JUST A BLIND BLOKE

No town is too tiny, no school is too small, no pub is too rough and no map dot is too far!  

When Ben Pettingill hits the road and heads bush, he does so  to respond to the needs of Australian rural and regional communities who often face many unique challenges and don’t have access to mental health support at their door step. Life in the bush can be bloody tough which is why it is critical to continually find ways to support and strengthen the mental health, wellbeing and resilience of rural communities in a way that connects.

In Australia, every day we lose 9 lives to suicide. 7 out of 9 of these are blokes and the brutal reality is that the number of lives lost are twice as high in rural and regional areas, compared to in  metropolitan cities. This can be due to a number of complex reasons including access to support services, isolation, industry weather dependence and engrained generational stigma, just to name a few.

The engrained old school version of ‘tough’ also has a lot to answer for and has a direct connection to why there is still stigma that exists around mental health, especially in rural & regional Australia.

When Ben comes to town, it can be for anything from a one off farmers night in a shed through to a week long program including school sessions, sporting clubs and community events. These programs authentically connect and engage with your community to build and strengthen mental health awareness, develop comfort around help seeking, and facilitate stronger connections to available support services. It will empower individuals, families and your entire community affected by mental health and adversity to talk about the ‘tough stuff’, implement support strategies and smash the stigma!