Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in Australia and if that wasn’t bad enough, each year one in four young people experience a mental health issue. This month the Complete Parts and @ The Coalface $500 Community Gift goes towards helping change those statistics.

headspace is one mental health service in NSW available for young people who are going through a tough time. They have offices right across metro and regional parts of the state and are also available online and over the phone.

They need support from people to do the wonderful work they do which is where Daniel Robinson comes into this story.

Daniel, an Open Cut Examiner at Bulga Coal spent 12 hours running up and down Mt Tomaree last year (doing 40 push-ups at the peak every lap) to raise money for headspace and general awareness of the prevalence of mental health issues for young people.

He did the run with some work colleagues from Bulga and together they raised close to $10,000 for their efforts.

Daniel is at it again and this time he’s hitting the pavement looking to raise even more.

He’s no stranger to a challenge, Daniel has competed in Ninja Warrior and tackled the 24-hour obstacle challenge True Grit. He’s on the fundraising trail for headspace once again and he’ll be running, but it won’t be any walk in the park.

Daniel will be running in the Newcastle Marathon, part of the NewRun festival in April. Running 42 kilometres is impressive on its own, but Daniel won’t be doing it alone – he’s going to push a lawnmower the whole way.

Why?

“I wanted to run a marathon while doing something that I haven’t seen before. It took me a while to think it up,” shared Daniel. “Then one day, while mowing the lawn, it came to me.

“It will be quite the effort, but I love this kind of thing. I love pushing myself and this time I will not only be pushing myself, but I also get to push a lawn mower!”

headspace is the National Youth Mental Health Foundation that provides early intervention mental health services to young people aged between 12 to 25. Every year they help thousands of young people access vital support through their services such as online and phone counselling, vocational services and visiting schools. Their aim is to help young people get back on track and strengthen their ability to manage their mental health in the future.

“A large part of my role at work is managing people and I constantly see the issues people are having with their kids’ mental health. If I can raise some money to assist any of our youth that’s struggling, then it is worth pushing a mower around for 42km.

“I have young kids and I know they will have my support. Some people don’t have those options, so this is my way to help.”

Daniel is aiming to raise much more with this challenge. His goal is $20,000.

“Any amount of money would be great. It is all going to such a great cause. The last fundraiser I was a part of raised very close to $10,000. So, I would love to raise the bar and beat that event,” Daniel said.

Help Daniel reach his goal by donating at https://fundraising.headspace.org.au/fundraisers/tomaree12/newrun-mowathon or scan the QR code. And don’t forget to get to Newcastle for the marathon on Sunday April 16 to cheer him on!