HAMILTON blokes - your attendance at a free barbecue event, at the Hamilton Golf Club on Monday, October 23, 2023 at 6-9.30pm could help a mate.

The ‘Blokes, BBQ & Beer’ event is a Men’s Mental Wellbeing Workshop hosted by Rabobank’s Client Council, designed to provide rural and remote communities in the south-west the chance to access mental wellbeing information, tailored to the needs of country-based men.

The initiative, spearheaded by the Rabo Client Council - a group of Rabobank’s farming clients - will give local blokes the opportunity to discuss mental health awareness in the bush.

They volunteer their time implementing programs that contribute to the sustainability and wellbeing of rural and regional communities and are funded by the Rabobank Community Fund.

The event will feature mental health advocates including Mary O’Brien who founded ‘Are you bogged mate?’ and Tom Boyd - ex-AFL footballer and author.

Mr Boyd, now 28, joined the GWS Giants as the No. 1 draft pick in 2013.

He said his mental health was more important to him than football fame and success.

Since he retired from AFL, he has been helping others deal with their mental health issues and last year, published a book about his own journey, called ‘Nowhere to Hide’.

With football as the backdrop, it’s a book focused on mental health, honesty with yourself and what it takes to overcome depression and anxiety and create resilience.

Coleraine-based farmer and Rabo Client Council member, Mark Bunge, said mental health and wellbeing awareness was an “important conversation” everyone in rural communities needed to keep having.

“Mental health needs to be kept front of mind as commodity prices continue to soften and with the prospect of a drier summer, it’s important we keep an eye on our mates and check how they are coping,” he said.

He said he was extremely pleased that the Rabo Client Council was able to bring two mental health advocates of such high calibre to Hamilton.

Ms O’Brien is a Queensland spray drift risk management specialist who has spent her career working closely within rural communities.

“Are you bogged mate?” is an initiative designed by Ms O’Brien in 2018 ‘to connect country residents with lifesaving support services’.

The Rabo Community Fund aims to contribute to the vibrancy and resilience of rural Australia tangibly and meaningfully.

This event is for blokes only and attendance is by registration only (to assist with catering requirements).

To register, please go to: rabobankaunz.eventsair.com/are-you-bogged-mate/registration/Site/Register