Taking steps for mental health support

SINCE the start of November, a young Batesford boy has been one of more than five thousand Australians walking each day to raise funds for non-profit web-and-app meditation program Smiling Mind.

From the first day of November and for the remainder of the month, Paxton Turner will walk 21 minutes each day to keep the program free for everyone.

He said it’s important to him to give people the resources to better their mental health.

“There’s a lot of people out there that don’t have the greatest mental health and I want them to have good mental health onwards,” he said.

“We use Smiling Mind a lot in the house. My mum will lay down with our sister in bed and they’ll do a session together. It’s very good for your mindset.

“I’ll sometimes do one before school and it’ll give me a great day ahead.”

The Smiling Mind program launched in 2012 and offers mindfulness units for home, school, and workplace settings.

Since starting the initiative, Paxton surpassed his original $250 goal roughly week into the fundraiser, and has now raised more than $600.

He said it feels great to have made a difference so early into his campaign.

“I feel like I’ve achieved a big goal,” he said.

Undertaking most of his walks after school, Paxton is joined on his neighbourhood circuit by his mother Hayley, who said she couldn’t be prouder of her son.

“My husband Corey and I are extremely proud of him,” she said. “I haven’t actually told him to do it, in fact, he’s the one who reminds me to log the walks.

“We’re proud of him for not only committing to it but committing to helping other people.

“Paxton turned 11 on the 10th November so he started this as a 10-year-old. It’s a pretty big thing to be thinking of other people before yourself at his age.”

Paxton’s fundraising is so far set to deliver more than 20 mindfulness journals to Australian children, allowed roughly a dozen parents access to the Smiling Mind app, and provided about three classrooms with mindfulness resources.

His fundraiser page can be found at bit.ly/3QJyaaH.