STRYDE4 Mental Wheels Foundation and help fund critical mental health initiatives including: Research, Program Development & Scholarships that aim to support the mental health of ALL Australians.

Read more

Project 1 - The Wingman Community Leader Program

Mental Wheels Foundation is looking to fulfil Wingman Community Leader (WCL) programs across Australia. Utilising the My Amazing Pathway app and MindSpot.org.au online mental health clinic, these local community leaders set up safe, non-invasive support networks with in their community for people with depression and suicidal thoughts. These support networks save lives and make real positive change to local communities. Each WCL will be provided the tools and training to set up their remote support centre and become a beacon for people feeling lost, depressed and searching for help.

Hanna Foundation recognises that there are many communities in Australia who are vulnerable and lack the resources to tap into meaningful educational and training programs, so our work is centred around Community Engagement and the delivery of Education and Training. Money raised by the Foundation funds the delivery of mental health programs into communities that encourage conversation, recognition and positive action both for sufferers of mental health conditions, and those around them.

Read more

Project – Community Education and Engagement

Hanna Foundation recognises that there are many communities in Australia who are vulnerable and lack the resources to tap into meaningful educational and training programs, so our work is centred around Community Engagement and the delivery of Education and Training. Money raised by the Foundation funds the delivery of mental health programs into communities that encourage conversation, recognition and positive action both for sufferers of mental health conditions, and those around them.

They recognise that many communities don’t have adequate mental health resources to educate and train. Funds raised from STRYDE4 day will go directly towards delivering mental health programs to encourage conversations and awareness.

Gidget Foundation Australia exists to support the emotional wellbeing of expectant and new parents to ensure they receive timely, appropriate and specialist care. Raising awareness, providing advocacy and education and delivering services for the treatment of perinatal depression and anxiety

Read more

Project 1 - Compassionate Fund The Compassionate Fund, aims to cover the costs of specialist support, thereby removing some of the barriers to accessing specialist care when it is needed most.

Prioritising accessibility and affordability, providing free specialist perinatal mental health care through face-to-face sessions or telehealth to families impacted by perinatal depression and anxiety. Typically, Gidget Foundation Australia’s services are accessed through a general practitioner (GP) referral and Mental Health Treatment Plan under Medicare’s Better Access initiative, eliminating out of pocket costs.

A gap often persists for the most vulnerable families due to factors such as ineligibility, exhaustion of funded consultations, and financial constraints. These obstacles are often more pronounced for families within minority population groups, such as First Nations, LGBTQIA+, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities (CALD), and parents with disability.

In addition, the increased cost of living has placed significant pressure on family budgets, reducing the ability for those in need to seek and afford treatment.

Further community support is needed to ensure that all expectant and new parents can access the vital support they need during one of the most significant periods in their lives. Your contribution will make a difference!

Gidget Foundation - Our Story

Project 2 - Support Resources

Gidget Foundation Australia is dedicated to supporting expectant and new parents who face the challenges of perinatal depression and anxiety (PNDA). The organisation works tirelessly to ensure that all parents have equitable access to specialist support and care. It has been recognised that those within some community groups have unique accessibility requirements, including:

First Nations parents

Parents with disability

Parents of children with a disability

Culturally and linguistically diverse parents

Rainbow families

idget Foundation Australia is committed to supporting these communities in a range of initiatives, including, but not limited to, the development of accessible resources that provide valuable, relatable, and culturally appropriate information. These resources aim to bridge gaps and empower parents.

Funding is needed to create these accessible resources, which include:

Creation of bespoke resources to address the specific needs of these population groups.

Translating existing resources into multiple languages: Building health literacy and ensuring that language is not a barrier for parents seeking support.

Resources for those who are vision impaired: Making information available through alternative formats.

Culturally sensitive information for First Nations families:

Acknowledging cultural nuances and tailoring resources accordingly. Your support can make a significant impact by enabling Gidget Foundation Australia to provide these essential resources to expectant and new parents.

Watch Sally and Ben's Story

KidsXpress, a registered charity, has been advocating for children's mental health since 2005. KidsXpress is breaking the cycle of adversity and creating a lifetime of change. Join us in transforming young lives and building resilient communities.

Read more

Project – Colour Their World

Project Colour Their World will help us provide crucial mental health services to children in need. All funds raised will directly support KidsXpress in delivering free expressive therapy sessions at our specialised Centre in Sydney. With a fundraising target of $25,000 we can provide over 100 hours of expressive therapy for vulnerable children who would otherwise be unable to access support.

Children are referred to KidsXpress for reasons such as severe neglect, physical and emotional abuse, witnessing domestic violence, the loss of a loved one or other issues that no young child should ever have to face. These traumatic experiences can have profound and lasting effects on their emotional well-being and development.

That's where expressive therapy comes in. Expressive therapy combines the modalities of art, music, drama, and play in the one therapeutic setting to help children express their feelings, process their experiences, and begin to heal. Together, we can ensure that every child has the opportunity to heal, grow, and thrive, regardless of their circumstances.

As the only medical research institute in Australia to investigate mental health across the lifespan, our aim is to create better mental health for everyone.

Read more

Project – Sleep Ninja

Sleep Ninja® is a free, evidence-based smartphone app developed by Black Dog Institute, that helps young people with sleep problems. Half of all mental illnesses start during early high school by 14 years. At this critical stage of development, 40% of young people will face significant sleep problems, increasing their risk of anxiety or depression. By addressing good quality sleep, we are setting up the foundations for better emotional, social and physical wellbeing and academic performance, now and in the future.

Based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), Sleep Ninja teaches strategies across six ‘training sessions’ to develop healthy sleep habits and improve sleep quality.

The fundraising support from Cranbrook School (Harvey House) at this year’s STRYDE4 will ensure the Sleep Ninja app remains free to download and use. It will also allow Black Dog Institute to keep the app updated with the latest mental health research. Read more

Watch Introduction to Sleep Ninja

Watch Sleep Ninja Case Study

Our mission is to support people in our communities to seek help in a way, a time and at a place that works for them. Lifeline supports the community and people experiencing difficulty through accessible crisis support, counselling, education, community capacity building and referral services.

Read more

Project - Call Centre Support

Tragically on average, nine Australians lose their lives to suicide every day. Lifeline Bondi provides the crucial moments of connection that bring hope and save lives. We are united in our vision to achieve an Australia free of suicide and our determination to ensure that no person has to face their darkest moments alone.

Our experience has shown us that it is through connection that we can find hope. Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to listen, without judgement to any person in Australia who is feeling overwhelmed, experiencing crisis or longs to be heard. People reach out to Lifeline for various reasons, including anxiety, depression, loneliness, abuse, trauma and thoughts of suicide. This vital service now handles over a million calls annually from Australians in emotional turmoil.

It costs Lifeline $39 to answer each call, providing a lifeline to individuals in their darkest moments. The funds raised by Hewan House on STRYDE4 Day will help Lifeline Bondi answer more calls and provide crucial suicide prevention and crisis support. A donation of $25,000 will enable the answering of 641 calls, ensuring that 641 individuals have someone to confide in and lean on during their time of need.

When you STRYDE4 Skin Check Champions, you support them to win the race against skin cancer by championing early detection. They raise awareness for, and access to, early detection services.

Read more

Project One: The Skin Check Champions Scoreboard

Getting checked is something we know we need to do, but for a myriad of reasons (life) a lot of us don't get around to it...

With your help, Skin Check Champions is developing a digital interface to make your skin check journey easier, more enjoyable and rewarding.

Not only will this help you find a clinic, make an appointment and keep track of your skin check history, it will incentivise you to help your friends and family to get checked too. Gamifying the process with points, prizes and other incentives from our illustrious list of brand partners. This platform will not only help more Aussies get checked, it will give us a clear picture of who's getting checked and where, what skin cancers are being detected and what areas are missing out. Helping policy makers, research teams and our pop-up clinic program. A vital tool for Australia - to make skin cancer history.

Project Two: The Skin Check Champions Follow-Up Fellow

Our charity currently provides early detection services for over 5,000 Australians a year. We dedicate the majority of our resources to these activities along with connecting people with their local GP or skin cancer clinic through our awareness / PR / digital strategies. To round out this work, we are in vital need of a dedicated Follow-Up Fellow to make sure people who find a suspect lesion are booking appointments with their GP / skin cancer specialist for biopsies, treatment and attention. This specially trained recruit will also help connect people with important services run by other skin cancer charities. Ensuring that everyone we engage with has the best possible care and patient outcomes.

Can Assist are on a heartfelt mission to make sure every person across country NSW can access cancer treatment and care fairly. Their impact is more than important – it's critical. STRYDE4 Can Assist.

Read more

Project - Can Assist no matter the distance

Distance matters when you receive a cancer diagnosis and when living rurally, the kilometres can add up. Funds raised will empower our branch network to support country patients who do not qualify for the NSW Government’s subsidy scheme and be used to directly assist with transport related expenses to treatment such as taxi fares or petrol vouchers.

By stryding4 Melanoma Patients Australia, you are allowing them to continue to provide our free support services to melanoma patients and their families and make every diagnosis of melanoma less devastating.

Read more

Project - Every diagnosis matters

Every Cancer Diagnosis is devastating, and every melanoma patient deserves to have equitable access to support and information no matter what stage of disease. Unlike many other cancers, Melanoma patients with early-stage classification of Stage 0-2 are treated in the community with the absence of a multidisciplinary cancer care team and receive little emotional and educational support around their diagnosis in comparison to patients with more advanced disease.

Through an elevation of calls of distress to the Melanoma Patients Support Line, and emerging research, data now shows this group of people depict high rates of fear of cancer recurrence and intense survivorship experience that affect their psychological well-being.

Through the ‘Every diagnosis matters’ project we aim to create a safe, inclusive and informative space that provides the supportive care currently missing for Australians diagnosed with early stages melanoma. Through the combination of support, education and peer linkages patients will have access to a virtual support group, peers support, and an education module specifically targeted at their early diagnosis.

Dreams2Live4 makes dreams come true for any eligible adult living with advanced cancer nationwide and in doing so, positively affects their mental well-being, impacting the lives of an estimated 30 other friends, family, and medical teams supporting them.

Read more

Project - Outreach the Dreams2Live4 message to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and culturally and linguistically diverse communities

A cancer journey is one riddled with physical illness, pain, financial pressure, and constant anxiety. Dreams2Live4 offers joy and hope, creating a positive distraction from the harsh realities of cancer, fostering hope and giving them something to live for.

Our Dreams4ALL project to Stryde4 on the 24 October 2024 will outreach the Dreams2Live4 message to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and culturally and linguistically diverse communities - through the hospitals and cancer care clinics serving them.

Ensuring ALL eligible adults are able to access a dream if they wish; and that ALL communities will feel the emotional and mental well-being benefits of our program.

Peta Larson, CEO, Riverina Aboriginal Medical and Dental Corporation says “Dreams2Live4 gives our community a unique service. I am honoured to be referring patients and see the positive impact on the mental health and well-being of our patients, alongside the ripple effect of a Dream and how it positively impacts medical staff.”

Any funds raised over $25k through our Stryde4 partnership will be invested towards future Dreams2Live4 initiatives.

Starlight brightens the lives of sick kids. Through play, creativity, and social connection, they create the fun and happiness seriously ill children and their families need to get through their toughest times. STRYDE4 Starlight.

Read more

Project – Healthier Futures in Far North Queensland postcode

The program supports healthier futures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the Far North Queensland and remote regions. Partnering with health professionals, our Healthier Futures Initiative brings Captain Starlight to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community health clinics to provide positive distraction for kids through song, dance, games and storytelling.

The Australian Children’s Music Foundation and support them to provide free, long term music programs and instruments to disadvantaged and Indigenous children across Australia, inspiring creativity and imagination while nurturing self-esteem and confidence.

Read more

Project – Music of Hope

The Music for Hope project will deliver free weekly music lessons/workshops and community concerts over two school years to benefit disadvantaged and Indigenous primary school children impacted by the Black Summer bushfires in the Mid-North Coast region (NSW).

ProjectKindness, established in 2017, is a registered charity in New South Wales (with DGR Status), focusing on working with people who are often living in less favourable social and economic circumstances than others in the community. The communities we support are vulnerable and many of the people we assist have disabilities and/or mental illness.

Read more

Project – ProjectKindness

Our High Impact Project is to secure a ProjectKindness base. As we continue to grow, we see this as crucial. Somewhere where recipients can sit down for some human connection over a cup of tea and where Caseworkers can collect Kindness Hampers for their clients. Ideally, ProjectKindness is after a small industrial space or storage facility that we could make into Kindness Hub. $25,000 would allow us to secure and set up a storage space the size of a double garage over a year period.

As a child, Brian was put into foster care at 10 years of age. He ran away after being exposed to unbearable treatment by his stepfather.

He was homeless from the age of 13. Brian spent fifteen years on the streets sleeping rough with a drug addiction. One of the first people to set up a tent in the park next to Central Station, he is no stranger to cold, sleepless nights, and tough times. Eventually Brian secured stable accommodation.

And this is where ProjectKindness stepped in. ProjectKindness provided Brian with essential household items and weekly grocery hampers to help Brian change his house into a home.

Today Brian feels less isolated, and he is a valued member of his community.

1 in 20 children worldwide is born with a birth defect or genetic disease. Children’s Medical Research Institute is dedicated to advancing the treatment and prevention of childhood genetic diseases, so every child has the opportunity for a healthy start to life.

Read more

Project – Biobank

Vision is one of our most precious senses, allowing us to navigate the world with confidence. At the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI), our eye genetics teams are developing therapies to help patients with the two most prevalent eye diseases before children lose their sight completely.

Gene therapy offers a one-injection solution for diseases. By using a safe virus to modify genes, we can replace faulty portions with healthy ones, effectively curing the disease.

To test these therapies, we create replicas of patient diseases from their own cells. By obtaining cell samples, we can generate mini organs (organoids) that mimic eye function. Testing gene therapies on organoids maximizes the chances of finding the most effective treatments.

In CMRI’s Stem Cell and Organoid Facility, we plan to create a pipeline of gene therapies for Stargardt’s and Usher2a. The first step is to establish a bank of cell and retinal organoid lines representing the genetic mutations responsible for these diseases. This biobank will be used to test targeted therapies, paving the way for clinical trials.

With your help, we can kick-start this biobank, changing the lives of children with genetic retinal diseases. Each cell and organoid line costs $5,000 to establish. A generous gift of $25,000 from Davidson House could help set up lines for the top five most prevalent genetic mutations of Stargardt’s, moving us closer to better treatments for Australian children.

ReLove is a registered charity supporting women and children impacted by domestic violence, people experiencing homelessness and youth at risk. We provide good quality rescued furniture and household items at no-cost, direct to families in crisis. On average, we support 20 families per week.

Read more

Project – ReLove Youth at Risk Program

The ReLove Youth at Risk Program seeks to assist 125 young people across Sydney in setting up their new homes with everything they need to restart. There is significant unmet demand for support for youth at risk of homelessness in Sydney.

Youth at risk include young people with backgrounds of intergenerational trauma, the foster care system, domestic violence and contact with the criminal justice system. Many of the young people are Indigenous and/or LGTBQI+.

ReLove’s Free Store is a safe place for referred clients to select everything they need to set up their home, giving them the agency to choose how they want to live.

We deliver to people within a few days of choosing their furnishings and sets everything up to ensure the transition out of crisis care is as stress-free as possible.

ReLove rescues furniture at scale from corporate relocations, hotels, companies with excess stock, and the community. This has a significant environmental impact, as over 1,000 tonnes of furniture is diverted from landfill every year.

Good for people. Good for the planet.

Video about ReLove

To empower Cranbrook School students as socially responsible leaders committed to enhancing health and well-being in their communities and beyond. These initiatives address critical community needs, such as emergency healthcare, vaccination programs, and hygiene training.

Read more

Project – Empowering Cranbrook School students

To empower Cranbrook School students as socially responsible leaders dedicated to enhancing health and well-being within their communities and beyond.

The Property Industry Foundation brings together the property and construction industry in a unique collaboration to have a tangible impact on Youth Homelessness. Powered by the industry The Foundation builds homes for homeless youth and provides ongoing support for homes where young people can rebuild their lives.

Read more

Project – The Haven Project

The Haven Project has built 254 bedrooms for at-risk and/or homeless youth, which has provided over 86,000 nights of safe sleep. With 46,000 young people experiencing homelessness tonight in Australia and 1 in 2 of them turned away due to capacity, The Haven Project seeks to build 50 more bedrooms in the next 12 months to give each of them the opportunity for a brighter future they can thrive.

The Humour Foundation is a national charity dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of vulnerable Australians, delivering unparalleled, evidence-based humour therapy through our Clown Doctors and Laughter Care programs.

Read more

Project – Bringing joy to children and young adults with life limiting illnesses

The Humour Foundation brings laughter where it is unexpected, yet most needed. Its flagship program, the Clown Doctors, brings joyful humour, insightful connection, and creative play to hospitals across Australia. The Clown Doctors also create bespoke uplifting experiences for children and their siblings, provide respite for parents, and share moments of lightness with healthcare staff at Bear Cottage, NSW’s only hospice for children with life limiting illnesses.

With funds raised from STRYDE4, The Humour Foundation will more than double the number of Clown Doctor visits to Bear Cottage. It will also support the transition of children into young adult hospice facilities, where they will continue to benefit from the unique care and expertise of The Humour Foundation’s purpose trained performers. This includes the design and development of a program for delivery at the Manly Adolescent and Young Adult Hospice (AYAH), recently opened for children over the age of 16.

The Lokahi Foundation is an Australian charity focused on supporting women and children impacted by domestic and family abuse. We provide support to enable and empower women to reclaim their lives, achieve a secure environment and assist in progressing down a path which will materially improve their situation.

We aim to provide victim-survivors of domestic and family abuse with on-the-ground specialised advice and support, including through ongoing case management, for as long as necessary. This helps these women to regain their independence and freedom - physically, emotionally, practically and financially.

Read more

Project 1 – Domestic and Family Abuse Education Program

Primary Prevention is key to reducing domestic and family abuse, and we must educate our next generation to not only recognise the forms of domestic abuse, but to become active upstanders, not bystanders, to call out signs of abuse.

We offer a dedicated session with students to highlight the signs of coercive control, the defined behaviours including threats, humiliation, monitoring and isolation from friends and family before it has potential to turn deadly.

Through her own emotional experience, our founder and CEO, Rachael tells her story of how she escaped her long-term, abusive ex with two small children, and how she moved forward to found Lokahi. Rachael’s journey is an inspiring account of how her strength and resilience helped her to escape physical, emotional, financial and sexual abuse, in what could have had a potentially disastrous outcome.

$25,000 would allow us to speak at 20 new schools, and educate a minimum of 4000 young men and women. Together, we want to highlight the signs of domestic violence to all young Australians to ‘stop it before it starts’.

Project 2 – Caseworker Program

This project specifically aims to address the lack of long-term support for victim-survivors of domestic and family abuse and to increase Lokahi's capacity to reduce

waiting times. Domestic abuse does not discriminate and we support ALL females impacted by this epidemic.

Lokahi aim to ensure that female victim-survivors of domestic and family abuse (and their children) have access to a caseworker as soon as they need one, to support them to regain their independence and recognise the toxic patterns of an abusive relationship.

Many of those impacted need urgent assistance with housing and we work closely with Homes NSW and other housing providers to support clients with applications for high priority housing to ensure these families have somewhere safe to live as soon as possible. We also recognise that experiencing domestic violence often impacts mental health and our caseworkers ensure that clients are referred to counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists where necessary. We also support clients through the court systems, reporting to police, and with food security, clothing, and furniture to meet their practical needs.

Through ongoing case management, we believe that our clients are less likely to return to their abusive relationship. We empower victim-survivors to move forward to live independently and free from abuse.

By putting your hand up to support Cerebral Palsy Alliance, you will be helping us deliver therapy, programs, equipment and research to support children, young people and adults living with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

Read more

Project 1 – Babies at Risk

In Australia every 20 hours a baby is diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Research shows that early intervention including intensive, repetitive, task-specific exercise should start for children diagnosed with cerebral palsy within the first 12 months. At this time, a baby’s brain is developing rapidly and has the ability to rewire. CPA’s Babies at Risk program maximises the opportunity to harness the neuroplasticity of baby’s brains by providing early response therapy with an individual therapy plan created for each baby and their family.

Your support can be the difference between whether a child can walk or talk. Watch here

Project 2 – Cerebral Palsy Research

Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Institute accelerates breakthroughs in prevention, interventions and cures for cerebral palsy. Our vision is to enable the world’s best cerebral palsy experts to find ways to prevent and treat cerebral palsy, a condition affecting more than 17 million people worldwide. Watch here

Jigsaw is a social enterprise with a simple vision for the future: an Australia where people with disability are fully included in the workforce. Jigsaw’s “prepare for work, through work” pathway empowers people with disability with the skills, experience, confidence and support they need to succeed in the workplace.

Read more

Project – Work experience for high school students with disability

Work is about more than just having a job. According to Shut Out, the Australian Government’s pre-eminent report on the lived experience of disability, “meaningful employment is essential not only to an individual’s economic security but also their physical and mental health, personal wellbeing and sense of identity.’ Yet, only 48% of people with disability are employed (AIHW 2020).

By raising $25,000 for Jigsaw, you will provide 25 10-week work experience placements to Year 11 and 12 students with disability. You’ll help raise their skills, confidence and aspirations to pursue an employment pathway when they leave school, and set them on a path to a successful future.

Australia is one of the lowest performing OECD countries when it comes to disability employment. Despite significant government investment, the rate of employment for people with disability has not materially changed in the last 30 years. The barriers to employment that people with disability face are entrenched and systemic, and they begin at school.

Jigsaw works with high school students with disability and their teachers across Australia. We often hear stories of young people with disability watching their mainstream peers engage in work experience programs that they are excluded from. Access to early work experience is important to future success: young people with disability who participate in work experience are more likely to be employed, earning higher wages and less likely to have had contact with the justice system than those who haven’t (Fraker et al, 2018).

About Jigsaw