Starting the conversation

Domestic violence survivor Katherine Vandenhoogen and her friend Alyce walked to Port MacDonnell last year to increase awareness and to encourage people to speak up and speak out against domestic violence.

Katherine wanted to share her personal journey so that others experiencing domestic violence can feel hope, know where to seek help and receive support.

Such was the support for the 2023 walk, which saw funds raised handed over to local charity Four Reasons Why, the 2024 event, which is to be held this Saturday, is opening up to the entire community to get involved.

Hosted at the Mount Gambier Rail Lands, participants can choose to walk 1, 3, 5, 10 or 20kms with staggered starts, and the Rail Lands will also have a market type atmosphere with face painting, food and coffee vans, merchandise sales and domestic violence support services booths.

A gold coin donation is all you will need to hand over to get involved and you can choose your own distance with the longest walks starting at 8am.

Aside from fundraising, Four Reasons Why founder Trudi Shelton said the August 31 walk was all about starting conversations as well.

“It is all about community engagement with a difficult topic but people need to be able to talk about it,” she said.

Four Reasons Why provides refurbished white goods, furniture and other essentials for women and children when they leave emergency housing, as well as helping out with school camps, school uniforms, as well as food and fuel vouchers.

“People need help to get back on their feet,” Trudi said.

You can register for the Our Walk to remember by heading to the link on the Four Reason Why facebook page.