Five men who walked chained together from Belmont to Terrigal last weekend have raised almost $10,000 for suicide prevention charity Gotcha4Life.
Jason Wileman of Toukley, Mathew Johnstone of Gorokan, Harley Beckett of Blue Haven, Scott Reed of Woongarrah and Rhys Dawe of Gorokan have all been affected by mental health issues at some point in their lives and are determined to help combat suicide.
Beginning their walk from the 16ft Sailing Club at Belmont at noon on February 5, the men encountered severe wind and rain as they trudged through the night.
“It was definitely tough – emotionally, mentally and physically – but that’s what it was all about,” Matthew Johnstone said.
“It was never going to be easy and we wanted to feel the challenge.
“Being chained together represented our determination that when one of us is struggling we will not leave a brother behind.”
Johnstone said by the end of the walk, around 40 people had joined in.
“When we got to Terrigal at noon the next day there were probably 100 people there to greet us,” he said.
“We’ve raised almost $10,000, which is double our original goal, and we’re hoping to get a few more donations to take us to that $10,000 mark.”
Johnstone said the group would continue with yearly activities to raise money for suicide prevention initiatives.
“We’re definitely going to be doing something once a year – it will be something similar but we are going to try to make it different every time,” he said.
“We just need to brainstorm on what comes next.”
Donations can still be made at https://gotcha4life-fundraising.raisely.com/mathew-johnstones-team.
Terry Collins