This time last year, Callan Coleman said to himself, “I want to do something different”; he wanted to venture outside the limitations of his comfort zone. This venture would lead him on a 20-kilometre walk from Stratford to Briagolong, raising more than $11,000 for the Black Dog Institute.
“I was going to do the run for kids, but a walk, and then COVID was still happening, so I wasn’t sure if it was going to get canned or not,” Mr Coleman said.
“Then I was going to do a pub crawl from Stratty pub to Briag pub, just on my own; I told a bloke at work what I wanted to do, and he asked what for; I said just for something different, and he said, ‘Why don’t you do it for mental health?’.
“So I contacted the Black Dog Institute, and it just snowballed from there; it was just awesome.”
Mr Coleman had no intention of recruiting volunteers, donors, or participants in his mental health walk and was shocked by how many people joined him on Saturday, May 14 2022.
More than 100 people joined him for the 20-kilometre venture from Stratford to Briagolong, in addition to roughly 20 volunteers who helped on the day.
“Absolutely blown away; it was a huge success,” Mr Coleman said.
“To come up with the idea in my head as to what it was on the day, I didn’t expect to raise that much money or have all those people there, and it was all different ages,” he said.
“There was this old lady, and we were trying to keep up with her like we were hammering it; we were walking pretty quick.
“We finished it in three and a half hours; the only time I stopped was halfway to fill up my camel pack again. We had drink stations every five kilometres; anyone could have started at any of them, so they didn’t have to do the full thing; they could walk, ride, run, whatever they wanted to do.”
Not only was Mr Coleman astounded by the amount of people who accompanied him on the walk but also by the number of local businesses that donated to his cause.
“Once I had the idea in my head, it was a matter of trying to find out the public liability, and they said ‘try your Lions Club’, so Stratford Lions Club, I went through them, signed up that day, became a member,” Mr Coleman said.
“They knew people for the cars that drive along with flashing lights, they done all that, all they said to me was do your advertising and go from there.
“We sold over $6000 worth of raffle tickets in seven days; I never planned on selling raffle tickets at all. I made up flyers to put in people’s shop windows just to get it out and about. The next thing they were handing out vouchers from $20 vouchers for meat trays from butchers to Heath Curtis Gym over in Stratford, who donated a 12-month gym membership valued at over $600.
“Yeah, absolutely blown away; we had more stuff at home than we did at Christmas time; it was crazy.”
Mr Coleman’s employer, Rotafab, gave $1000, Colmac Homes donated $1000, each walker contributed a minimum of $15, and numerous other local businesses offered their time or products for the day.
“For anyone who wanted to walk, we just said a $15 entry fee, and that was all you had to do, donate to the Black Dog Institute,” Mr Coleman said.
“But you could do whatever you wanted, like people were donating $100, $300, $500, yeah, it was amazing.”
There were over 2,000 individual fundraisers hosted for the Black Dog Institute in 2022, including the one organised by Mr Coleman, with all funds raised supporting Black Dog Institute’s mental health research, education programs and support services.
Black Dog Institute is the only Medical Research Institute in Australia to investigate mental health; they aim to create a mentally healthier world for everyone.
“Together, we can make a real difference in the lives of people touched by mental illness and suicide,” Black Dog Institute spokesperson Natasha McNamara said.
“The Black Dog Institute acknowledges not everyone is getting the help they need and that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
“Therefore, it is important for the Black Dog Institute to continuously investigate how mental health can be improved so we can ultimately help as many people as possible.
“Through research and evaluation, we try and find new and better ways of doing things.”
A $50 donation to the Black Dog Institute can help facilitate a community webinar on the signs and symptoms of mental illness. $100 can educate health professionals on the latest research and clinical evidence, and $500 can empower young people to manage their mental health by training one youth presenter to deliver high school education programs.
With $15,000, the Black Dog Insitute can better equip students, teachers, parents and carers to manage their mental health and wellbeing by educating 2,400 young people and their families. $50,000 can help health professionals care for more rural Australians by educating 150 health professionals on the latest mental health research and clinical evidence.
“At the Black Dog Institute, we carry out research to learn how best to offer mental health support,” Ms McNamara said.
“We then translate that research into programs and services which can help so many people, wherever they are based in Australia.
“There tend to be fewer mental health support services in rural and regional Australia than there are in major cities – especially specialists, and where there are specialists, the wait times are often long,” she said.
“Using funds raised from people like Mr Coleman, we train community presenters based in rural communities, so they can help others in their own community. They give tips on learning the warning signs to look out for to help each other, tools to help start their support journey and show them where to go for further help.
“Mr Coleman walked 20km from his town Stratford to the next town over Briagolong going oval to oval. In total, he raised $11,369.
“Mr Coleman is planning to organise an even bigger and better walk for mental health this year.”
This year Mr Coleman aims to double the funds raised in 2022, setting himself a target of $20,000.
“We have got some bigger and better plans,” Mr Coleman said.
“I wasn’t going to do it again this year, it was just going to be a one-off thing, and that was it.”
Mr Coleman quickly changed his mind after getting a flood of encouraging feedback and is now finalising the specifics of Cal’s Walk for Mental Health 2023.
“Straight after that day, people were saying, ‘I’m looking forward to next year’,” Mr Coleman said.
“I put up a post the other day [January 11] about doing it again this year and all the volunteers [from last year] messaged me straight away, and all these other people messaged me, wanting to help out.
“So, once we know exactly what we are going to do, we will put out flyers so we can start selling raffle tickets a lot earlier, and yeah, there are a few other plans we want to do.
“I’m thinking live music, food vans, like making it a full-day event with jumping castles, face painting and still keeping the walk,” he said.
“The only plan so far is the date, Saturday, May 13, and we will be doing a BBQ; 100 per cent of every snag sold will be going to Black Dog Institute. I was on the phone with food vans, coffee vans, jumping castle and face-painting people last night (Thursday, January 19) and am emailing Briag Cricket Club (possible venue).”
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 686 suspected suicide deaths were reported in Victoria between January 1 and November 30, 2022.
The National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing conducted in 2021 found that an estimated 1 in 5 Australians aged 16–85 experienced a mental disorder in the previous 12 months, and more than 2 in 5 had experienced a mental disorder during their lifetime.
Sixty per cent of these people won’t seek help.
“Mental health is so important,” Mr Coleman said.
“After the walk, I got all emotional because I looked around, and there were all these people there, and I reckon everyone there had a story.
“I went through a bad patch about 10 years ago now, and we’ve lost mates to suicide; just in the last 12 months, all this stuff has happened, and it has given me motivation to just go crazy this year and raise money any way possible,” he said.
“It affects everyone; that’s why I picked mental health. I could have done [a fundraiser] for cancer, but you think that one person has got cancer, which not only affects their own mental health but the mental health of their family and friends.
“It’s unreal how far things have come in the last 10 years; the awareness now for mental health is just amazing.
“Hopefully, we can keep getting bigger and bigger and continue making a difference in mental health research, education programs and support services.”
This Australia Day, the Wellington Shire Council and Lions Club of Stratford will present Mr Coleman with an award in recognition and honour of his outstanding achievement, raising more than $11,000 for mental health walking 20 kilometres from Stratford to Briagolong.
Interested in participating in this year’s event? Save the date, Saturday, May 13, and keep your eyes peeled for Cal Coleman’s 2023 Walk for Mental Health flyers online and in local stores.
Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, anywhere in Australia.
If you need help now, call:
- Lifeline – 13 11 14
- Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800
- Mental Health Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team in your state/territory
- Beyond Blue – 1300 224 636.
