Ben Hewlett is entering the final leg of his journey along the east coast of Australia, raising money and awareness for mental health.
The Bamawm resident is riding his 2009 Harley-Davidson Nightster on a “week on, week off’ up the coast to Townsville to raise money for the Black Dog Institute.
“Initially a mate of mine from Townsville was going to ride his motorbike down and we were going to go to Tasmania for a week, and I thought that drive from Townsville down to Victoria would be a really good ride,” Mr Hewlett said.
“I knew that I had some work commitments coming up and thought if I don’t do it now, am I ever going to do it?”
Mr Hewlett has previous experience raising money for RSL clubs and miracle babies, and decided to make his ride a fundraiser.
“I’m a big fan of the Black Dog Institute. They are very well branded and the work they do is amazing,” he said.
“They’re a big fan of motorcycle rides.”
Besides the support from the community, Mr Hewlett has the support of Australian-owned brand Kenoath, which has produced a fundraising T-shirt for his ride.
“I got in touch with the owners of Kenoath and said ‘I know you’ve supported Black Dog fundraisers before, I’m a big fan of your brand and we have some mutual friends and I thought I’d reach out’,” he said.
“They’ve sold 50 shirts so far and the profits from that have gone into the fundraiser.”
Mr Hewlett has been blogging and vlogging about his journey and his experiences with mental health.
“I thought if I do this for Black Dog, I probably need to talk along the way and do YouTube videos about what Black Dog means to me and why I chose them,” he said.
“I was in a really bad accident back in 2006 which is where my PTSD comes from.
“I’ve done a few little five-to-10-minute videos and I just talk about what the mental health journey for me has been about.”
Mr Hewlett had a fundraising goal of $1800 — 50 cents per kilometre — when he started the journey.
So far, he has raised $11,700.
“I got lucky. I have some good mates, Kenoath have been a great support, and doing those videos I’ve had heaps of people reaching out saying that they’ve been through something, or someone they know and love has been through something where it was a dark time for them,” Mr Hewlett said.
“I don’t know why people have responded so well, but it’s great. I threw all the ingredients in a bowl and a good cake came out of it.
“If I got to $13,000, that’d be amazing.”
To donate to Mr Hewlett’s fundraising directly, visit www.teamblackdog.org.au/fundraisers/bennyscoastrun or to purchase a Kenoath ‘Benny’s Ride’ shirt, visit kenoath.com.au/collections/mental-health-fundraiser-tees