Thousands of Stories, One Goal: Mental Fitness for All

Your fingerprint is unique. No one else’s is the same as yours, not even an identical twin. That’s not all that’s unique about you. Your story is too. We may share similar experiences, but we experience them differently.

At Gotcha4Life, we’re privileged to hear and help shape the stories of the wide range of people we work and connect with. From our program partners, ambassadors and those raising funds to bring more programs to more communities, to the people who attend our workshops and presentations.

The diversity of people we meet from all walks of life inspires and energises us as we work to bring mental fitness to all.

People like the miners in Narrabri who come straight from their shift to a workshop, their faces still smeared with soot from the underground mine 17 kilometres from town. They dig deep for minerals at work. We support them to dig deep emotionally too.

People like the construction workers building new roads and tunnels for Sydney. We recently met 500 of them, across day and night shifts. They’re building the city’s infrastructure, we’re building their mental fitness.

People like volunteer Surf Life Savers, from club captains with years under the belt and reel, to new generations of nippers - boys and girls joining fundraising efforts to turn the tide on suicide. While they save lives and look out for others, our message reminds them to look after themselves too.

We work with people from coast to coast, and in some of the country’s most far flung towns, from Broken Hill in far west NSW to Bridgetown in south west WA.

During last year’s Mateship Miles roadshow through regional towns, we met farmers struggling with the back-to-back impacts of drought, fires and floods. Small business owners trying to stay afloat, and Rural Fire Service volunteers on call around the clock to keep people and property safe.

We have something in common with the volunteer firefighters. They back burn and manage small fires to prevent bigger ones. We build mental fitness skills, to help manage life’s little worries before they become bigger too.

We meet school kids feeling isolated in outback towns and Indigenous communities, and city teens feeling just as isolated in crowded urban high schools.

We meet women in walking groups, building physical and mental fitness by sharing their stories on tracks through bushland and around suburban streets.

We meet people of all ages. Never was that better illustrated than at an all-of-community event at the local pub in the small rural town of Armatree, a six hour drive from Sydney. 

The whole community was invited to hear our message in a relaxed setting on the pub’s lawn - and most of them turned up.

As toddlers rolled on the grass in front of watchful young parents, locals from all walks of life opened up about their struggles. A 16 year old girl and her foster mum. A middle aged man concerned for his team of young workers. A grandfather who wanted to be more present for his grandkids. The mayor. Mums. Dads. Siblings. Aunts. Uncles. And a 95 year old gentleman who jumped up on the stage, played the harmonica and shared his story to an audience moved to silence by his raw honesty. He reminded us you’re never too old to build mental fitness.

Last year, we reached over 120,000 participants through our workshops - and worked with countless thousands more volunteers, fundraisers and supporters. Each with a unique story.

This year, we aim to reach even more. 

We may visit and connect with a diverse range of people and communities, but we all share a common need.  Mental fitness is for everybody.