The CEO of The Man Walk, Mark Burns, left his house one day to meet with the buyer of his caravan. Unbeknownst to Burns that buyer was Brad Halliwell who was planning to do a huge 120-km walk and was looking for a cause that he could raise money for. 

When they met that day, Halliwell asked Burns about The Man Walk hat he was wearing. Burns explained what it was and the rest is history.

“He said, We’re going to walk from Sydney to Kiama and we want to raise money and donate it to The Man Walk. I said, mate that would be amazing,” said Burns. “That's how I met him, and yeah, he is the world's nicest bloke.”

On July 18, Brad and 10 others will walk from the Sydney Opera House to the Kiama Blowhole, dedicating it to men’s mental health and they have already raised over $13,000.

“Me and a mate last year decided that we'd do a 60-km walk just for fun and we had a few people ask us, Did you do it for charity? and we said, No. Come this year and we came up with an idea to double the length of that walk to 120-kms,” says Halliwell, adding,

“We’re aiming to do it in 24 hours but we’re raising money for men’s mental health, and at the moment it's more about finishing it than anything else. So, aiming for 24 hours but completion is our real goal.”

The $13,000 raised for The Man Walk will help support existing and new walks as well as fund the group’s ‘Mental Fitness for Teams’ which is a mental health training program.

“It will help fund our mental health training … It’s a 90 minute, either online or face to face, mental fitness education program. So we fund that and offer it free to our members … and it's been really well received - we’ve trained almost 100 people in the last 7 or 8 months.”

The Man Walk’s aim is to support men’s mental health through walking, talking and supporting one another in a healthy and regular way.

“Activity, exercise outside, walking and talking, sharing stories … So many blokes out there are lonely. 1 in 3 Australian men are lonely. These are crazy stats on how many blokes out there who don't have someone to connect with. So The Man Walk offers that too, decreasing isolation and a sense of belonging.”

During Halliwell’s training, which he has been doing most nights, he has found that exercise is such a great way to clear your head.

“I think just getting out and going for a walk just helps lower stress. I know I have felt it, even training for this, you get out there and put your headphones on, if you're by yourself, and just go for gold,” says Halliwell.

Halliwell’s initial aim for the walk was to raise $10,000, but he is already at $13,000 and still climbing. In addition to helping out The Man Walk with their training and the walks, it will also buy new merchandise that can inspire moments like the one Brad and Mark had when Brad caught sight of a hat with The Man Walk insignia written on it.

You can still donate to Halliwell’s walk via his GoFundMe online.