Changemakers - Marcus Pringle-Jones
4 February 2013 at 9:56 am
Marcus Pringle-Jones is the director of White Cloud Foundation. This week we profile Marcus in Changemakers – a regular column which examines inspiring people and their careers in the Not for Profit sector.
White Cloud Foundation was established in 2011 by Professor Adam Scott with a mission to help increase resources and improve access to support for people, family and carers who live with depression and associated disabilities in Australia.
What drew you to the Not for Profit sector?
The desire to participate in the sharing of social responsibility, to contribute back to society and help deliver a positive change to both individuals and their families suffering from depression and related issues.
It was the opportunity to be part of a new foundation that consists of great people with a good cause, values, beliefs and ambitions.
How long have you been involved with the Not for Profit sector?
As a result of working in the financial services sector and managing assets for NFP groups I have had indirect exposure for several years whilst directly it has been a little over one year with White Cloud.
What do you like best about working in current organisation?
It is the passion and drive shown by all those associated with White Cloud to make a difference to those individuals, family and carers who have been exposed to depression and the associated problems. Even though White Cloud Foundation has been operating for such a short amount of time we are already starting to see the recognition of our efforts and where we are wanting to make a change.
I am always being asked…
I find that I am constantly being asked about why I joined White Cloud and what is the key mission of the group. It is with some amazement people starting asking about some of the key statistics about depression. Whilst people acknowledge that depression does not discriminate, by age, gender, profession, income level, education or age it is the underlying facts that I find amaze people.
People are interested to hear that depression is predicted to become the leading medical cause of death and disability in Australia within the next 20 years and whilst currently 1 in 7 Australians are diagnosed with the depression the actual figure could be far greater due to the large numbers of people who are neither diagnosed or treated. Financially it is estimated that annually disability related to depression costs the Australian economy $14.9 billion and more than 6 million working days are lost. These numbers are rising!
People are also interested to know that White Cloud will via the readily accessible wellness centres provide individuals, family and carers critically needed support and infrastructure. White Cloud wants to make a practical difference by breaking down the stigma associated with depression and give people the ability to feel like they can ask for help when they want to.
