AT a time when there is an increased focus on fostering connectedness, the Rural City of Wangaratta community is being encouraged to help shape a project aimed at reducing suicide rates across the municipality.

Bek Nash-Webster, coordinator of Wangaratta’s Grit and Resilience Program, said a survey launched this week would assist in better understanding issues being faced by the local community.

The four-year program, which is supported by $1.2 million in Federal Government funding, came about after council and the community rallied in 2018 to address the rate of suicide in the district.