After raising nearly $80,000 on foot, Ballarat man plans grassroots mental health charity

For 18 months, Alan Thorpe walked thousands of kilometres across Australia, raising nearly $80,000 for mental health support services such as Beyond Blue. After a house fire, family breakdowns and a near-fatal car crash left him in what he calls “situational distress”, he phoned Beyond Blue seeking support.

He says the experience left him without the follow-up care he needed, and he is now preparing to register his own non-profit, Big Al’s Walk for Mental Health. Thorpe has built a profile by using long-distance walks to spark conversations, collecting donations and sponsorships, and hosting monthly free barbecues and walks.

But after attempting to host Beyond Blue at one of his events, he says he was disappointed by what happened next. “They were happy to take my money, but when it came to supporting me, they weren’t there,” he said. For people in regional areas or living with complex trauma, he argues, a one-off phone call is not enough.

“There are too many Band-aids in place while the suicide numbers just keep going up. Where’s the follow-up? Where’s the care?” A Beyond Blue spokesperson said the service operates on a crisis intervention model that provides immediate emotional support and referrals to specialised, longer-term care.

The spokesperson said Beyond Blue manages more than 300,000 phone calls a year — roughly one every two minutes.

“We are deeply grateful to Alan Thorpe for the funds he has helped raise over recent years,” the spokesperson said, adding that thousands of people undertake community fundraising initiatives each year and the team does its best to support all of them, but “our resources can only stretch so far.” Thorpe helped raise $78,000 for Beyond Blue.

Over the coming months, Big Al’s Walk for Mental Health will continue offering on-the-ground support, Thorpe said. “I’m going to keep doing my walks and really getting into the community and doing as much as I can.” He acknowledges his own ongoing struggles but says lived experience helps him connect.

“I’m not your average guy in a suit. I’ve had the history. I’m the voice for everyone who is too scared to speak up.” Thorpe also plans to create a ‘third space’ in Ballarat — a casual environment where people, particularly young people, can gather and talk without the clinical feel of a doctor’s office.

“It would just be a safe place where they can come in and graffiti the wall,” he said. Messages from people who credit his efforts with helping keep them alive “keep me going,” he added. As he moves to formalise his charity, Thorpe says he will keep walking and building community connections.

“It’s scary, but it’s exciting.”