BEYOND BLUE FUNDRAISER
McKINNON STUDENT BIKE RIDE TO ADELAIDE
My name is Ash Nathan, I am 18 and from Melbourne, Australia and currently completing Year 12 at McKinnon Secondary College.
In October this year, I have chosen to ride my bike from Melbourne to Adelaide on my own over a week, to raise awareness for mental illness with all funds to be donated to BeyondBlue. Mental illness is a serious issue and, what’s even worse is that sufferers aren't speaking up about it and just keeping it to themselves which can worsen symptoms and ultimately lead to suicide.
Over three and a half million Australians are affected by anxiety or depression; some of these include friends and family of mine who have all come out and spoken about their issues with drugs and violence. Some are various AFL and Australian sporting legends such as NRL's Darius Boyd, Cricket superstar Michael Slater and AFL stars such as Travis Cloke (Collingwood), Nathan Thompson (Hawthorn, North Melbourne), Dustin Martin (Richmond) and more recently Dayne Beams (Brisbane, Collingwood), Jack Steven (St Kilda) and Majak Daw (North Melbourne) who have all bravely spoken out about their own struggles respectively.
Adding to these many Australians there are also, like myself, Year 12 students who all have to deal with the stress of exams and ensuring they secure a high ATAR score for future employment and admittance into selected universities.
What’s scary is that 3.5 million Australians have been brave enough to speak out about mental health issues and this is just the tip of the iceberg!
So why am I doing this ride?
My main goal for this ride is to try and raise awareness for those sufferers who are yet to speak out, to encourage them to do so and to get the help and guidance they all well and truly need.
To donate to this very special cause please click on the following link: