“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”
– Henry Ford
We often say that it’s going to take a truly collective effort to help create a life free from mental illness. That’s why we are so grateful to people in our community who raise funds for Breakthrough. Here are just some of the great examples of how the community has rallied around mental health research.
Who said running isn’t fun?
November brought some wild weather but sometimes life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance – or in this case, run – in the rain. And that’s exactly what we did. Over 60 people turned up to Breakthrough’s Fun Run, and took part by running, walking, or rolling either the 6km or 12km track along the beach.
Those who braved the unseasonable weather helped to raise over $11,000 while spreading vital awareness and continuing to normalise the conversations around mental health. We are looking forward to yet another Fun Run later this year – stay tuned in our socials for more information.
Merry and bright
In December, we hosted A Very Breakthrough Christmas Party at the beautiful Bloom Winwood at Thebarton. The guests started the night with a tasty Christmas-themed cocktail, before our hosts – and South Australian media icons – Jane Doyle, Jess Adamson and Mark ‘ Soda’ Soderstrom kicked off the festivities.
The night was all about hope and joy, which is exactly how the guests felt, with captivating interviews from lived experience special guests to researchers and even the hosts. The delicious Christmas banquet got everyone in the right mood to help raise funds and win fabulous prizes – all in the spirit of coming together to help create a life free from mental illness.
Amazingly, the event raised over $50,000 for mental health research, making the Christmas celebration one to remember. This year, we will be celebrating Christmas in November with an unique event.
Festival front runner
We take great pride in our strong partnership with the residents of Coonawarra and Penola, who have demonstrated their commitment to improving mental health in their community through a range of impactful initiatives.
One such initiative was the Coonawarra Running Festival, which was held for the first time in November. This event, which was open to individuals of all abilities, aimed to raise funds for Breakthrough and was a tremendous success, garnering the coveted Australia Day 2023 Community Event of the Year Award.
The event raised an impressive $27,000, which will go a long way towards making an impact in helping create a life free from mental illness for their community. What is more amazing, they are doing it again! The 2023 Coonawarra Running Festival is on Saturday, 11 November. We have already started our training.
Shouting around
In January, a group of 18 young men from Adelaide banded together to run an ultramarathon in the name of mental health.
Organised by the team at Shouting Around Podcast, the impassioned boys ran an incredible 92km from Glenelg to Goolwa. As a result of their extraordinary effort, they raised over $8,000 and gained some great publicity along the way.
Classic cars for a cause
Also in January, the team at Holeshot Pro Street revved their engines in support of mental health research.
The team offered to have Breakthrough volunteers attend their car meet, which often draws impressive crowds, to carry around the collection tins and spread some much-needed awareness.
Riding the wave
13-year-old Harry – an Adelaide Hills local – came up with the clever and fun Adelaide Hills Surf Club clothing line. Everyone knows there is no surf in the Adelaide Hills, it’s just a bit of fun and a great conversation starter, but the amazing thing is that Harry is kindly donating proceeds from every bucket hat sold to Breakthrough.
The up-and-coming entrepreneur will even be looking at extending his range to hoodies, t-shirts and socks.
Metres for mental health
In December, Liam, a great supporter of Breakthrough, ran over 220km in the name of mental health research.
He, along with the help of his team at Metres for Mental Health, made the fast-paced trek from Crystal Brook to Adelaide in just one week and raised almost $6,000!
Tee-off time
Organising charity golf events are a great way to raise funds for mental health research while enjoying some healthy competition on the tee-off, and networking with individuals who share the same values. Amorini Foundation and Nodifi raised an incredible $34,250 for both Breakthrough and See Differently at their Golf Day in February. A big thank you to Tom Caesar and Mitch Bosley for their fantastic work in making the day possible.
The Catapult Foundation hosted its inaugural ‘Not Another Golf Day’ on 3 March 2023 at Kooyonga Golf Club which raised $30,000 for Breakthrough.
Breakthrough bike ride
Thank you to everyone who took part in Breakthrough’s Big Bike Ride for mental health research on Sunday 26 February 2023. It was an amazing day on the road and at Government House, and the enthusiasm from our community made the event an incredible success.
We are thrilled to announce that together we raised $62,635. The money raised will go a long way towards helping fund research into mental illness so we can better understand what causes it and how we can prevent it in the first place. Now that’s something to be proud of!
We are already planning our next Big Bike Ride in October this year and we would love it if you could join us. The ride will be of a similar structure to the last one with both 100km and 50km routes around Adelaide.
In the meantime, check out our Facebook page to see some happy snaps on the day and follow us for updates on our upcoming events.
