Stuart Kelly tragically took his own in 2016 life after he was left distraught from toxic hazing rituals at university.

His father Ralph and mother Kelly first established The Thomas Kelly Youth Foundation honouring their older son who was the victim of a one-punch hit.

They’ve now launched the Stay Kind initiative in honour of Stuart to promote the prevention of self-harm and suicide to Australian youth, particularly focusing on harm as a result of bullying, hazing and violence.

2018 Stay Kind Day is Monday 2 April, and aims to bring the community together to encourage kindness and support to vulnerable youth.

The initiative is supported by NRL with the Wests Tigers and the Parramatta Eels coming together for the Easter Monday game to raise awareness for the cause.

Ben Fordham speaks to Ralph who says the suicide of Stuart “paralysed us completely”.

“I just started to research everything about youth suicide,” he says.

“We’ve seen the value of kindness as the underpinning value that precedes everything.

“If we had kindness in our society, in our community, hopefully what we could do is pull back those numbers.”

Listen to the full interview below

If you’re interested in volunteering on Stay Kind Day, looking to donate or for more information, click here.

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