Now for the 'what'

My first post was on the 'why'.  Now for the 'what' and my plan of action.

This is all in the draft stages at the moment but I'm very excited to be doing something so I'm busting to tell you all about my plan.

The title of my blog "Step Out, Speak Up" is a clue to what I plan to do.

Today I wore a pedometer from the time I left for work at 8am until 8pm at night.  It tells me in that 12 hour time frame I took 8364 steps.  That's pretty average huh?!

So here's the plan...

• Starting from 30 September I vow to take 10-15000 steps a day.  This is a little more than what it seems I do in an average day and is symbolic of stepping out just that little bit further.  It could symbolise the few extra steps out of one's comfort zone that you have to take to say "I'm not ok" or "I need help".  It could symbolise the extra step you may need to take as a friend/family member/workmate to ask someone, "Are you ok?", "How can I help?"
• The Main Event!  Dane was just 23 years old when he committed suicide.  I plan on walking on a treadmill for 23 hours straight, 1 hour for every year of his life.  I'm in contact with a local business that supplies treadmills as I speak.  They need to check if a treadmill can actually operate for 23 hours straight.  Never mind the treadmill, what about me!?

I will be raising money through sponsorship/donations for an organisation that works on connecting people with care by providing services in suicide prevention, crisis support and mental health support.  I'm waiting on the official 'okay' from head office so I won't name my nominated charity just yet.

$10,000.  Is that an outrageous target?  Probably.  But hey, outrageous I like so outrageous it is.  That's my goal.  Ten thousand grand...  Sheesh!

More important than money though is the message.  The cloud surrounding suicide and depression needs to clear so people get the help and support they need.  If this little project of mine enables someone to get help, or someone to give help, I really will have accomplished something.

Once I get the official word from the charity for the go ahead the fundraising page will be set up and it will be go go go! (or step step step!).  

It's at this stage that I'll be asking all of you to spread the word.  Get the message out there.