WHAT IF IT’S NOT OK?

There’s been some fantastic content on LinkedIn in recent weeks around R U OK and suicide prevention, particularly as it relates to my industry - construction . I’ve also seen any number of fund-raising activities, all for amazing causes.

This has got me thinking about the plight of kids who have lost a loved one during this pandemic. 1 in 20 kids in Australia aged 7-17 will experience the death of a parent and in all too many cases to suicide. The thought that children are going through this alone has been playing on my mind and the result is my first ever LinkedIn article.

I volunteer as a mentor at Camp Magic, which has been specially designed for children aged 7 – 17 who have lost a loved one. As a consequence of the pandemic, these camps have been suspended, in addition to which their ability to raise funds, just like for so many amazing not-for-profit organisations, has been significantly impacted.

My own childhood was much like any other until the age of 14 when my big brother suddenly died. He was 23. There was nothing like Camp Magic back then to help me develop a vocabulary and the tools to understand my grief, as well as meet other kids who had a similar experience. I just drifted in to the background as grief consumed my family and felt like I was alone. To this day I find it very difficult to share my emotions, which I believe I can trace back to that time. My wife who luckily came along to save me (we met when I was 15) describes me as an emotional amoeba which on balance, I would say is fair. To be honest, were this organisation not so important to me, I wouldn’t be writing about that time now.

I’ve mentored a number of children who have experienced the kind of grief that no child should ever have to bear, and I’ve seen the impact that Camp Magic has had in helping them understand that they are not alone. But now we have the pandemic.

It seems clear to me that the immense economic and mental health implications of COVID-19 will make the work Feel the Magic does even more vital. I know they are planning for the camps to return later this year in some form as well now offering amazing support to kids and families online via their Healthy Grieving Program. I just hope we can get back soon.

Just to do something to help and to raise awareness so others may volunteer in the future (there's a shortage of male mentors in particular), or to get the message out to families that may desperately need the support that Camp Magic offers, I’ve committed to RUN 200km’s in October (now increased to 300km's) as part of the 1 in 20 Challenge! If my body holds up, I’ll attempt a sub 4hr marathon at the end of this challenge... I’m planning to post weekly updates including what ‘band of the day’ t-shirt I’ve chosen to run in! I do not own any running gear…

UPDATE - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED – Marathon completed within 4hrs (with 7 seconds to spare ??). 319km run in October and $2,069 raised for Camp Magic.

That means four bereaved kids can attend camp to help them begin to come to terms with the loss of a loved one. I’ve worn 25 band T’s throughout the challenge and then my son, Dion turns up to run the last lap of the marathon with possibly the coolest band T of all time on – Funkadelic. Trust that little git to upstage me!

Check out my marathon playlist with two songs from every band who’s T I’ve worn, in the same order that I that wore them in. It really did help we get around those final few laps...

To learn more about Feel the Magic, or to donate, please see the links below. I was able to interview James Thomas, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Feel the magic a few months ago, which you can also see via the link. James does a much better job than me of articulating the amazing work that Feel the Magic does, although if you watch the video you will have to sit through my first, and possibly last attempt at an interview via MS Teams.