Corrugations walk succeeds in second year

MENTAL health was at the forefront of the Surf Coast and Golden Plains Shire communities over the weekend, for the second annual Conquer the Corrugations walk.

The two-day event invited participants to undertake 34 kilometres of walking over Saturday and Sunday, travelling to and from Inverleigh beginning in the town of Winchelsea, removing stigma surrounding mental health challenges.

Conquer the Corrugations organiser Robert “Charlie” Earl said the event received a similar turnout to the inaugural event in 2023.

“We had 100 on Saturday and another 90 on Sunday,” Mr Earl said.

“In a lot of respects, I think this year’s event was better than last year’s, just because we’ve learnt how to put the prompts up to get people to talk during this walk.

“Walking and talking with strangers, as we encouraged for this event, opens a hell of a lot more doors than you think.

“We had some really powerful speakers at the event as well, which really opened a lot of eyes about mental health with some shedding a tear or two as well.”

The event was supported by Community Bank Surf Coast, Belgrove Hire, Geelong Coastal Hire, and Knuckeys from Winchelsea.

The event remained free of charge to participants, with walkers choosing to do one or two days of the event.

Mr Earl said the Surf Coast Community bus was also used to assist walkers who were unable to walk the full 34 kilometres.

“The main purpose behind this walk is to have a challenge in life outside of your comfort zone, if you can achieve that challenge, great, if you don’t, it’s no matter because you have people who will support you and with that support comes an opportunity to talk as well.”

For more on Conquer the Corrugations, head to conquerthecorrugations.com.au.