A men’s mental health advocate will walk from Ballarat to Geelong to raise awareness of a special event this month.
Ballarat man Alan Thorpe will follow up his nearly 800km walk to Canberra last month with one-day, 90km trek from his home town to Geelong ahead of speaking at the fourth annual Men’s Mental Health Family Fun Day at the Geelong Showgrounds on 21 December.
Mr Thorpe’s advocacy, which has included raising more than $80,000 for mental health services through long-distance walks from Ballarat to Canberra and Adelaide, stems from his own lived experience of mental health issues.
Having experienced the breakdown of his marriage, not having custody of his children, homelessness and the loss of his business, as well as suffering from bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and PTSD, Mr Thorpe said walking had saved his life.
“Every day can be a tough time, walking is just how I push through it,” he said.
“Within a couple of months (of starting to walk) I was doing 20km-plus and I thought, yeah, I’m going to walk to raise awareness for men’s mental health.
“Every three hours in Australia a man takes his own life. It’s a bigger tragedy than road tolls, it’s an emergency that needs to be assessed really badly.
“I still have my days, don’t get me wrong, but walking’s done me the world of good, and my physical fitness also.”
The free family fun day, organised by local men’s mental health advocate Troy Koerntjes, will bring together families, community groups and advocates, as well as offering carnival rides, market stalls, live music and entertainment and a bike, car and ute show.
Visit geelongaustralia.com.au/events to find out more.
