Thousands of dollars raised for crisis support

Organiser and maintenance manager at Pullar Coldstorage Jack Picken said he had the idea to hold the walk in Cobram-Barooga after he lost several close friends to suicide.

“There used to be this stigma around mental health where you didn’t talk about it, especially for country people: get on with it, move on, be a man or whatever. Those sorts of things,” he said.

“We’re trying to change that. We want people to talk about it.”

At last count, the event raised over $11,600 for Lifeline, which will cover the cost of almost 300 crisis support phone calls to the service.

“Lifeline’s something that’s always been around my family,” Mr Picken said.

“My grandfather was a call-taker for Lifeline for 20 years, so it’s always been something that’s been talked about in my family.”

The group walked from the Barooga Hotel, crossed the state border and pulled up for a rest at Pullar Coldstorage.

The walkers then returned to the Barooga Hotel for dinner, speeches and a raffle.

It comes as the latest figures from the 2020-2022 National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing show at least one in five Australians suffer from a mental health disorder.

After an overwhelming show of support from the community and local businesses, Mr Picken had one important message to share.

“Talk to your friends, call your mates, have those conversations,” he said.

“And you should never walk away from someone, holding a grudge or on bad terms.”