BUTTERFLY FOUNDATION VISIT TO THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS:
 
In the week of the 10th-14th August 2015 The Butterfly Foundation visited The Southern highlands community presenting to schools , parents, educators and councillors and  presenting at a youth day.
 
The Butterfly Foundation visited 3 high schools and 3 primary schools providing the students with workshops and presentations regarding body esteem.
These presentations were empowering, evidence based, positive and focused on prevention and health.
The feedback from the students was that they found the workshops enjoyable and informative. Responses from students included ` It taught us a lot about body image and it was in a very understandable way` and `It made me feel better about myself` The feedback from the students indicated they learn`t a lot about photo shopping and how this changes people. The feedback from a high school was that 3 students presented after the session with concerns about friends, allowing the school to follow up on the wellbeing of these students and intervene earlier to help them as necessary. The teachers thought the presenter was excellent and reported that 200 students in the session were totally absorbed in the presentation.
 
24 people attended The Dove Body Think Educator training, including both teachers and youth workers. The Dove Body Think Educator training is a self esteem, body image and media literacy programme, training teachers and youth workers about health promotion and prevention.
The feedback was that attendees found the information was very interesting and relevant to the student/client population and that the programme will be very likely to help assist these young people to improve their body image and self esteem. The attendees enjoyed interacting and sharing information with others in the group and learning new thought provoking ideas and information..
 
19 parents attended the Body Confident Children and teens information evening. This presentation was designed to equip parents with the knowledge, information and tips to better support their child `s body confidence.
The feedback  was that the parents learn`t information about body image, disordered eating and new ideas about raising body confident children and teens.
 
The Champions For Change Youth Day was attended by 29 students from 5 different high schools. These students shared views and ideas on how they can promote positive body confidence within their school. The feedback was that the students found the workshop very engaging and felt the activities were extremely relevant to their school and had helped them develop strategies to aid the wellbeing of their school community.
Comments from students included `I enjoyed socializing with other schools and seeing how different it is there` , ` A great day that raised lots of good questions `and `Such a great opportunity to talk openly about body esteem`
Overall the feedback from the Butterfly Foundation Community Initiative was that it was highly informative, engaging and interesting. It enabled students , teachers and parents to come together to discuss the important youth issue of body esteem  and leave with information and ideas.