The Big Walk 2022

Help me support the mental health of young people

My name is Brandon, I like philosophy, and I'd like to go for a big walk. 1089km+. Why? This is an important journey I've set upon myself in my life. It would be difficult to sum up every reason I have, but I realized how valuable it could be to make this journey while supporting something that's directly influenced the lives of the people I care about and countless more. I do not intend on doing the entire journey on my own, however, I may find that this becomes the case. But I will be okay, even if I have to struggle on my own because I have support. Speaking of support, I'd like to talk a bit about mental health, and the brilliant work that headspace does to support us while we are struggling.

If there are people in your life going through mental health challenges, you understand how important those people are to you. You may feel as though you don't have enough time, effort, or the right tools to help this person you care about. Imagine if there was a group of people who were trained and prepared to put time and effort into helping that person you care about in a meaningful and helpful way? Luckily for us, there is!!! Headspace has been providing support to our youth since 2006, and I've personally heard of many of my friends overcoming their personal mental hardships with the help given freely by headspace.

Mental health is often a tricky subject for people to address well. Whether you have experienced or are experiencing mental health disorders, or you are unfamiliar with the woes of the mind, it is still so often true that engaging with the subject in a supportive, healthy way is beyond the reach of many of us. This is why I am deeply grateful to headspace. They do so much work to provide the youth of our community with services to help us all. They help our children and young adults tackle the challenges that we might not have the skills to address as friends and family. Personally, enough of my friends have attributed their healthy development to the lovely people at headspace, so much so, that I truly believe they are providing a VITAL service not just to the youth they are actively supporting, but to people like you or me. My life is better, yours is better, and all of our lives are better for it because as a community, we are investing in our people, and their well-being by supporting groups such as headspace, so that headspace can focus their time and effort in life to pursuing supporting our mental health full-time.

To prove that we can spend our time and effort in life pursuing growth and development on its own merits, I'm going to spend some of my time and effort in life attempting to walk more than 1000km raising funds for headspace to support the mental health and well-being of young Australians as I go.

One in four young people each year experiences a mental health issue, and 75 percent of mental health disorders emerge before a person turns 25. Sadly, suicide is still the leading cause of death for young people in Australia.

To personally struggle with burdensome mental health is easily the hardest challenge I've faced in life. If I had access to services like headspace while I was younger, I would have felt much less alone in my journey. So now it's time for a new journey for myself, and I intend on doing some good and bringing some joy along the way.

If you're 12-25 years old and having a hard time, please remember that headspace provides mental health services to people your age, by phone and through headspace centres in metro and regional areas across Australia. All you have to do is reach out and ask how.

Please help me make a difference in the lives of young Australians, and in effect, our overall happiness as a whole community, by donating to a cause that saves lives, and helps us enjoy life more fully than we ever thought we could.

Thank you for you.