It’s an event tomorrow which will see him go from his current home in Maryborough to his childhood home in Newbridge, all in the name of raising funds and awareness towards mental health.
Doherty will be participating as part of the One Foot Forward movement, while he’ll also raise funds for The Black Dog Institute.
Doherty will start from Maryborough at 9 am tomorrow morning, and is due to reach Newbridge by
5 pm.
Doherty calls it “Home to Home” as part of his run/walk.
“The first thing is to raise the awareness of mental health,” he said.
“The reason I’m going from Mary-borough to Newbridge is that Newbridge is my home town, and over there, a few months ago, they lost three people to mental health in as many weeks.
“It seems fitting to go from home to home, which is what it’s called.
“It’s been home for a good part of 10 years, Maryborough, and I was born and bred in Newbridge, lived there until I was about 22, and then had a gap year in Melbourne.”
Doherty has long been a champion for mental health awareness in the town, utilising his own experiences to ensure people know that it isn’t taboo to speak up.
“Having gone through mental health issues myself for about 20 years, I know that feeling of being alone, and you’re never alone if you want help,” he said.
“There’s plenty of opportunities out there now. The mental health system is getting better — it’s still broken, but it’s better than what it was about 23 years ago when I entered the system.
“In small communities, it can still be taboo to talk about mental health, and that’s what we have to do, to raise awareness that it’s not, and that it’s socially acceptable.”
Small businesses across Maryborough and as far out as Bendigo have jumped on board to support Doherty’s trek to Newbridge.
“It’s a small community, but my sister has done a truckload of work in Bendigo getting them on board. She’s a bit of a self-appointed PR manager, but she’s done really well, and has organised the day at Newbridge after the walk with a barbecue and other things at the Newbridge Hotel,” he said.
Doherty has prepared well for the occasion with regular walks to test his endurance.
“I’ve been going for long walks, covering 10-20 kilometres every time I walk, so I know how many kilometres an hour I can walk. It’ll be a bit of a wait and see how we go,” he said.
“By the 25-kilometre mark, things might slow down a bit, but I’ll take a few breaks.”