Out Of Tragedy, We Aim To Save Lives. So Let’s Talk On A Deeper Level And Disrupt Stereotypes
The Kai Fella Foundation
About The Kai Fella Foundation
The Kai Fella foundation is a registered charitable organisation.
We rely on the generosity of people like you to contribute funds to help us provide Tomorrow People workshops in Western Australian schools and clubs.
These workshops are based on the positive effects of early intervention, encouraging our youth to express their feelings, build emotional muscle, respect and support each other, and change stereotypes – and through this, save lives.
Did you know? A donation of $25 is enough to pay for one at-risk child to attend one of these life-changing workshops.
DONATE NOW
DISRUPT
Let's break that old stereotype that doesn't support emotional development nor strengthen resilience, both of which are needed to keep our young men and women alive.
BUILD
The workshops we support help young men and women build emotional support networks - the capacity to talk with emotional intensity.
Claire Eardley, the founder of Kai Fella, introduces the Kai Fella Foundation and explains how the donation is used.
We are inviting you to save boys’ and girls' lives, whom you may not even know nor have met.
We can end the silence, stop the increasing rate of young male and female suicide, empower them to live fully for them and for those they love. We are disrupting outdated traditional gender stereotypes and helping young men define and own their unique story: empowering them to confidently navigate a world of expectations, demands and emotional complexity, creating a healthier life for themselves and the people they love.
Out of tragedy, We aim to Save Lives
Interview with the West
This clip is a part of an interview with the West Australian. Read the full article here.
The Eardley family moved to Perth from the UK in 1997. Cam was 3 and Kai just 18 months. The boys started school at the East Fremantle Primary School and Joey was born soon after in 1999.
It was quickly realized that sport and outdoor recreation, fishing, swimming, surfing and footy would be the family’s passion. The family enjoyed exploring the coastline of WA, taking many a road trip to the south-west and up to Broome and Karajini. Also, keen to experience winter sports, they explored the South Island of New Zealand and the snowfields of Niseko and Hakuba in Japan.
Often, other families joined and it was a haze of boys, rods, surfing and boarding equipment, backed up with a hefty supply of food.
All the boys took a turn of skateboarding. Amidst an array of broken bones and skin wounds, Kai seemed to be on the receiving end of many of these but was never deterred.
Twenty years on, Kai’s suicide changed the family’s lives forever. He was studying at Notre Dame and struggling with the demands of growing up.
“I still consider myself the mother of 3 boys,” says Claire. “One will always be my eternal, spirited 20-year-old, the boy too good for us all”. She believes Kai would want all his family to lead the best life they are capable of, and that drives her forward every day. “I want to be Kai’s legacy, his voice and to honour his life by living again. I love and miss him every minute of every hour, but I know I will see him again, and he will be proud of what we have achieved. Cam, Joey and Jasmyn [Kai’s girlfriend] have also continued to strive to be best they can be, and I am so proud of them for that.”
The family’s mission is to create a positive change for the mental health of the youth of today.
Kai Fella Foundation – The Team
26 July 2016 – that was the day my son Kai chose to end his life.
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. I am not ashamed to tell people that Kai took his life - I’m just sorry that he didn’t have the words to reach out and ask for help.
This Foundation was established to help reduce the stigma around suicide and to raise money for prevention strategies that work. Through the Foundation, we deliver Tomorrow Man and Tomorrow Woman workshops to schools and sporting clubs, or anywhere we can reach young people and give them a voice, to reduce the rate of suicide.
Suicide is the biggest killer of our youth; we lose seven boys, and two girls, every day.
In 2018, I helped Claire make her dream a reality and set up the Kai Eardley Foundation in honour of her son Kai. Four years on, it is my biggest career achievement and it’s an honour to be involved assisting the charity as Treasurer.
Mental Health is a major issue in our society and I have seen it affect close friends and family.
I wish the charity was around when I was growing up during school. The workshops we fund are powerful, impactful, and make a difference. Mental health is the silent killer, and our charity is making some noise.
Professionally, fresh out of university, I joined Francis A Jones and Associates in Fremantle which specialises in accountancy and auditing - 16 years on, I am one of seven partners and look after the audit division in my capacity as a registered company auditor.
I have been involved in the charitable and not-for-profit sector for many years and sit on three not-for-profit boards.
I am happily married and a father to two young children, with one on the way. We enjoy spending time outdoors, down the beach, camping, and watching the mighty West Coast Eagles win football games.
My boyfriend and best friend, Kai Eardley, led by example. He inspired me every day to be kind, to care for others, and to believe in myself.
When we lost Kai, I was drawn to give back to society and to prevent others from suffering such pain, and at the same time, to honour Kai’s memory, because helping others was part his makeup.
When we lost Kai, I was drawn to give back to society and to prevent others from suffering such pain, and at the same time, to honour Kai’s memory, because helping others was part his makeup.
I am so proud that out of such tragedy we have been able to create something special with Kai Fella, supporting thousands of young men and women to have open, potentially life-saving conversations about mental health.
I completed a Bachelor of Physiotherapy in 2017 and then spent a year in Thailand - working as a dive instructor in the same place I had enjoyed my time with Kai - before moving back to Australia to commence my physiotherapy career. My passion lies in Critical Care Physiotherapy, working and treating patients in the Intensive Care Unit at Royal Perth Hospital. At the beginning of 2021, I commenced a postgraduate degree in the field of Health Leadership and am currently undertaking a secondment at RPH on special strategic projects.
I joined the Kai Fella Board after watching Kai, and too many others, struggle with mental illness.
Kai Fella raises awareness and reduces the stigma of mental illness in our community, and at the same time, provides young men and women with strategies to make their way through life.
Kai Fella raises awareness and reduces the stigma of mental illness in our community, and at the same time, provides young men and women with strategies to make their way through life.
I am a mother of two adult daughters, and a registered nurse, with specialisation in Advanced Wound Care, Infection Prevention and Biosurgery. I have worked in the medical device industry for the past 25 years and held national training roles in the Australian medical technology industry.
I enjoy my family, catching up with friends, and home decorating.
I came across the work of Kai Fella when visiting Perth. A former work colleague took me to the Kai Fella 24 hours Pilates fundraising event, a year after Kai had passed.
The work Claire and Kai Fella was doing struck a chord with me. Later I decided mental health and young people’s education were the two causes dear to my heart for which I could give back to society.
Joining Kai Fella in 2021 was a heart-warming moment. Having experienced mental illness myself, it was a privilege to support an organisation that breaks down the barriers hindering young people from talking about mental health openly and empathetically.
My professional background is as a corporate legal and finance professional, with 25 years in professional services firms in the UK (where I was born and grew up) and Australia. I now manage my own advisory business, Flying Change Services, which helps to guide people through major personal and business life events, including divorce, mediation and business advice.
I am a father of a beautiful young women, and horses and polo are my other passions - I love spending time caring for my three horses. Indeed, I was on the way to a riding lesson in Perth the day I met Claire and Kai Fella for the first time - so it was clearly meant to be.
I wish Kai Fella had been available when I was at school. Maybe I wouldn’t have waited so long before reaching out for help. I thought something was deeply wrong with me and there was so much fear and shame involved.
Looking back now, I realise everybody has their own mental health challenges.
I am proud to be part of a group that provides positive change, reduces stigma, breaks stereotypes and creates emotional support networks.
I’m a father of three young boys and love spending time in the water with them.
I also have a career in property.
I have spent my working life in supporting roles with people, firstly as a paediatric nurse and then as a psychologist working in education. Most of my 16 years as a psychologist has been working with adolescents who are considered ‘at risk’, disenfranchised, disengaged, misunderstood, and generally fighting to have their voice understood and heard.
I am so proud to be part of the Kai Fella Board and the work it does to support young people to find their voice, seek support and build their own protective networks through the Tomorrow Man and Tomorrow Woman workshops.
Professionally I am a Registered Nurse, Registered Psychologist with a Masters in Special Education.
Personally, I am a wife and mother of three adult boys and love spending time with our growing family, camping and exploring our beautiful country.
Six months after Kai passed, Claire and her family entrusted me to write a newspaper article about the tragic loss of Kai, to raise awareness about youth suicide, and to help give voice to others suffering the same pain.
As a mother and aunty, I know quite a few magical young people struggling to navigate their way in the world. I joined the Kai Fella Board to support an organisation that provides young men and women with critical mental health tools, and to help them break stereotypes and build emotional muscle.
I am a communications professional, with more than thirty years’ experience as a senior political journalist, and specialist in communications and stakeholder engagement. I began my career with the West Australian Newspaper, moved into media and communications in the energy and community services sectors, and am now an Associate Director with Perth’s leading strategic communications firm, Cannings Purple.
Make a Donation & Save Lives
Your donations make these life-changing workshops possible & could save young men’s lives.
Please be advised that donations over $2 are tax deductible.
What Your Donation Pays For
$25
1 child to attend a workshop$250
10 children to attend a workshop$1250
50 children to attend a workshop
