About Kai-Fella

Our Story

Words from our Founder, Claire Eardley

I am the mother of three boys and a local East Fremantle mum, and I am always moved by the community support for Kai-Fella. Kai was my middle son and the Kai-Fella story begins when we lost Kai to suicide on 26 July 2016.

With the support of friends and the local community, Kai-Fella was created with the hope of saving young people’s lives and preventing other families from having to endure such excruciating pain.

Kai had many of the traditional services in place to manage his depression – GPs, psychologists, psychiatrists and medications – but what he was lacking was a voice.

I am not ashamed to tell people that Kai took his life – I am just sorry that he didn’t have the words to reach out and ask for help.
~ Claire Eardley

After losing Kai we established an Everyday Hero page, so that people who wanted to do something to show their love and support, could contribute that way instead.

The support from the local community was staggering. In six weeks, we had over $60,000 in donations.

After contacting a national charity that offers support in the mental health space, I came to realise that we had no control over how the money was allocated.

In these early stages, we partnered with an external provider to introduce workshop experiences that supported young people to build emotional awareness and connection.

With the help of local accountant Daniel Papaphotis our charitable status was approved in 2019, and we became the Kai-Fella Foundation.

Having exhausted the ever-loyal Silas Street Physio community, we realised it was time to look outside of our immediate family and friends. It was time to make my dream of 500 workshops in WA a reality.

In 2023, Kai-Fella funded those 500 workshops, right on track to meet my bold and audacious goal that was set in 2018.

Claire and sons wearing Kai-Fella apparel

Suicide is the biggest killer of our youth; we lose seven boys and two girls every day.

As Kai-Fella continued to grow and deepen its understanding of the communities we serve, our approach naturally evolved. We began bringing the design and delivery of our workshops in-house, allowing for greater flexibility, consistency, and alignment with our purpose.

Today, our workshops are thoughtfully developed and delivered by our own team – creating safe, welcoming spaces where young people can connect, build skills, and engage in courageous conversations.

It is our aim to make these workshops available to every young West Australian.