One Wagga woman got the opportunity of a lifetime by meeting with the Royals in Bondi last week as they raised awareness for mental health.
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Kietah Martens-Shaw, 26, was one of 40 members of the OneWave community group to meet with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their visit to Australia.
OneWave is a non-profit surf community that tackles mental health issues and hold weekly Fluro Friday’s, with the Duke and Duchess going barefoot in Bondi on October 19.
“I have a big passion for mental health and to have a chat with them about mental health and share our experiences in mental health awareness raising was so exciting,” Ms Martens-Shaw said.
“Harry works closely with mental health initiatives and Meghan works with women and empowerment projects so it was great to share our opinions.
“The mental health industry is a great realm and more people are now having that conversation and the Royals have amplified the message we’ve been raising.”
Ms Martens-Shaw lived in Wagga until she was 15-years-old and while she is not a “die-hard Royals fan”, she said their presence brought attention to an important social issue.
“I was just really excited about the aftermath of them coming into the mental health realm and I’ve been working really hard with my own business: B.OKideas,” she said.
“Just to see how much impact a couple can have in one day, we were only with them for one hour, really brought to life a topic that people often don’t want to talk about.
“They amplified this mental health conversation to a whole new level to show that it’s OK for people not to be OK, to talk about mental health and that there is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Ms Martens-Shaw said the Royals were “really down to earth” and did not rush their time.
“We were just chatting to everyday people about a normal topic and they were really impressed by our community group and our vibes,” she said.