australia, and the first Gidget House in a Blooms The Chemist is now taking bookings.
Blooms The Chemist is hosting a range of activities across its stores to raise funds and awareness for Gidget Foundation Australia, a not-for-profit organisation that supports the emotional wellbeing of expectant and new parents.
Perinatal depression and anxiety impacts around 100,000 Australians every year, and the theme for this year’s Perinatal Mental Health Week is We’re here, uncover your village.
“Many Australians don’t know what support is available to them when it comes to mental health, which is why our Pharmacists play an important role in the communities they serve,” said Blooms The Chemist Board Member and Owner-Pharmacist, Sally Whiting.
“By forming trusting relationships with our patients and customers over time, we can encourage them to open up. A conversation that may have started about a sleepless baby may result in a parent sharing their struggles, which means we can better help the parent with the support they need.”
To bolster its support of Gidget Foundation Australia and parents experiencing perinatal depression and anxiety, the first Gidget House in a Blooms The Chemist pharmacy, located in Mudgee, is now taking bookings for free counselling services.
Gidget House, an initiative by Gidget Foundation Australia, is a place where expectant and new parents can receive free counselling services, with a GP referral and mental health care plan.
The Gidget House, located in Blooms The Chemist Mudgee, is a dedicated counselling room, which has been donated by the leading pharmacy network to the Gidget Foundation for exclusive use. This is the first Gidget House located in a Blooms the Chemist.
“We are committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of families through our network of community pharmacies and partnership with Gidget Foundation, which is why we are pleased to expand our support for parents who need support,” Whiting said.
“Since the Gidget House started taking bookings in early November, we’ve had several customers call to find out how they can get access to the counselling, so it is very much a welcome support service, especially in a regional area,” Whiting said.
Across the entire month of November, Blooms The Chemist will be hosting a range of Bun in the Oven bake sales — both in-store across its network of pharmacies and at its Mascot support office — to raise funds for the Foundation.
As a charity partner of Gidget Foundation Australia since 2020, Blooms The Chemist has donated over $348, 000 to support expectant and new parents across Australia.
“We are so thankful for our partnership with Blooms The Chemist and their important role in supporting us by raising awareness and funds for perinatal depression and anxiety.
Getting the right help from a specialist health professional early can lead to faster recovery, and we have been able to help so many parents whose path to healing started with a conversation at their local Blooms The Chemist. It’s a wonderful partnership in many ways,” Gidget Foundation Australia CEO, Arabella Gibson said.
