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Guest Speaker -Marcus Reeves from ‘She Won’t Be Right Mate’
1 October 2024 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm AEST
October 10th is World Mental Health Day – don’t forget to ask your friends if they are ok!!
Join us as we hear from Director and founder of She Won’t Be Right Mate’ Marcus Reeves. Marcus has drawn from his own experiences as a young man with mental health difficulties. Sober for over 5 years and counting, his story is a powerful one about how the little stepping stones in life can take you from drowning in addiction and suicidal thoughts, to thriving and helping others do the same.
“We all do things in life, and often get away with it, until it takes something to make us re assess & change what we are doing before it becomes too late. Luckily for me, I got that opportunity. Many don’t. Growing up in Australia, being a tradie from a very young age, you are taught to work then have a beer after – That was our reward for being a hard working ‘man’. These were the reward systems unknowingly instilled in me. Soon drinking became my answer for resolving stress & unwanted emotions as well as celebrating success. Unfortunately, the depressant can only get you so far. I moved to regular cocaine use. I still ran my business, presented well to friends and family, and didn’t feel like shit. My moment of realisation, after drinking myself into oblivion and driving home to wake to suicide notes and missed calls from concerned family. Your brain blocks out a lot of the pain, but I know I caused a LOT. Thankfully, my family stepped in. Became night watchmen & psychologists. Cleaned out my house and took me into Maroondah inpatient ward for mental health.
It still takes a lot of work to stay on the path & put the things I have learnt in place to ensure I maintain a clear mind and be able to deal with life & it’s stressors and unpredictable events that occur day to day. I decided to make sure I used my story to help others. So many men (and women) keep their mouths shut, try to stay strong, ignore the feeling of struggling or do the blokey thing and literally say – She’ll be right mate. When in fact – SHE WON’T BE RIGHT MATE. Mental health adversary and suicide rates are skyrocketing because of the stigma attached to sharing our feelings, opening up or getting help when we are struggling. Our goal is to get the conversation started and let people know its all right to not be alright.”
Running since 2019 Marcus and the team at “She won’t be right mate” have donated over $60,000 in fundraising from the event to the Eastern Health foundation supporting the efforts they make in funding specialised programs, equipment, and spaces for mental health respite.
“If this event if it helps one person out of the darkness then we have all contributed to saving someone’s life. Who can say that in a lifetime that they have been a part of something that helped change a person? I know it does. I will never forget at my very first event in 2019, a lady came up to me at the end of my speech, she said “Marcus, my son loves cars & music and he would have loved this, I would have loved him to have met you” – She gave me a hug and walked away. And this is just one example of the stories of heartbreak and hope we hear regularly from parents, partners and friends who have lost loved ones to suicide. Stories that could have had very different endings”
Meeting in the Upton Room, Box Hill RSL
6pm for 6:15pm start, 1st October 2024
Or join via Zoom on link on home page
Dinner is available in the RSL Bistro.
Please note non-Rotary club members will need to book separately if they wish to have dinner following the meeting as the venue only sets aside a limited number of seats for members and is currently under renovations.