Running for Resilience founder Matt Breen, who lost his own father to suicide, has announced a goal to work towards Canberra being "suicide-free by 2033".
Mr Breen revealed the plan at the end of a run with the community group Running for Resilience as they gathered under the Arc de Resilience at the Kingston Foreshore on Wednesday evening, ahead of RUOK? Day on Thursday.
His own father died by suicide in 2010. Fifty-seven people in the ACT died by suicide in 2020, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Running for Resilience hosts weekly runs for people to gather, enjoy each other's company and maybe have a chat afterwards about what's on their mind.
"Running for Resilience started with the goal of saving one life from suicide as many times as possible and that was because 12 years ago, my dad died of suicide," Mr Breen said.
"I wanted to do something for our community that would help someone like my dad in their moment of toughness, despair, hopelessness, whatever it was.
"But then also help people like myself, who was left after losing someone to suicide."
"And I've been very fortunate to link up with The Dock and [co-owners] Benny A [Ben Alexander] and Shooter [Glen Collin] who've been unbelievably supportive.
"To watch the group grow, not only in size but meaning and connection, over the past three years, it's just been unbelievable. It just shows people resonate with this. Not just from a suicide perspective, but just from a broad struggle perspective - how to overcome, remain optimistic and just keep moving."
Mr Breen said he had been told anecdotally that Running for Resilience (R4R) had prevented deaths by suicide in several cases, as people not only got the life-boosting rush of exercise, but found connection within a community.
That included Mental Illness Education ACT CEO Heidi Prowse who told the group she knew of two people who "credited R4R with saving their life".
"I've been told, face-to-face that R4R has saved their life," he said.
"So we've seen it work. The community that's been built has saved lives from suicide, so it's pretty amazing to see that. And we've done it without any financial donations. We don't request any, we don't accept any. It's really all about effort and the people rocking up every week, rain, hail or shine. They're the reason that these lives have been saved.
"It's the community that not only validates the importance of resilience, but also the normal-ness of struggle and then also just facilitating this environment that is just a nice place to be. It's a very serious topic but every Wednesday it's just a fun thing to do - you're meeting great people and you're exercising."
Mr Breen, 30, said the goal of zero suicides in the ACT should not feel insurmountable.
"We see that suicide is preventable in one person. So if it's preventable in one person, then logically it is possible in all people and we think if it's possible, it's worth aiming for," he said.
"And by stating the goal and getting more people looking at the problem, we think that it's more possible than most people think. So we want to pursue it."
Running for Resilience was keen to link up with other community goals to achieve the aim.
"It'd be naive to say, 'We have a plan and we're going to execute it flawlessly over the next 10 years'. We know where we're heading so we're going to pursue it.
"As we've seen in the last three years, it's about keeping that ball rolling."
- If you found anything in this story triggering Lifeline has 24-hour support on 13 11 14.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
